DETOUR
When running toward your future self is the intervention.
A mobile runner game for young people quitting smoking. It translates two clinical psychology techniques into a single game mechanic, co-designed with the target audience, Detour aims to train players to feel differently about smoking and themselves. Players run toward billboards and respond differently depending on the image: smoking-related images require no response, retraining automatic impulse to those cues, while positive personal images (photos players upload of their own future selves and aspirations) require a jump. The physical act of reaching toward those images, repeated across hundreds of runs, simultaneously devalues smoking stimuli and reinforces episodic future thinking.
I originally designed and directed the game as Creative Director at the Games for Emotional and Mental Health Lab (GEMH Lab) at Radboud University, under the title Hit-n-Run. The core mechanic was a direct translation of go/nogo, a clinically validated impulse control technique, into an endless runner. The RCT on Hit-n-Run (n=144) found no significant overall difference from a brochure control group, but within the game group, engagement duration directly predicted smoking reduction. The more someone played, the greater their decrease in weekly smoking. Exploratory analysis showed the most engaged players were those who enjoyed the game and built a positive social context around it. The design problem for Detour was now precisely defined: the intervention works when people play it. So make them want to keep playing.
I was rehired as an independent contractor to lead the design and creative direction of Detour, the sequel. Alongside the upgraded runner, I co-directed the design of a social shell using Instagram and TikTok. Managed by a dedicated community admin, these social groups segmented by cohort provided peer support, a low friction platform for psychoeducational content, and team-based accountability throughout the five-week quit program. Detour was developed using user-centred design throughout, co-created with youth advisors and tested across more than ten focus groups and playtests in Dutch high schools (n=215). The design process is documented in a peer-reviewed pre-print co-authored by the interdisciplinary team, including myself.
©2026 Radboud University | GEMH Lab
A 604-participant randomized controlled trial (RCT) is currently underway.
