Games & certification

Tabletop role-playing games in therapy

Tabletop role-playing games blend storytelling, collaborative problem-solving, and goal-directed tasks. Clinicians can embed therapeutic interventions into an engaging narrative, making therapy purposeful, empowering, and fun. Applications span fine-motor coordination, visual scanning, problem-solving, emotional regulation, communication, and teamwork.

Multi-sided role-playing dice scattered across a detailed tabletop game map. — Tabletop role-playing — a facilitated, collaborative therapeutic format.

The four pillars behind therapeutic TTRPGs

Gamification

Game structure can support coping, help-seeking, and emotional well-being.

Narrative agency

Authoring a character and story can foster occupational identity and self-efficacy.

Interpersonal competence

Play at a shared table exercises communication, empathy, and social problem-solving.

Meaningful occupations

Interventions align with a client’s intrinsic interests: therapy that feels like play.

Made here

The Rehab Arcade TTRPG

A custom, narrative-first system with lightweight mechanics, built so a therapist can run it without heavy rules overhead, and grade it to a client's goals. Players use hero archetypes and a simple resolution system.

2d6 Simple two-dice resolution

10+ / 7–9 / 6− Full success · success with complication · failure

6 stats Might · Agility · Dexterity · Mind · Heart · Luck

Hits Tracked instead of hit-point totals

Download the system

Files are being migrated to this site. See TODO-OWNER.md.

Therapeutic TTRPG generator. Answer a few questions and get a session idea tailored to your client's goals.

Open the generator ↗

TTRPGs have a long history in and out of clinical settings, from Dungeons & Dragons to lighter systems like Kids on Bikes and investigative games like Call of Cthulhu. The Rehab Arcade system is designed specifically for grading to therapeutic goals. See the evidence library →

The Rehab Arcade TTRPG is for members

Inside this resource:

The full narrative-first system rulebook
Character sheets, archetypes & stats
The therapeutic TTRPG session generator

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Image credits

Tabletop photograph: photo by Nika Benedictova, used under the Pexels licence. Source.