Cathartic Candles, Geeky Good & Remoting Rocks 🕯️

How It Started

The first startup to set the stage for game therapy was Game to Grow. Founded in 2017, it offers therapeutically applied TTRPGs to help people deal with trauma and other issues. The organization that started with 12-15 clients, has grown to serving around 150 clients today.

Since then, several startups, such as Geek Therapeutics,  Game Therapy UK and The Bodhana Group have propped up around the globe using innovative games to help people.

Does It Work? 

It’s pretty widely known that video games can help people deal with mental issues. And role-playing can be especially helpful for people who've experienced trauma and oppression.

For instance, one mental health patient (who shall remain anonymous) said the game Ten Candles helped her come to terms with her own mortality. The game is played in complete darkness, with the exception of 10 candles. A candle is extinguished at the end of each scene, and by the time the last candle blows out, all the characters around the table are dead. Despite the game’s characters’ hopeless condition, at the end, the group members came to accept that the game (or life) was worth it, even though death was inevitable. 🕯️

50% of Young People Want Crypto in 401(k). 👛

According to a recent survey by US asset managers; 

• About 45% of millennials and 46% of Gen Z “wish” to invest in cryptocurrencies as part of their (401k) retirement plan.
• In fact, 43% of Gen Z and 47% of millennials have already invested in cryptocurrencies outside their 401(k) accounts. 

This bubbling interest in cryptocurrencies among the youth is quite in contrast with the larger market sentiments and the apparent crypto winter. 

However, since more young investors are warming up to digital assets, some companies have begun providing options to include crypto as part of their retirement plans. This is especially true for startups and small businesses who see crypto investments as a hedge against grumpy markets.

Earlier in April, one of the world’s biggest asset managers, Fidelity Investments, revealed that it would allow holders of its 401(k) retirement savings accounts to invest up to 20% of their balance in Bitcoin.

Major countries from every continent have either filed antitrust or privacy violation lawsuits against Google or are probing the company. 

All the countries where Google is in trouble 🔥

• Most recently, India’s antitrust agency, slapped penalties totaling $275 million on Google for abusing its dominance in the Indian Play Store market. 
• A similar lawsuit is going on in the Netherlands over Google’s Play Store payment rules.
• The EU has already fined Google more than $8.2 billion in recent years over antitrust practices.
• In the US, an ongoing lawsuit alleges that the company has monopolized the ad-tech market by abusing its access to data.
• In South Korea, a privacy commission fined Google $50 million for using data from other websites and apps to generate customized advertisements. 
• Google paid $528 million in fines to resolve a dispute in France related to news publishers displaying copyrighted content.
• An Australian court ordered Google to pay $43 million in penalties for misleading users on collection of their personal location data.