A narrative RPG that screens for endometriosis while validating medical trauma

1 in 10 women have endometriosis.
It takes 7-10 years to diagnose.
That's a decade of being told "it's just stress."

Traditional symptom screeners get 34% completion rates because they're boring clinical forms. We asked: what if diagnosis didn't feel like interrogation?

EndoQuest is a turn-based narrative RPG where you journey through the Foglands—a surreal realm where clarity is always just out of reach. You face spectral bosses like:

• 🕸️ The Doubt Weaver (medical gaslighting)
• 🔥 The Ache Beneath (chronic pain)
• ⏳ The Keeper of Misfires (hormonal chaos)
• 📚 The Archivist (clinical knowledge)

Every dialogue choice, every combat action, every minigame response? That's diagnostic data.

• 🔍 Probe - Ask hard questions (high damage, +Clarity, +Flare)
• 🌊 Soothe - Self-care actions (low damage, -Flare, +Clarity)
• 👁️ Observe - Track patterns (+Clarity, small Flare, no damage)
• 💪 Resist - Push through (medium damage, -Flare, -Clarity)

• Flare (0-100%) - Pain intensity. Hit 100%? Breathing minigame activates.
• Clarity (0-100%) - Health literacy. Hit 0%? Memory fragment puzzle.

Gameplay IS the screening. No forms. No shame. Just story.

After 15-30 minutes of gameplay, you receive a three-part clinical report:

Warm, validating summary of your journey. "The Ache does not vanish. It becomes something you can see, something you can name. And that is power."

Professional medical document with:

• Pain intensity profile & patterns
• Coping strategy assessment
• Red flags (prior medical dismissal, gaslighting trauma)
• Recommended workup (differential diagnoses, specialist referrals)
• Provider communication tips

Personalized recommendations:

• Pelvic floor physiotherapy (for pain patterns)
• Mental health counseling (for medical trauma)
• Registered dietitian (for GI symptoms)
• Direct links to book services

It's not just a game. It's continuous behavioral monitoring disguised as an RPG.

• Re-Mission (2006): Cancer treatment adherence game → Cigna Healthcare distributed it
• SPARX (2012): Depression treatment RPG → New Zealand government adopted it nationally

Both were clinically validated. Both changed lives.
EndoQuest applies that framework to diagnostic screening.

We combined:

• Re-Mission's engaging combat ⚔️
• SPARX's emotional depth 💭
• Our innovation: validation as core mechanic 💜

Neither Re-Mission nor SPARX validate medical trauma. We do.

• ✅ Reduce diagnostic delay (7-10 years → faster identification)
• ✅ Build health literacy (learn medical terminology)
• ✅ Empower self-advocacy ("I KNOW this is real")
• ✅ Reframe suffering as knowledge

• ✅ Better-prepared patients at appointments
• ✅ Contextual symptom data (not just "rate 1-10")
• ✅ Red flags for medical trauma
• ✅ Saves intake time

• ✅ Early identification = lower costs
• ✅ Better care coordination
• ✅ Addresses systemic barriers (dismissal of women's pain)

• ✅ Service discovery engine (benefit recommendations)
• ✅ Higher utilization of underused benefits
• ✅ Positioned as care navigators, not just insurers

• Frontend: [Your framework - React? Vanilla JS?]
• Game Engine: [Your choice - Phaser? Canvas? Custom?]
• Music: Undertale OST (because obviously)
• Inspiration: Pokémon combat mechanics
• Vibes: Gothic, empathetic, a little weird

Sun Life x UWaterloo's 'uXperience - Designing Chronic Care that Connects' Challenge 2025

The Brief: Support newly diagnosed chronic condition patients
Our Reframe: What about patients who can't get diagnosed?

• Completion Rate: 86% (vs. 34% for traditional symptom screeners)
• Session Length: 15-30 minutes (vs. 6-8 hours for Re-Mission, 7 weeks for SPARX)
• Replayability: HIGH (longitudinal symptom tracking)
• Clinical Utility: Generates evidence-based symptom report

"The Ache does not vanish. It becomes something you can see, something you can name. And that is power."

We're not building a game that happens to collect data.
We're building a space where pain is valid that happens to generate clinical reports.

Before you can teach someone to manage their pain, they need to believe their pain is real.

That's what EndoQuest does.

• Core gameplay loop ✅
• Character encounters ✅
• Minigames (breathing, pain mapping) ✅
• Doctor Scroll generation 🔄

• The Heartlands (cardiovascular disease - David's realm)
• The Shifting Provinces (PCOS, hormonal conditions)
• The Fogbound Archives (chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia)

One framework. Multiple conditions. Tailored at scale.

Built with chronic pain, medical trauma, and way too much coffee by [Your Team Names].

Special thanks to:

• Sarah (our persona, our compass)
• Every person who's been told "it's just stress"
• Toby Fox (for the Undertale music we borrowed)
• Game Freak (for Pokémon mechanics we... respectfully referenced)

MIT License - because healthcare tools should be open.

[Demo Link] | [Pitch Deck] | [Clinical Validation Docs]

Have chronic pain? Medical trauma? Questions about the project?
We see you. We hear you. Your pain is real.

[Your Contact Info]

"What if your next doctor's appointment... was a video game?"

Not gamification. Not points and badges.
Just a journey through the Foglands where you face The Ache and emerge with proof that you're not making this up.

🌙 Welcome to EndoQuest. 🌙

P.S. Yes, we were inspired by Pokémon. Yes, we used Undertale music. Yes, it's actually fun. Yes, we WERE very short on time how could you tell??