Mental Jam is an Australian independent games studio creating cozy narrative games that support mental health and wellbeing through storytelling, gameplay, and lived experience participation. Founded through Dr Michelle Chen’s PhD research at RMIT University, we are a multidisciplinary team including Michelle Chen (Creative Director and Programmer), Emma Losin (Product Owner, Game Designer, and Marketing), Fitriani Revanda (Narrative Designer, Artist, and Animator), Cheryl Budiman (Game Artist and UX/UI Designer), and Nicholas Rinaldi (Composer and Sound Designer).

Together, we combine professional game development experience, participatory design, psychology-informed practice, and community-focused creative work to help people feel seen, understood, and connected through play. We’re currently raising funds to deliver free game co-design workshops with young people in Banyule, helping participants directly contribute to the development of Bobarista, a cozy game about mental health and wellbeing.

Mental Jam has been supported by organisations including Breakthrough Victoria, RMIT Activator, CSIRO, Museums Victoria, Study Melbourne, StartSpace, and the City of Melbourne.

Learn more about us here: https://hellomentaljam.com/