Outliers: Take that, mutant cells! Nanobots to the rescue

Leukemia is attacking the body's bone marrow with waves of mutant cancer cells, but you don't have to stand back and let it happen. You are a nanobot. Your mission? “Save the precious stem cell colonies and cleanse the bone marrow of all leukemia cells with slashing, arcade-style game play.”

So begins one of six new free online games designed to appeal to youthful cancer patients, a cohort who traditionally have had trouble with what the squares in academia call “treatment adherence” and what Outliers calls “following doctor's orders.”

The game, “Leukemia,” was released last month as part of Re-Mission 2, which is a suite of casual games designed to educate younger cancer patients about their therapies and reinforce treatment adherence by boosting positive emotions and increasing self-starting behaviors.

What's a casual game? Think “Angry Birds.” They require almost no instructions and can be played for five minutes or five hours on computers, smartphones or tablet devices.

HopeLab, the not-for-profit that is part of the Omidyar Group, said it decided to publish these new games after finding success with its first iteration, Re-Mission, in 2006. A news release for Re-Mission 2 cites journal articles with titles such as, “A video game improves behavioral outcomes in adolescents and young adults with cancer: A randomized trial,” which appeared in Pediatrics in 2008.

The six games are available at re-mission2.org, along with links to some of the background articles, but if you'd rather read journal articles than play video games, you might not be in Re-Mission 2's target demographic.

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