Orpheus to bring suite of "self-care entertainment" games to VR

New publishing venture Orpheus Self-Care Entertainment wants its audience to use VR games to improve their physical, emotional, and mental states.

The company has announced its partnership with three studios to publish games that focus on self-care. Those games are Rave Runner, Microdose VR, and SoundSelf.

The first, Rave Runner, comes from Kinemotik Studios in Austin, Texas. The game is a dance title currently being observed at the VR Institute of Health and Exercise in an effort to improve its ability to positively affect players' physical health before it launches.

Vision Agency, along with Metroid Prime concept artist Andrew 'Android' Jones, brings art, music, and dance hybrid Microdose VR. Microdose just finished a showing at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Finally, SoundSelf uses the player's voice and breath to help them clear their mind and engage in self-reflection. SoundSelf development is being lead by Orpheus CEO Robin Arnott.

"Our team believes in harnessing the transformative power of mindfulness and video games, and that practicing self-care can be truly ecstatic and habit-forming, never feeling like work," said Orpheus co-founder Job J. Stauffer. "The novelty of yesterday's Wii Fit and Kinect is over, and the power of today's immersive technology is already changing lives around the world as it has my own. Virtual Reality has allowed us to ignite the flow state in a player by designing games for their sense of presence and focused attention, strengthening their motivation, creativity, and learning. We then ground these ideas in traditional self-care practices such as dance, meditation, and artistic expression, creating an entirely next level genre of truly embodied self-care entertainment."

All three games will be playable at PAX West this weekend.

Disclosure: PAX organizer ReedPOP is the parent company of GamesIndustry.biz.