Experience Camps, a non-profit organization that helps transform the lives of grieving children through summer camps and year-round initiatives, has announced the launch of its most extensive virtual experience to date, Grief Quest. The unique and innovative experience is a digital scavenger hunt in a summer camp-inspired fantasy world created in partnership with Dubit, a global metaverse studio.
Grief Quest allows users to learn about and reflect on grief in a safe and nurturing environment. The three levels of the game take players through various settings, such as outer space and rainbow fields. Additionally, players have access to a Reflection Zone where they can support others and light a candle in memory of loved ones.
Jesse Moss, Senior Marketing Manager at Experience Camps, said:
“As a society, we’re really not good at talking about grief. Our hope is that this space gives kids and teens impactful ways to show up for grieving people in their life. By housing the experience on Roblox, we’re able to not only reach kids where they are but also use play for social-emotional learning. We know that players will leave with an increased ability to be more grief-smart.”
Stephanie Whitley, Chief of Staff at Dubit, said:
“We’re immensely proud to have contributed to this safe and nurturing environment within which children can express and learn about grief. Virtual spaces empower us to explore through play – sometimes with more freedom than we can in the ‘real’ world. The work Experience Camps does, is invaluable, and we’re honored to play a small part in it.”
Experience Camps’ Roblox experience is the second gaming world created by the non-profit organization. Last summer, the organization launched ExperienceCraft, a moderated Minecraft server for 7-14 year olds.
On 6 February 2023, Türkiye suffered two massive earthquakes affecting ten major cities, razing some into complete rubble and leaving tens of thousands homeless. Upon this enormous disaster, Mobidictum organized a “Game Industry Solidarity Broadcast After Earthquake” with the attendance of prominent figures in the industry to discuss how the game industry could help recover from the effects of the disaster.
During the broadcast, it was discussed that games could help the region’s children recover from the disaster’s trauma. It was also remarked that games had an extreme healing power, therefore, should be immediately utilized for this purpose. The launch of Grief Quest for this purpose is a sign that games do have healing power and can be utilized to recover from the effects of trauma.
