Tongue in cheek  

Some new game apps for your feelings

As the computing power of cell phones increases, more and more sophisticated mobile apps are being developed for the mental health field. They're seen as a way to bridge periodic therapy sessions - a sort of 24-7 mobile therapist that can help with everything from quitting smoking to treating anxiety to detecting relapses in psychotic disorders.

Here are a few we anticipate:

Little World, Big Mouth (Eating Disorders)

HappyScale Media Version 2.0

This simple but addictive game lets you choose from a variety of avatars with different eating disorders and 'acute food issues'. Guide your avatar down a scorched, post-apocalyptic food-related terrain. On level one, earn points for darting heavily caloric foods slung by demon-like versions of authoritative figures such as school teachers, doctors, and parents.

What is the most challenging aspect of this game? Your avatar has a gaping, whale-sized mouth that captures almost anything that falls in its path. Level two takes you into a more realistic, modern day world where objectives range from avoiding eye contact with restaurant billboards as your avatar drives along busy international highways, to high-quality HD shoot-outs with street gangs made up of Kellogs Brand cereal icons, including but not limited to, the Cookie Crisp Crook, Count Chocula, and a heavily armed Lucky Charms Leprachaun.

Players will appreciate a selection of avatars. Most popular is Muffie, the raw-vegan who hides the fact that she hates food with extremist political views that her family and friends find oppressive. The second most popular according to user polls is Porky, the blue dinosaur whose scattered past has forced him to replace one addiction for another.

The final level of Big Mouth, Small World is strategy-based! Plan and navigate your avatar's escape from a futuristic in-patient treatment centre teamed with zombie-like roaming nurses. Lose 'thin points' if your avatar is coaxed into group therapy sessions and scheduled weigh-ins by the evil hospital staff. Available Online.

Guess That Rare Illness (Severe Hypochondria)

SafeWorld Technology Version 1.0.1.0.1.0

Did you know that your obsessive hypochondria is a thinly veiled manifestation of severe aggression? Guess That Rare Illness is a thorough, fact-based trivia game allowing you to match symptoms to one of four possible diseases. Guess correctly and move on towards more challenging third-world parasites that live in obscure parts of the digestive system.

Try to figure out which one-in-a-million genetic condition is yours. Think that you have them all! After every correct answer, players are rewarded with a punching sound and a digital image of a fist punching a familiar-looking face. Incorrect answers are followed by a long, despairing sigh. Volume levels can be adjusted at the bottom of the screen. Available for iPad2.

I Didn't Say That (Substance Abuse)

lolFace Inc. Version 3.1

Ever wish you could remember some of the truly unforgivable things you said during one of your two-day booze benders? I Didn't Say That is an innovative, state-of-the-art application-game for iPhone that will change the way we think about being severely intoxicated.

With the help of a small chip that detects high levels of alcohol in the air around one's mouth and pants pockets, the iPhone activates this application to turn on and begin recording your voice. A major advantage of this application is that it's almost effortless: Simply download the application for an affordable price while you are sober or during a lucid time before you reach the point of "this-is-a-cry-for-help" belligerence towards which you are headed.

I Didn't Say That does all the rest!! Days later you can replay the things you can't believe you said, all of which are already organized into four categories: Anger, Euphoric Romantic Confession, Mocking, and Mumbling, all based on a voice-intonation recognition system built into the application.

Jaji and Tako (Social Anxiety, Fear of Adulthood)

Nooby Software Version 5.1

This pathetic, multi-player online game from Japan explores new ways of coping with paralyzing social anxiety. Jaji and Tako's world is composed of vaguely people-like round coloured balls that talk to each other, shop for clothes, eat at restaurants, and play online games.

The balls can interact with other balls by saying some of these customized phrases: "Hello. Sunshine is my happy time"; "Talk to me more"; "I am on the computer"; and "I am a shy kitty."

In an effort to make players feel comfortable about themselves, all issues related to bad thoughts, sexuality, sex, violence, cold, heat, gender, existentialism, physical discomfort, and the reality of being over the age of nine is left out of the gentle hills, valleys, and westernized malls of Jaji and Tako.

Those who love Jaji and Tako 1, might enjoy these games as well: Hamburger Walk, Yip Yip Puppydogs, and Oshirenju Pond. Available on any social networking site for free.

-Funny Woman