GameCity 3: Industry veteran Tom Kim shared the story of how a near-fatal illness disrupted his life and how games helped him on the road to recovery
Illnesses are hard to come to terms with both for the patients and their families. So for Tom Kim, an experienced developer, journalist and lifelong gamer, discovering he had a “walnut-sized” tumour after being admitted to hospital to receive treatment for psoriasis / stress, life would never be the same again. To make matters worse the tumour was located in the upper part of his left brain close to his Broca’s area, a section crucial for speech and communication. Surgery to remove the malignant cancer meant that there was a high chance that he could have completely lost his ability to communicate or even died. Despite the bleak nature of the situation, Tom said at this point he was really more concerned about his wife and son.
Bravely choosing to go through with the surgery, his family were relieved when Tom survived, but his path to recovery was not an easy one. Following the procedure Tom lost almost all his ability to communicate. As an art director and writer whose job depended on his communication skills this came as a severe shock to him. With little else to do at his home but read and clean, Tom turned to video games. Although unintentional at first, he soon realised that certain games resonated with him more than others. Geometry Wars was one example he gave for quick bursts of accessible, casual gameplay. He also cited that his near death experience had made him uncomfortable playing games which depicted graphic dead or where a character could die as a result of his actions.
In the weeks that followed, Tom played a variety of games that he found relaxing and this helped him to relearn the skills he had lost. Burnout Paradise gave him the freedom to drive as he was forbidden from actual driving during his recovery. Zack & Wiki’s co-operative puzzles and Bookworm’s text-based conundrums helped to regain his speech and vocabulary sooner than expected. Final Fantasy Tactics on PSP and its brand of ‘pickup and play’, tactical-RPG action was something he found “very comforting” alongside his passion for reading. In between these nuggets of pleasurable gaming Tom also began to intentionally play frustrating games in order to learn about what triggered his stress and how to moderate it. By studying his stress levels in relation to his gaming habits he was able to treat his psoriasis and improve his own skill level over time. A sincere view of why ‘games as therapy’ is one of the most exciting fields of research today.
Tom Kim writes for Gamasutra and various other publications. Track him down on his personal site tomkim.net.
Aaron Lee
[Originally published on Tuesday, 18 November 2008]
