{ games } Angry
Haul: pull the heat down into the water.
Angry · about 90 seconds · Regulate+
When you're furious, being told to calm down makes it worse. Haul starts at your pace instead, gives the anger something heavy to pull, and slows you down one stroke at a time.
In short
Pull a glowing rope down into dark water with full thumb strokes, hand over hand. It starts at your pace, gets heavier as it comes in, and ends on two long, slow pulls you can't rush.
Pull it here.
A short rope · drag downA shorter rope than the app, and without the haptic weight you feel on your phone.
On your own · about a minute
How to do it without the app.
- Stand facing a wall and put both palms flat on it.
- Push hard for five to seven seconds, as if you were trying to move it.
- Let go slowly while you breathe out, for longer than the push took.
- Do it three or four times. Skip the punching and smashing: that tends to keep the heat up.
In the app, you feel the weight.
The rope gets heavier as it comes in, and your phone carries that weight through haptics and sound.
- A tug on the beat, leading your pace down
- A firmer pulse when a stroke moves the rope
- Clicks as you take the last two long pulls
- Sound: rope, water, and knots that hiss as they cool. The pitch drops as it gets heavier
Part of Regulate+
Why it works
Anger gets your body ready to act, and it wants something to push against. Venting and hitting things tend to keep it going. Haul gives the effort a job, then leads it down: it takes your pace from the first few pulls, then rewards slower, fuller strokes until the last two can only be done slowly.
The weight lives on the screen and in the haptics, not in your muscles. If you want more of it, brace your arm and let your shoulder feel each pull.
What the research says
Why it isn't a smash game.
A 2024 review of 154 studies found that activities which bring your arousal down reduced anger, while venting and high-energy exercise, like going for a run, did not help. An earlier experiment found that hitting a punch bag while thinking about the person who caused the anger left people angrier than doing nothing.
- Evidence
- Moderate for the approach; no trial of Haul itself
- Built on
- Research on anger and arousal; lowering arousal rather than venting
- What it doesn't show
- That pulling a rope on a screen lowers anger. The weight is simulated.
When to use it
Straight after the argument, when you're still replaying it. When you want to throw something. When thinking it through is only making it hotter.
Questions people ask
Is Haul about getting the anger out?
No. Venting tends to keep anger going. Haul matches your energy first, then slows it down.
What if I pull fast?
Fast, short pulls barely move the rope. Slower, full-length pulls do the work.
How long does it take?
About 90 seconds. If you stop, the clock pauses and nothing is lost.
Sources
Evidence: moderate
More for when you're angry
Haul is part of Regulate+. 7 days free on the annual plan.
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