A child in a hospital playroom, immersed in a VR game with controllers raised — joy, not pity

The Power of Play

Right now, a kid in the hospital just picked up a controller — and for a few minutes, gets to be a kid again.

Play isn't a distraction. It's medicine. GameChanger built the only networked game system in the world's hospitals — because our co-founder Taylor survived childhood cancer with a controller in his hand. Hope Lives Here.

25k+

Kids reached

250+

Hospitals

Continents

Give a kid their game night back ▶ ▷ Watch the 90-sec film

CONTINUE ▶

Not sure where to start? Tell us who you are — we'll point you the right way.

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Give — help a kid today

Power up a kid.

Every amount buys a specific moment of joy. Tap a card — no guessing where your money goes. One-time is the default; make it monthly below.

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The evidence

Play is the medicine.

Not a nice extra. A clinically-backed way to ease what kids go through in the hospital — and the hospitals say it themselves.

Cochrane · Birnie 2018

5,550

children across 59 trials: the gold standard of medical evidence found distraction — including games and play — is the best-supported way to ease the pain and distress of needle procedures.

Birnie et al., Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2018)

Anesthesia & Analgesia · 2019

studies of game-based and virtual-reality distraction found large reductions in children's pain and anxiety during medical procedures.

Eijlers et al., Anesthesia & Analgesia (2019)

American Academy of Pediatrics

AAP

The American Academy of Pediatrics calls play essential to healthy development — and urges doctors to "prescribe" it.

American Academy of Pediatrics, Pediatrics (2018)

Category of one

The world's only networked Xbox hospital system.

Plus in-room consoles, VR, hospital game rooms, 3D printing and comfort gifts — live in 250+ hospitals on five continents. We don't hand out brochures. We deliver joy to a bedside.

"Thanks to GameChanger, we created what we believe is the world's most advanced safe gaming network in any hospital — serving over 350 kids a day."

— Katy Welkie, CEO, Primary Children's Hospital

See what we build for bedsides ▶

A young hospital patient and his dad sharing a VR headset in a hospital game room

Hope Lives Here

Why we exist

"The cure had a controller. For my son Taylor, gaming wasn't entertainment — it was a lifeline through five years of cancer treatment. We built GameChanger to give that same lifeline to every kid in a hospital bed."

— Jim Carol, Founder · Taylor survived, and helps lead GameChanger today

Read our story ▶

The record

Where your money goes.

25,000+

Kids reached through play

250+

Children's hospitals served

96%

of every dollar to the mission

2026 California Nonprofit of the Year — Senate District 36

501(c)(3) — EIN 26-3438815

All-volunteer — founded 2007

Be part of this

Join the game.

Give your time, your skills, or your company's reach. However you show up, there's a place for you here.

Player 2 has entered the game

Be Player 2 — volunteer or run a fundraiser

GameChanger runs on its community — Reddit, Discord, streamers and gamers. Bring design, writing, tech or community skills, or stream a fundraiser (MineChanger · Gaming for Good). The single most leveraged thing you can do is raise play, not just give it.

Join the crew ▶ Join the Discord

For companies — the industry already plays for good

Sponsor in-kind

Donate games, hardware & codes

The lifeblood. Your titles, consoles and digital codes go straight to a bedside through the world's only networked hospital game system. Fair-market-value tax receipt and full distribution proof.

Donate product ▶

Sponsor in cash

Sponsor & partner

Reach 3.5 billion gamers through a cause they love — cause-marketing, CSR/ESG reporting, employee engagement and Benevity matching, with measurable impact across 250+ hospitals.

See how partners play ▶

Get help

A child in the hospital? Our programs are always free.

GameChanger may already be down the hall. Find out if your hospital plays, or get in touch with our team — and if you run a children's hospital, bring GameChanger to your kids.

For patients & families ▶ For hospitals

Press start once — power play all year

The Continue Club.

Becoming a monthly GameChanger is the single biggest thing you can do for kids in hospitals — steady support means a console is always ready when a new kid checks in.

Make it monthly Continue?

Join the Continue Club ▶

Cancel anytime. One-time is always the default — monthly is opt-in.

Member A pixel badge + your name on the donor wall

Member First look at the documentary & behind-the-scenes

Member Quarterly "rooms you powered" impact report