Heidi Rautalahti

Heidi Rautalahti is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Computer Science at Aalto University's School of Science, working under Professor Janne Lindqvist's professorship. Her research bridges game design, psychology, and death studies to explore how video games facilitate grief processing, death acceptance, and empathetic end-of-life experiences through innovative design frameworks.

Her primary research domains include Grief Psychology (100% fingerprint match), Game Design (100%), Narrative Psychology (100%), Gaming Psychology (100%), and Empathy (50%). She investigates death-themed games as therapeutic tools that transform fear of death into peaceful engagement through compassionate companionship and ritualistic gameplay mechanics.

Analysis of her 2022-2025 publications reveals a cohesive trajectory in death-positive game design, with increasing focus on grief processing mechanisms and player emotional regulation. Her work consistently applies psychological frameworks to game design spaces while examining player experience in mortality-themed interactive narratives.

Dr. Rautalahti actively contributes to academic communities through Nordic DiGRA organizing committee membership, guest editorship for Uskonnontutkija journal, and conference presentations at ACM SIGCHI and DiGRA. Her public outreach includes talks on video games' role in addressing existential questions, demonstrating commitment to translating research into societal impact.