In the realm of interactive art, games offer unique opportunities to explore complex emotional experiences. Artist Risa Puno's exhibition "Group Hug" at the Fabric Workshop Museum demonstrates how familiar game mechanics can be transformed into powerful vehicles for processing personal narratives and fostering human connection.

Creating safe spaces for emotional exploration requires careful consideration of physical design. "I wanted the walls to breathe," Puno describes. "I wanted you to walk through feeling that your energy was changing the space around you and that other people's energy was changing the space around you, but that you were guided, not boxed in."

This attention to visitor comfort extended to the installation's intimate spaces. "My first idea was some sort of squeezy chair that can give people a hug," Puno reveals. "But then I thought, what if people are claustrophobic? How do you make them not feel attacked?" The solution involved careful material selection, moving from felt to fleece because, as Puno notes, "fleece is much more nubbly and feels much more huggy."

A key challenge in designing emotional experiences is maintaining engagement while addressing serious themes. "Whether Unresolved Rage Game or The Privilege of Escape, people often say things like, 'that was surprisingly fun,' even if it's an experience that people have cried during," Puno shares. "Those things don't have to be mutually exclusive."

The exhibition's design intentionally creates moments for reflection. "There was an intentional bottleneck with the D20 Icosahedron thing with all of the questions," Puno explains. "It gathered people so they had that experience in the middle." This architectural choice helped visitors process their experience within the space.

Underlying Puno's work is a deeper philosophical framework. "All of my work is centered on the pre-colonial Philippine concept of Kapwa, meaning humanity or togetherness," she states. "It basically means that I have a moral duty to care for you the way I care for myself."

Success in interactive art often comes from unexpected combinations of playfulness and purpose. "In caring for my dad and doing that with my family, it's terrible and it's fun," Puno reflects. "It's like, you can have a really crappy moment, but you can still laugh during it. Both things can be true." This duality forms the heart of Puno's approach to game-based art, creating experiences that engage while enabling genuine emotional connection.