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Some things just go together.
Peanut butter and jelly. Han Solo and Chewbacca. Video games and… type 1 diabetes? It’s true! Of course people with T1D play games, but we also make games. There are even characters with T1D in games!
Here’s a growing collection of games that involve diabetes in their gameplay, have someone with T1D on the development team, or are helping to further JDRF’s mission to find a cure for type 1 diabetes.
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Our Current Humble Bundle
Dust off your side-scrolling skills and dive into some of the best 2D games ever created with this massive collection of Mega Man games! A substantial chunk of the Blue Bomber’s storied history is at your fingertips, starting with Mega Man Legacy Collection 1 and 2, which compiles all the mainline titles. You’ll also get Legacy Collections for the Mega Man X and Mega Man Zero and ZX series, plus the standalone Mega Man 11.
It adds up to a total of 25 games across 36 years of Mega Man! Pay what you want for this bundle of essential gaming, and help support JDRF with your purchase.
JDRF One World & Charity Walk Simulator
JDRF One World is a virtual world built for Roblox, the #1 online gaming platform for kids and teens. It’s a family-friendly place where people of all ages can get together, play games, learn about T1D, and hang out with old friends or meet new ones. Plus, it’s FREE to play!
We created JDRF One World when in-person events like JDRF One Walk® had to be reimagined during the COVID-19 pandemic. This virtual walk-like experience has since expanded to include UK-based landmarks (in cooperation with JDRF UK), the Quest for the Golden Rufus treasure hunt, and a Washington DC sidequest in honor of the JDRF Children’s Congress.
In January 2024 we added a portal to Charity Walk Simulator, a new game mode that puts you in charge of your very own JDRF One Walk.
Omnipod Bay
Animal Crossing™: New Horizons is a popular Nintendo Switch™ game that puts you in charge of your own personal island. Insulet, the makers of Omnipod®, used the tools available to Animal Crossing players to create Omnipod Bay, an island that reflects the experiences of people with diabetes. JDRF and three other T1D advocacy groups have a presence on the island.
On Omnipod Bay, you can solve an obstacle maze, sing in a concert, explore themed areas (like diabetes camp, Bolus Beach, and the A1 Sea), walk the runway, and even piece together a hidden code to win an in-game prize. Fashionable outfits are available with pumps and diabetes supply bags built in, so you can customize your character to look more like you.
The Sims 4
The popular game The Sims 4 includes wearable medical devices, including pumps and CGMs.
To give your Sim their robot parts, go to the Create a Sim interface and select Medical Wearables in the Body category. There are a few different shapes to choose from, and you can place them on the Sim’s arm or abdomen.
These devices are only cosmetic, but there’s also a fan-made mod that adds diabetes and other health conditions to the game, if you’re so inclined.
More Games Linked to T1D
Do you know of another game that should be on this list?
This 1992 SNES platformer stars a superhero with type 1 diabetes. Watch our Twitch playthrough.
Designer Tommy Refenes lives with T1D and the game has a diabetes-inspired enemy, the Betus. Watch our Twitch playthrough.
Team member Víctor Sabaté has T1D. Watch our Dev Diaries interview.
Writer/director Jon McKellan has a child with T1D. Watch our Twitch playthrough.
Executive producer Dan Connors has a child with T1D. (Dan is also a cofounder of JDRF Game2Give!) Watch our Twitch playthrough.
Executive producer Dan Connors has a child with T1D. (Dan is also a cofounder of JDRF Game2Give!)
The Glucoboy was a GameBoy Advance add-on that measured blood sugar and integrated readings into minigames. The DIDGET was a similar product for Nintendo DS.
Designer Tommy Refenes lives with T1D and the game has a diabetes-inspired enemy, the Betus. Watch our Twitch playthrough.
Creative director Adam Grantham lives with T1D. Watch our Twitch playthrough.
Producer Hans ten Cate has a child with T1D. (Hans is also a cofounder of JDRF Game2Give!) Watch our Twitch playthrough.
Writer Lisa Hunter has family members with diabetes. One of the main characters, Ollie, has diabetes. Watch our Twitch playthrough.
The character Amanda Ripley is voiced by Andrea Deck, who lives with type 1. T1D dad Jon McKellan also worked on the game.
John Madden’s grandson lives with T1D. The Madden NFL games also include T1D players such as Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews.
A character, Alice Ivers, has type 1 diabetes, and one of the game’s quests involves finding insulin to keep her alive.
This early 2000s PC game by Medtronic simulates a day in the life of an insulin pump user.
A member of the development team has T1D.
This educational SNES and PC game from the 1990s teaches kids about type 1 diabetes.
This diabetes-themed mobile platformer was created in honor of a girl who lives with T1D.
Developer Jon Bellini is a T1D dad. He added a boss named the Diabeet Sugar Lord to the game so his son could take out his frustration by beating up Diabeet.
This zombie-themed survival game includes a side quest where you need to deliver insulin to an NPC with diabetes. Insulin syringes also appear as a miscellaneous item in Dead Island: Riptide.
Developer John White has a child with T1D.
Support JDRF with Humble Bundle
Humble Bundle has been an important partner for JDRF Game2Give, raising more than $1.5M for type 1 diabetes research and counting! We don’t have a Humble Bundle running right now, but JDRF will receive a small donation if you make a Humble Store purchase using our affiliate link below.
