In 2019, approximately 1 billion people worldwide had some form of psychological disorder, with 14% of that total being adolescents.

In the field of technology—specifically in game development—studies have been conducted since 2005 on the positive impact that games can have on users, revealing significant potential in combating mental disorders.

Based on this, the goal of creating the web platform “Asta vs The Demons” emerged, along with the integration of a game into the application, in order to provide Visual Novel players with an immersive experience of empathy and identification. This is achieved through the game’s protagonist, who addresses the main themes of mental disorders, psychosomatic symptoms, and somatic symptom disorders.

The front-end of the project was developed using HyperText Markup Language (HTML), Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), JavaScript, TailwindCSS, and RenJS for game creation. The back-end technologies used are Node.JS integrated with the Express framework, while the database is managed with PostgreSQL. The application was published on the itch.io platform (which promotes indie games and independent developers), along with a user experience survey regarding the platform and the game, to support the academic purposes of the project. The survey received over 40 responses, revealing the meaningful impact of the user experience with this project.

Thus, based on the research conducted, it is concluded that the game has a promising purpose, being capable of delicately addressing topics that involve the complexity and obscurity of the human mind. This brings more awareness and identification to players, which are essential factors in the processes of treating mental disorders.