In episode 124 of Game Design Unboxed, we chat with game designer Serena Fadlun about creating games that increase human happiness and how she literally dreamed her career into existence when a vision of her future son inspired her to start designing.

Serena shares how she blended her work experience (from translating top-secret movie scripts to a career in psychology and mental health) into her game theme and mechanics, continuing to apply her knowledge of statistical analysis and short term research methods into playtesting.

They also discuss her decision to release a free print-and-play game that collected optional donations to support future research, a shared fear of public speaking, insights from Yale’s Science of Wellbeing course, and how interacting with social media can be challenging but rewarding in the tabletop world.