Serious games in medicine

Computer and video games are increasingly being used for serious purposes and not only for entertainment. In recent years, we have observed a very fast market development of serious games, which are used for education, simulation, research, health, and therapy purposes. This article describes the main features of serious games used for health. This group of serious games includes health promotion games (for example, game on healthy nutrition, physical activity), games with information about diseases and treatment procedures, rehabilitation games (also known as “ exergames ” ), games for cognitive distraction during painful medical procedures, and games with psychology content. Three examples of serious games for health were described in this article. This article also presents the design prototype of a psychologycentered serious game, Mission – Master Your Fear, which focuses on issues and problems of preschool children.