Announcing: Checkpoint from Joe Donnelly!
We’re excited to finally tell you a bit about 2020 from 404 Ink! In May, we’ll be publishing Checkpoint: How video games power up minds, kick ass, and save lives by Glaswegian journalist, video games enthusiast and mental health advocate Joe Donnelly.
Inspired by his own experience navigating depression following a tragic personal loss, Checkpoint reflects on the comforting and healing effect that entering into new digital worlds and narratives can have, both personally and on a wider scale. Through exclusive, in-depth interviews with video game developers, health professionals, charities and gamers alike, Joe makes the case for the vital value of gaming culture and why we should be more open-minded and willing to pick up a controller. Checkpoint publishes in May 2020 and you can pre-order it here.
“From Lemmings in the late ‘80s, to Grand Theft Auto and Fortnite today, my relationship with video games spans decades and runs deep,” says Joe. “So deep that I swapped a career in plumbing (once evoking my inner-Super Mario) to write about games.
“When my uncle took his own life in 2008, I turned to video games a means of escapism and as a learning tool. With Checkpoint, I’m delighted to explore the myriad ways video games teach and inform about mental health, against my own mental health journey, and am honoured to be doing so with 404 Ink.”
We've been itching to publish a book in and around the world of video games and couldn't be more pleased that Checkpoint will be our first title that celebrates the undeniable value of video games in, obviously, entertainment, but more crucially, in mental health. Joe’s first-hand experience in the healing effects gaming can have makes for a brilliant, approachable and down to earth book that will undoubtedly open more minds to the wonderful world of video games. Pre-order your copy today!
Keep up to date with Joe at @deaco2000.