LONDON — After missing a year of school with a concussion from a rugby accident at his school, 17-year-old Eton College student Harry Liuhan has designed a card game to help others better understand and recognize the condition.
Cagoga: A Card Game That Makes the Invisible Visible
The unseeable nature of internal head injury becomes starkly visualized by each aspect of the card game Cagoga. Far more challenging to identify than a bruise or a cut, a concussion does not manifest as something obvious to the eye. Instead, it looks like the symptoms a patient feels—headaches, dizziness, disorientation, fatigue. Designed by Harry Liuhan, a 17-year-old concussion survivor, Cagoga makes the world of a concussion patient interactive, even playful, so that those on the outside can access the ineffable experience of living with concussion.
The brilliance of Cagoga lies in its transformation of something invisible into something tangible. Where most educational materials on concussion remain confined to medical pamphlets or clinical lectures, this game reframes the narrative entirely. It uses art, color, and strategy to transform abstract medical reality into lived game experience. As Harry has explained in interviews, his goal was to create something that teenagers would not just tolerate but actively want to play. “My classmates don’t really respond to pamphlets or speeches,” he noted. “I needed to reach them with something they would actually enjoy learning from.” Cagoga is the fruit of that mission.
The violence and disruption of severe head injuries come through the cards of Cagoga in piercing yellows and pulsing reds. To play Cagoga is, in many ways, to battle concussion. The game is designed so that the act of playing mirrors the challenges of navigating recovery: sudden setbacks, recurring symptoms, and the fragile hope of healing.
But more than a visually striking deck of playing cards, Cagoga covertly teaches its players how to look out for themselves in real life. Inside the calm blue box of every Cagoga card game set is a carefully balanced deck of attacks, symptoms, and life-saving resources.
Among the most powerful cards in the deck are the Symptom Cards, which capture the agony and frustration of concussion with clarity and artistic depth. Cards such as Headache Band, Cognitive Dissonance, and Imbalance depict the lived realities of brain injury. A player struck with these cards in gameplay is forced to pause, slow down, or redirect strategy—just as real patients must reorganize their daily lives around recurring symptoms.
To begin a match, players must first draw a Character Card. These cards are linked to one of ten elemental “Types” in the game: Fire, Water, Light, Space, Electric, Creation, Radiation, Chemical, Metal, and Normal. Each type brings unique strengths and weaknesses, marked by a small symbol in the lefthand corner.
The Types create a dynamic ecosystem of vulnerability and resilience, echoing the unpredictable nature of real-world health. For instance, a character aligned with Water might resist Fire attacks but prove vulnerable to Electric ones. This interplay ensures that no player begins invincible, just as no real patient can fully control the trajectory of an injury.
Notably, Harry himself is immortalized as one of the characters, alongside whimsical and symbolic figures such as Hoot and Mask. The inclusion of personal identity in the deck underscores how lived experience is at the heart of the game.
(right) Healing Retreat, Healing Card
Set against a red backdrop, the Attack Cards cause damage to opponents’ physical or mental health. They embody external blows, collisions, and moments of violence that so often trigger concussions—rugby tackles, falls, impacts. The Symptom Cards, in contrast, evoke the inner aftermath: headaches, blurred vision, dizziness. They are colored in deep blue, highlighting the silent calm that belies the turmoil within. Finally, the Healing Cards, shaded in earthy greens, offer recovery and hope. Together, these card categories replicate the cycle of injury, symptom, and recovery in a structured but unpredictable rhythm.
Cagoga doesn’t shy away from world-building. While it is indeed a creation designed to motivate concussion awareness, it is also a full game in its own right with creative mechanics and gameplay. For beginners, play can begin with a shared deck, offering a simple introduction. More advanced players, however, can dive into the strategic depth of deck-building. Here lies the heart of Cagoga’s challenge: players must carefully balance Attack, Symptom, Healing, and Utility cards to maximize their ability to knock out opponents while still protecting themselves. In doing so, players enact the central tension of concussion itself—balancing risk and recovery, advancing carefully while protecting against setbacks.
One of the most remarkable features of Cagoga is its willingness to balance the heavy with the light. While Symptom Cards are grounded in real medical reality, other cards, such as Cyber Monster, Brain Smoothie, or the outrageous Ultra Falling Bird Poop, introduce humor and absurdity. These playful moments keep the game lively and accessible, ensuring that players can absorb the message without being weighed down by solemnity.
By blending reality and imagination, Cagoga creates a space where learning, empathy, and play can coexist.
The reception from the medical community has been striking. “It’s truly inspiring to see the intersection of medicine and creativity used in such a meaningful way to support healing and foster connection,” commented Teena Shetty, MD, Director of the Concussion Program in Neurology at HSS. Cagoga represents a model for how patient experience, artistic design, and educational purpose can combine to create something more effective than any single element could achieve alone.
Importantly, Cagoga does not attempt to offer cure or closure. Instead, it offers recognition. It makes space for empathy and shared experience. It reminds players that healing is nonlinear, unpredictable, and often frustrating—but also that recovery can be approached with community, creativity, and even fun.
Since its creation, Cagoga has been shared widely with children’s hospitals, libraries, and schools, ensuring that the lessons of concussion awareness reach those who most need them. The game is particularly effective in environments where young athletes face frequent risks of head injury but may lack the vocabulary to describe their experiences.
At its core, Cagoga is an invitation. It asks anyone with a curious mind and a penchant for gameplay to step into the shoes of a concussion patient, to feel what cannot be seen, and to emerge with greater understanding. It teaches that concussion is not just about injury but about identity, resilience, and community.
The game proves that awareness does not have to be dry or clinical—it can be creative, interactive, and joyful. And in transforming education into play, it creates a space where players, patients, and caregivers alike can share in the messy, unpredictable, but ultimately hopeful journey of recovery.
Cagoga began as the vision of one teenager determined to make his peers understand what he had endured. It has since grown into a unique blend of art, education, and entertainment. Through piercing colors, inventive mechanics, and heartfelt storytelling, it turns the invisible world of concussion into something that can be held, played, and understood.
It is both lighthearted and deeply serious, playful yet purposeful. And in that delicate balance lies its power. Cagoga reminds us that healing is not only a medical process but a human one—shared, communal, and, like a card game, best experienced together.
Great Job Abbie Wilson & the Team @ Our Culture Source link for sharing this story.
