Joe Donnelly is a Scottish journalist and author who specialises in writing on video games and mental health. He is best known for Checkpoint (2021), a narrative non-fiction book that explores how video games can support mental wellbeing. Donnelly is a former VICE columnist who has been a consistent voice in discussions about games and mental health.
Joe Donnelly is from Glasgow. He worked as a plumber and gasfitter for several years before changing direction following a personal tragedy. In 2008, following the suicide of his uncle Jim, he began to experience mental health challenges. Reflecting on this period, Donnelly has said, "I am a lifelong gamer." I threw myself into my hobby as a means of escaping the harsh reality around me.
After spending time in Australia, he returned to the UK and enrolled in a journalism degree. He began writing about games for mainstream and specialist publications, and later launched a monthly column at VICE focused on video games and mental health.
This work introduced him to a range of titles that dealt directly with psychological themes, such as Actual Sunlight, Neverending Nightmares and Papo & Yo. During this time, he also sought professional help and was diagnosed with depression and anxiety.
Donnelly confidently describes how genre games with permadeath mechanics, such as XCOM 2, Spelunky and Darkest Dungeon, helped him reflect on the concept of permanence. "We don't say Mario died," he asserts. "We say I or we died. This is key to our understanding of permanence and player agency."
After ending his column at VICE, Donnelly proposed a longer narrative project to 404 Ink, an Edinburgh-based publisher. The result was Checkpoint, which confidently blends personal storytelling with testimonies from other players and interviews with industry figures. "Gaming is so often a shared experience," he stated, "and the same should apply to mental health discourse."
Joe Donnelly is a strong advocate for greater research into the relationship between gaming and mental health. He has demanded that researchers delve deeper into how games across different genres and budgets affect mood, self-worth and social connection.
"I wanted to show just how powerful video games are as a storytelling tool," he stated. "The take-home message is not just about mental health. We must broaden our understanding of video games and their place in important discussions."
Photo credit: X @deaco2000
Joe Donnelly is from Glasgow. He worked as a plumber and gasfitter for several years before changing direction following a personal tragedy. In 2008, following the suicide of his uncle Jim, he began to experience mental health challenges. Reflecting on this period, Donnelly has said, "I am a lifelong gamer." I threw myself into my hobby as a means of escaping the harsh reality around me.
After spending time in Australia, he returned to the UK and enrolled in a journalism degree. He began writing about games for mainstream and specialist publications, and later launched a monthly column at VICE focused on video games and mental health.
This work introduced him to a range of titles that dealt directly with psychological themes, such as Actual Sunlight, Neverending Nightmares and Papo & Yo. During this time, he also sought professional help and was diagnosed with depression and anxiety.
Donnelly confidently describes how genre games with permadeath mechanics, such as XCOM 2, Spelunky and Darkest Dungeon, helped him reflect on the concept of permanence. "We don't say Mario died," he asserts. "We say I or we died. This is key to our understanding of permanence and player agency."
After ending his column at VICE, Donnelly proposed a longer narrative project to 404 Ink, an Edinburgh-based publisher. The result was Checkpoint, which confidently blends personal storytelling with testimonies from other players and interviews with industry figures. "Gaming is so often a shared experience," he stated, "and the same should apply to mental health discourse."
Joe Donnelly is a strong advocate for greater research into the relationship between gaming and mental health. He has demanded that researchers delve deeper into how games across different genres and budgets affect mood, self-worth and social connection.
"I wanted to show just how powerful video games are as a storytelling tool," he stated. "The take-home message is not just about mental health. We must broaden our understanding of video games and their place in important discussions."
Photo credit: X @deaco2000
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