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Understanding osteoarthritis – Games

Learning game · Physiotherapie Tschopp & Hilfiker

Understanding osteoarthritis

Load in the green zone

Osteoarthritis is not simple "wear and tear". The joint is a living organ that needs movement to feed itself. In this game you steer the load on a knee joint over four weeks and watch how the tissue responds.

How it works

  1. 1

    Explore the joint

    Eight structures to tap – cartilage, gliding layer, joint fluid, lining, bone, menisci, ligaments and muscles. Each with its job and with a source. This part can be skipped.

  2. 2

    Choose a phenotype

    Healthy joint, after an injury, metabolic or inflammation-driven. Your choice changes the starting values and how sensitively the joint reacts to too much and too little load.

  3. 3

    Dose four weeks

    One slider sets the daily load, the weeks run in fast motion. Events such as an irritated knee, a good day or a stressful week shift the green target zone – you have to find it again each time.

The point of the game

Not to collect points, but to develop a feel for it: there is an optimal loading window – and it moves. Too little starves the cartilage, too much damages it. Five meters make visible what is happening: cartilage health, nutrition, lubrication, muscle strength and inflammation. Do try the extremes as well – the summary at the end shows what came of it.

Duration: about 5 minutes. Runs entirely locally in your browser: no cookies, no data transfer. Only your best score stays stored on this device.

Part 1 · Anatomy

What works in a healthy joint?

Tap the dots. Each structure has a job – for friction, stability or feeding the cartilage.

Choose a structure

A joint is a team

It's not the cartilage alone that "wears out". Bone, joint fluid, gliding layer, lining, menisci, ligaments and muscles form a system. Choose a structure on the left.

0 of 8 structures explored

Part 2 · Phenotype

Not all osteoarthritis is the same

Research distinguishes several phenotypes – "varieties" of osteoarthritis with different drivers. Choose a starting point; it changes how the joint reacts.

Part 3 · Simulation

Hit the target zone

Bring the slider into the green target zone – it moves when your situation changes. Each day in the zone gives knowledge points; consecutive days build a streak.

Week 1 · Day 1
Ready
Knowledge points 0
Streak ×1
Event

Cartilage health70
Cartilage nutrition60
Lubrication (lubricin)62
Muscle strength (stability)55
Inflammation (low-grade)20
Daily loadwalk
RestMovementOverload

What's happening now?

Bring the slider into the green target zone and start. With every step the cartilage is squeezed like a sponge and soaks up nutrients.

Result

Your joint after 4 weeks

★★★

    A simplified learning model. It does not replace an individual physiotherapy assessment. If you have symptoms: a personal assessment at the practice.