"Don't You Dare Go Hollow": How Dark Souls Helps Players Cope with Depression, a Thematic Analysis of Reddit Discussions

Entertainment videogames have been recognized for their potential therapeutic benefits, but there is a need for more in-depth, gamespecific explorations of the game features that could contribute to such benefits. This study examines how players of Dark Souls describe the game as helping them cope with depression. We conducted a thematic analysis of Reddit discussions where players narrate their mental health experiences with the game, using AI tools to assist in identifying relevant data for a purposive sample. Our findings suggest that Dark Souls could support players' mental health, for example, by (1) cultivating resilience and perseverance through its challenging gameplay, (2) triggering existential reflections through symbolic representations of depression, and (3) enabling supportive online communities and interactions. Our findings offer rich, player-centered insights into the perceived mental health benefits of commercial videogames, highlighting their potential to transcend entertainment and inform the design of engaging digital mental health tools.

• Human-centered computing → Empirical studies in HCI.