Mental Health Awareness Month: 10 Best Video Games That Help

May 1, 2025, to May 31, 2025, marks Mental Health Awareness Month, an annual time set aside to understand and support mental health. In gaming, various developers have made commendable strides in raising awareness about mental health issues and helping players improve their mental well-being. 

Today, we’ll highlight the best mental health video games that help break the stigma around mental health, whether by directly exploring mental health issues through engaging and thought-provoking playthroughs or implementing gameplay where players can explore different emotions and improve their well-being. 

10. Valheim

At times, the best video games for mental health are the least expected. Take Valheim, for instance, a survival game you might find brutal. As a dead Viking, you haven’t quite made it to Valhalla. There’s one more thing to do before you can enjoy the afterlife, and that’s survive Valheim. 

Here, slain monsters by Odin reside, alongside treacherous environments from frozen mountains to deep forests. Yet, it’s in overcoming the danger and peril lurking around every corner that you find a sense of accomplishment. 

Alternatively, playing with up to ten players can foster a community you come to love and cherish. Overcoming challenges together, whether it’s fighting the formidable enemies of Valheim or building strong fortified bases, has a beautiful way of forming long-lasting memories. 

9. That Dragon, Cancer

Cancer is a beast, and for That Dragon, Cancer to explore is appreciated, especially for players dealing with loss and grief. It’s certainly far from an easy narrative experience. There are lots of tear-jerking and difficult moments to process. 

But the game challenges you to face the pain and feel the whirlwind emotions it brings. Even if it won’t completely take away your grief, it’s a step in the right direction toward letting go. 

8. Night in the Woods

Few games handle mental health struggles as delicately as Night in the Woods. Centered on self-discovery, it explores complex themes like depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder.

And not just the protagonist, but how her story relates to the characters she meets. This is one of the few games that manage to be as honest and relatable to real life. 

7. Actual Sunlight

If you’re looking for a game that cuts deep, you can check out Actual Sunlight. The blurb alone is enough to pull you into its short but gut-wrenching story. “I know what you’re thinking: Why keep getting up, day in and day out, even though your life is going nowhere?” reads the game’s description. The game’s introspective storytelling makes it one of the most powerful video games about mental illness.

It only barely scratches the surface of the turbulence you’re about to go under. Fair warning: this one doesn’t hold back on themes of love and depression.

6. Content Warning

Instagram and TikTok videos have become such dominant sources of dopamine and socialization today. To experience a similar sensation with friends, you can check out Content Warning. It’s about capturing spooky stuff on camera with your friends to go viral and get famous.   

Now, as much as it’s described as a co-op horror, Content Warning is ultimately a blast. That’s largely thanks to the focus on engaging and collaborating with your friends and, consequently, bonding over funny moments that build lasting memories. 

5. Spiritfarer

Few games go full circle like Spiritfarer one of the most emotionally rich mental health video games. You take spirits under your wing to take care of them. There’s crafting, exploration, and fostering relationships with the spirits you meet along the way. However, at a point, you need to let go of your newfound spirit friends, ushering them into the afterlife. 

Besides the cozy and warm nature of the gameplay, it also encourages reflecting on themes of life and loss. Not to mention that the playthrough itself is emotionally charged with empathy and peaceful vibes.

4. Florence

We all remember our first love, some more tragic than others. In just 30 minutes, you can explore the short but heartwarming story of Florence, a young woman’s first love. She’s only 25 and already caught up in the endless cycle of work, sleep, and social media. 

When she meets a cello player called Krish, though, everything changes, including her view of the world. Best of all? Their romance goes full circle, from the flirting stages to fighting and eventually, growing apart. 

3. Sun Haven

One of the best ways gaming helps with mental health is by providing an escape into a reality different from your own. Some of these virtual worlds can evolve into more meaningful experiences, enough to positively influence your real life. 

Consider Sun Haven, for instance, a farming life simulation that branches out into fostering close relationships with the townsfolk, embarking on quests against monsters and dragons, and teaming up with up to eight human players. In the end, the game blooms into a community of strong connections and feelings of accomplishment. 

2. Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

When you’ve never experienced psychosis, it can be difficult to understand how it feels. However, games like Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice help break the barrier and stigma associated with mental health. Uniquely, it adopts Norse mythology, following Senua’s quest to save her lover’s soul. 

Along the way, though, you begin to hear whispers of voices threatening you and see vivid hallucinations. You develop uncertainty and suicidal thoughts. Yet, you must forge on, pushing yourself to overcome the mental decline of your character. Like psychosis in real life, it’s a terrifying experience that’s worth checking out.

1. Celeste

Some games address mental health directly. Yet, never quite as creatively as Celeste. It features a young woman struggling with anxiety, self-doubt, and depression. Before her, though, is a super-tight platforming challenge, climbing to the top of Celeste Mountain. 

There’s plenty hanging on your shoulders as you navigate the challenging enemy and obstacle-ridden platforms of the mountain. But the joy of playing is that as you beat the stages, so does your character’s confidence grow. Eventually, you’re able to beat the very demons that haunt you. This is a must-play in the category of mental health awareness video games.