One of the most wonderful things about gaming is that whilst they can be, and mostly are incredibly good fun, some can also genuinely help you destress and sort through those pesky feelings. Antientropic is trying its hand at achieving the latter, with the release of Dustbunny: Emotion to Plants.

Driven by founder Stella Kim’s own mental struggles during the Coronavirus lockdowns and the help she received, Dustbunny is at its core a therapeutic experience. Of course, don’t rely on video games for all your mental health needs, but you can kick back and enjoy this hotpot of compassion-focused and cognitive-behavioural therapies, weird as its gameplay concept is.

You begin by awakening in an abandoned room which is meant to represent your character's inner void. You will soon meet a cute rabbit buddy named Empathy, who will assist you in capturing adorable emotibuns who, and here is the weird part, will turn into houseplants when you grab them.

By capturing these chloroform critters, you can decorate your room and take care of your new plants, with a plethora of types available to collect. Reflecting on the real-life cycle of self-care, you will need to use Care Cards like watering and observing to help these plant-based emotions flourish. It is a very flowery analogy of real-life emotional growth.

It isn't all just decoration-based fun, however, as you can also play a collection of video games. These include flying paper planes to preparing Cup Ramyun. Completing these will provide you the energy needed to care for your plants, as well as collectables, decorations, and stickers you can use to brighten up that room of yours.

Throughout your journey you will have your bunny buddy, Empathy, talking with you, with conversations based on self-acceptance and self-love peppered throughout, all informed by compassion-focused therapy. It won’t solve all your problems, but it’s as good a place as any to start, so download Dustbunny: Emotion to Plants from the App Store and Google Play now.