Lung Games was started in 2014 by Niel Vredeveldt, a game designer and cinematic artist. His daughter was born with Cystic Fibrosis, and she was attending the hospital for breathing exercises three times a week with her respiratory therapist. Niel wanted to design a game that would make her breathing exercises engaging and entertaining, while reducing the commuting and waiting time required for therapy.
Wind Tales was born. The game resulted in replacing her institutional appointments respiratory therapy that was fun. The game caught on with others in the parent/patient group and got the attention of the universities.
Soon after, development of Sparky began for children with Asthma; and development of RevalAir began for adults with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
Wind Tales went on to win the Gold Medal in the International Serious Play Awards held in Montreal, Canada in 2019. Sparky won the IC University of Applied Sciences Audience Award in Amsterdam the same year.
When the Covid-19 pandemic devastated the world the following year, all development stopped due to high risk in patients with respiratory diseases, but not before Sparky was entered into the Dutch Applied Games Awards, which it won in 2021.
By the time the pandemic was declared over in May 2023, Lung Games had been dormant for over three-and-a-half years.
In 2024, the Lung Games revitalization began, and the decision was made to introduce the games, beginning with Sparky, to the North American market.
Today, we remain dedicated to our goal of helping those living with respiratory diseases to achieve lung health that's accessible, affordable and fun!
