It's a role-playing video game that, like many of its kind, allows users to choose and customize their own avatars, including a hairstyle and clothing. Set in a medieval fantasy world, users build up power as their characters travel across "provinces," overcoming obstacles and challenges along the way.
What's unique about SPARX — which stands for smart, positive, active, realistic, X-factor thoughts — is that it's designed specifically for people with mild to moderate depression.
SPARX was developed in the late 2000s by researchers and clinicians at the University of Auckland in New Zealand who became alarmed by the high suicide rate among teenagers in the country. They decided to develop a way to reach out to young people who shy away from seeking face-to-face counseling.