Therapy board game

Therapy, The Game; board game for 3-6 players in which the object is 'to achieve mastery of the six stages of life'; including gameboard, dice, 6 couches, and Therapy, Insight and Reality cards and Thinkblot booklet; manufactured by Milton Bradley Ltd, Berkshire, England, 1987.

Therapy was a board game for 3-6 players. If they land on a therapy square, they have to answer questions about themselves. The other players have to guess the answer, either alone or in consensus with the other players in what the game designers call group therapy. If a player guesses correctly they win a peg for their playing piece. Each player is both therapist and 'patient'.

The aim of the game is collect six pieces: one for each of the six phases of life: cosmos, adulthood, adolescence, infancy, childhood and seniority. In this example the playing pieces are couches, reflecting the therapist couch. During the game play, players are encouraged to explore ‘Thinkblots’ based on Rorschach tests - a psychological test to analyse people's percetions of symmetrical blots.

Designed by Jay Titel with artwork provided by Jussi Wallenius, the game was first launched in 1986. Play and board games are one way to reflect society's views on a topic – of what is appropriate to game-ify and what roles it is appropriate for people to role play and be entertained by.