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Re-Mission: The Video Game That Got Teens With Cancer to Take Their Medicine
HopeLab's Re-Mission put young cancer patients in control of a nanobot fighting tumors from the inside — and a real clinical trial found it improved treatment adherence.
Original commentary from the Cancer Explained editorial team.
Please note: this page is educational only — it is not medical advice, and it does not speculate about anyone’s health beyond reliable public reporting. For questions about your own health, talk with your healthcare team.
In 2006, a nonprofit called HopeLab released an unusual video game. It was a third-person shooter. But the battlefield was inside a human body. The enemy was cancer. In Re-Mission, you control Roxxi, a nanobot. Roxxi travels through the bloodstream and organs of young cancer patients. You blast leukemia and lymphoma cells with weapons like the Chemoblaster and the Radiation Gun. You fire antibiotic rockets to fight off infection.
Pam Omidyar came up with the game. She built it with real cancer patients, oncologists, and game designers. The target group was ages 13 to 29 — teens and young adults. This group is often overlooked. Materials for kids don't fit them. Neither do materials made for adults. HopeLab gave the game away for free. It reached over 200,000 copies in 81 countries. It became one of the most widely used "serious games" ever made.
Re-Mission wasn't just a cancer-themed video game. Other games have used cancer as a backdrop too. What made it different was its medical goal. It aimed to get young patients to actually follow their chemotherapy and antibiotic plans. It also helped them understand why those plans mattered. The game has 20 levels. Each one is built around a real treatment idea. Players fight cancer cells the way chemotherapy or radiation would. The game teaches cancer facts through play, not through a lecture.
The real trial behind the game
The game rests on something oncologists take seriously: treatment adherence. That means sticking to the plan. For blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, treatment in teens and young adults often means months of chemotherapy. Sometimes doctors add radiation too. Both follow a strict schedule. Missing doses can worsen outcomes. So can stopping early or skipping antibiotics. Antibiotics protect a weakened immune system during treatment.
Re-Mission wasn't just a feel-good idea. HopeLab ran a randomized controlled trial with 375 patients aged 13 to 29. Researchers didn't just ask patients what they did. They used objective proof instead. Blood tests checked actual chemotherapy drug levels. Electronic pill-bottle monitors tracked antibiotic use. The trial found that patients who played Re-Mission stuck to treatment better. They also picked up cancer knowledge faster. And they felt more confident managing their own care.
A follow-up game, Re-Mission 2, launched in 2013. It was a set of free browser and mobile games. It built on brain-imaging research. That research suggested the original game activated brain circuits tied to motivation.
The game teaches real cancer biology, just simplified for play. Chemotherapy and radiation target cells that divide fast. Infections are a serious risk during treatment. Different cancer types need different combinations of therapy. The game shows leukemia and lymphoma this way too. None of this is made up.
What a video game can't replace
No video game can capture what chemotherapy actually feels like. Chemo brings nausea, fatigue, hair loss, and mouth sores. It also brings a psychological toll that builds over months. A nanobot shooter can't fully convey any of that. Re-Mission's value was never in matching that experience. Its value was in building understanding and motivation. It is not a substitute for medical care. It's a tool for learning, not treatment. Its benefits were measured in adherence and knowledge, not survival.
Some critics worry that games like this oversimplify a frightening, uncertain process. They worry it makes cancer feel too controllable. Real cancer treatment has no level-complete screen. Outcomes aren't guaranteed by effort or good play.
Recognizing leukemia and lymphoma in young people
Leukemia and lymphoma are the cancers shown in Re-Mission. In young people, they often show up in these ways: fatigue, unexplained bruising or bleeding, swollen lymph nodes, recurring fevers, or weight loss without trying. These symptoms are common in many conditions that aren't cancer. In teens and young adults, fatigue or swollen glands usually come from ordinary infections. Or they come from the normal changes of adolescence. That overlap is part of why blood cancers in young people can take longer to diagnose. Doctors and patients reasonably look for the more common cause first. But symptoms that persist or get worse are worth a medical check. They are not something to self-diagnose.
Why there's no screening test for these cancers
Many adult cancers have a screening test. Leukemia and lymphoma in children and young adults do not. Most cases have no clear, preventable cause. There is no equivalent of a mammogram or colonoscopy for these blood cancers. What helps instead is awareness. Young patients and their primary care doctors should know this: persistent, unexplained symptoms in this age group deserve follow-up. They don't deserve automatic reassurance. Oncology research shows that AYA (adolescent and young adult) patients often face diagnostic delay.
Re-Mission's larger legacy is a reminder. Supporting a young person through cancer treatment takes more than medicine alone. It takes tools that meet patients where they are, both psychologically and practically. Organizations like the National Cancer Information Foundation work to make clear, patient-centered cancer information freely available to families facing a diagnosis. That holds true whether or not a nanobot game is part of the plan.
How this article was prepared
An AI-assisted editorial system helped prepare this page. No named medical reviewer has reviewed it unless one is listed.
Cancer Explained is published by the National Cancer Information Foundation. It is not medical advice and does not suggest a test or treatment.
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Put the story in context
Prevention, possible warning signs, screening, and diagnosis
This story relates to leukemia. The information below is general: it does not reveal anything else about a public person’s health, and not every point applies to every cancer. Personal advice depends on age, symptoms, family history, exposures, and medical history.
Prevention and risk reduction
Not every cancer can be prevented. Avoiding tobacco, protecting skin from ultraviolet radiation, limiting alcohol, staying active, and receiving recommended HPV or hepatitis B vaccination can lower the risk of certain cancers. A risk factor is not a prediction or a cause in one individual.
Symptoms and possible early signs
Possible signs vary and are often caused by conditions other than cancer. Changes worth discussing include a new lump, unexplained bleeding or weight loss, a persistent cough, lasting bowel or bladder changes, a changing skin spot, or symptoms that persist or worsen. Some early cancers cause no symptoms.
Screening and early detection
Screening looks for certain cancers before symptoms begin. Recommended tests exist only for some cancers and depend on age and risk. Screening can have benefits and harms; it is not the same as evaluating a new symptom, and there is no single routine scan or blood test that reliably screens for every cancer.
How cancer is diagnosed
Diagnosis may involve a history and exam, imaging, laboratory tests, and often a biopsy. Pathology can identify the cancer type and may test biomarkers that guide treatment. Symptoms, screening results, tumor markers, or online stories alone cannot confirm cancer.
A public story may encourage questions, but it should not be used to estimate your risk or choose testing. Contact a healthcare professional about a persistent or concerning change. Seek urgent care for severe or rapidly worsening symptoms.