What if your beloved Tamagotchi also cared for you? That’s what Amaru aims to do. The app from Six Wings Studios aims to help players with self-care habits through the relationship with their virtual pet. While playing and caring for Amaru, players will also be encouraged to participate in mindfulness exercises and journaling. The aim is to help players relieve stress, depression and anxiety. Through caring for yourself, you also help Amaru find his own peace.
The game, if played daily, is set to last for two months – this is the amount of time taken for habits to become a new routine. Players can customise their own self care goals, and are encouraged to play for 15-30 minutes a day. Something else about Amaru is that it also promotes a steady sleeping pattern. Unlike most games, which can be played at any hour, Amaru sleeps at a set time and therefore cannot be interacted with. This gives the player not only a break from the game, but also prevents them from staying up to play it.
Other Features:
- Feed, pet and play with Amaru.
- Transport yourself to the world of Enso, and explore it with your new pet.
- Taking good care of Amaru unlocks new treasures and opportunities for the player.
- Regular self-care of yourself builds your Aura, which helps protect Amaru.
- The app contains practices validated by modern neuroscience to help with well being.
- The selfcare regime is customisable to best help the player.
- Custom goals such as sleep and hydration.
- There are journaling prompts such as gratitude journaling, intention setting, etc.
- The journal is also able to be customised with stickers and covers for the individual player.
- Audio instructions for breathing and meditation.
There are also the option to play mini-games for players that want to, however it isn’t necessary. Players can also send Amaru to explore, which creates another time period where players can’t interact with Amaru, and promotes less screen time. One of the most appealing characteristics of Amaru is the fact that it can be easily personalised to the individual.
Amaru is the first game in the Fog of Maya series by Six Wings Studios. It takes inspiration from games such as Final Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda and Hollow Knight. It also took inspirations from series such as How To Train Your Dragon, and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Six Wings Studios have said: “Our goal is for this game to serve as a foundation for a series that tackles different mental health topics with different stories taking place in a common narrative universe.”
Amaru is available on both Android and IOS. The game is free, however does contain further content that the player can purchase such as story lines and additional colors. You can watch the trailer here:
