While stress is an inevitable part of life, it is very present and becoming more prevalent among university students [1]. In addition to anxiety and stress, depression can also impact higher education students’ life to such an extent that in-depth research is necessary in order to help future students. Studies show that in some cases almost 10% of university students have been diagnosed with, or treated for, depression over the past 12 months [2]. In a recent study [3] the students completed a survey consisting of demographic questions, a section instructing participants to rate the level of concern associated with challenges pertinent to daily life (e.g. academics, family, sleep), and the 21-question version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale. The results indicated that the top three concerns were academic performance, pressure to succeed, and post-graduation plans. Academic pressures of meeting grade requirements, test taking, volume of material to be learned and time management has been shown to be a significant source of stress for HE students. While academics can be perceived as a positive challenge, potentially increasing learning capacity and competency, if viewed negatively, this stress can be detrimental to the student's mental health and wellbeing. Researchers urged for the need for universities to implement a systematic and continuous method to monitor the mental health of their students [3]. This type of monitoring, along with increased availability of programs, would allow universities to evaluate the mental health needs of their students as well as assess and improve the efficacy of their existing counseling programs.The project’s objective is to design and develop a 3D virtual world using the potential of a gamification-based approach in which university students will anonymously engage in activities that will help them be better prepared for University curricular activities and ultimately help them reduce anxiety while simultaneously monitor their mental health. Inside the environment, students will engage in gamified activities that usually induces anxiety such as preparation for an exam. Visualization of activities that causes anxiety through the virtual world will help the participants to get better prepared for the actual activities. Additionally, successfully completing the activity in the virtual world will reduce the anxiety in real life when the real activity will take place. Psychological counseling will be designed inside the environment using proper setting. The 3d virtual world environment presents numerous benefits for psychological counseling, since it removes the restrictions of physical representation. The student and the counselor -each in the convenience of their own space (campus or home)- can log in in the environment and be represented by virtual avatars that can be transformed as the individual user wishes and feels comfortable with (appearance, outfit etc.). Furthermore, the environment will comprise a visually appealing and relaxing virtual environment consisting of rivers, mountains, waterfall, flowers, trees, beaches etc. Additionally, the environment provides anonymity for students that are afraid to engage in a traditional face to face phycological counseling. Finally, the Counseling Center of each University can monitor the overall mental health of their students by examining students answers in virtual world surveys. Students will have the option to choose if they prefer to take the surveys or not.This 3D virtual world will be developed using an iterative development process (alpha, beta and final version) after a thorough needs analysis involving students and professionals. Students from all partner countries will participate in various sessions inside the environment. The project will have a significant impact to students, educators, university counseling centers and mental health professionals. The final version of the environment will be multilingual, open and expandable to other languages and game scenarios, allowing broader long-time benefits. References[1] Mackenzie, S., et al. (2011). Depression and suicide ideation among students accessing campus health care. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 81(1), 101. [2] Wolfram R. (2010). Depression Care: Using the Chronic Care Model in a University Health Center. Doctoral dissertation, Valparaiso University.[3] Beiter, R., et al. (2015). The prevalence and correlates of depression, anxiety, and stress in a sample of college students. Journal of Affective Disorders, 173, 90–96.