The Psychology of Video Games

Examining the intersection of psychology and video games

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Podcast 67: Esports Performance Consulting

How can psychologists help esports athletes improve, stay healthy, and thrive?

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Podcast

Podcast 66: Procedural Rhetoric in Games

When games have a message, do players respond?

Podcast

Podcast 65: Psychology and Final Fantasy

I have a full house of guests this episode, talking about a new book about psychology and Final Fantasy.

Podcast

Podcast 64: How Can Games Make Us Happy?

What does the research say about how video games can help us be more positive and happy?

Podcast

Podcast 63: Loss Aversion and Game Design

How game designers avoid –or deliberately use– the psychological phenomenon of loss aversion

My new Book on Psychology and Games is Out!

My new book explains why your workplace should look more like a video game. And it’s out now!

August 29, 2020 in Plugs.

Podcast 62: The Psychology of Trolling

What does research say about why people troll in video games?

August 1, 2020 in Podcast.

Podcast 61: Twitch Donations

Why do people donate to Twitch streamers? What kinds of relationships do streamers and viewers have?

July 1, 2020 in Podcast.

Podcast 60: Take This (dot org)

My guest expert and I talk about supporting those who play and work in gaming communities.

June 1, 2020 in Podcast.

Deep Rock Habits vs. Rewards

Are rewards the same as incentives in game design?

May 17, 2020 in Articles.

Podcast 59: What is a Games Researcher?

I and my guest expert, a psychology Ph.D. and researcher at Riot Games, talk about using psychology to make better games.

May 1, 2020 in Podcast.

Good Old Scarce Games

How one online games marketplace is hoping to sell you more by offering less.

April 18, 2020 in Articles.

Podcast 58: Economics and Online Games

How one guild leveraged a basic understanding of economics to dominate other MMO players.

April 1, 2020 in Podcast.

Podcast 57: Mental Models in League of Legends

How do the mental models of League of Legends experts differ from other players? And what does it matter?

March 1, 2020 in Podcast.

Video: The Psychology of Video Game Engagement

A lecture I gave on what makes for an engaging game.

February 16, 2020 in Videos.
Podcast 56 image

Podcast 56: RPG Therapy

How one non-profit is using RPGs to teach skills, help people, and enhance therapy.

February 2, 2020 in Podcast.

The Perils of In-Game Currency

The psychology behind how we spend in-game currency.

January 16, 2020 in Articles.

Podcast 55: The Psychology of Level Design

How do level designers look to psychology for helping players can navigate, move through, and make sense of their virtual worlds?

January 4, 2020 in Podcast.

Why Do People Collect Virtual Items?

Virtual items by nature lack many of the things that make physical items so collectible. Here’s how game developers and publishers make virtual things more collectible.

December 20, 2019 in Articles.

Podcast 54: Effects of Sexualization in Games

Guest experts discuss their “adversarial collaboration” to measure (or not) the effects of sexualized avatars.

December 1, 2019 in Podcast.

Patently Worrisome In-Game Offers

How far can customizing offers for in-game purchases go before they seem unfair?

November 15, 2019 in Articles.

Podcast 53: The Qualities of Online Relationships (Rebroadcast)

Are friendships and other relationships formed in online games substitutes for offline relationships? Are they better?

November 1, 2019 in Podcast.

Loading: When We’re Willing to Wait

When might you be more willing to wait for a loading or matchmaking screen to finish?

October 14, 2019 in Articles.

Podcast 52: Being Indistractable

Psychology of Games Summer Book Club concludes with Nir Eyal, author of newly released Indistractible.

October 2, 2019 in Podcast.

Marvel Games and Spatial Presence

What is it about Marvel super hero games that is really effective at making us feel transported to another world?

September 25, 2019 in Articles.

Podcast 51: Lost in a Good Game

Psychology of Games Summer Book Club begins with an interview with Dr. Pete Etchells, author of the newly released Lost in a Good Game.

September 7, 2019 in Podcast.

What the Heck are Surprise Mechanics?

EAs says loot boxes are just beloved “surprise mechanics.” In a way, this is true. In a more relevant way, it is not.

August 26, 2019 in Articles.

How Much Screen Time Is Bad for Kids?

How much screen time is good and/or bad for the psychological well-being of kids?

August 11, 2019 in Articles.

Podcast 50: Moral Choices in Games vs. Other Media

My guests and I discuss how moral choices in games differ from other media and some of our favorite and most compelling choices from games.

August 4, 2019 in Podcast.

Come See Me at PAX West 2019!

I’ll be on a panel talking about how I turned my passion for psychology and games into …all this. *gestures broadly at website*

August 2, 2019 in Plugs.

Shared Mental Models Win Games

Shared mental models, a concept borrowed from psychology, help explain why some teams dominate in multiplayer games.

July 28, 2019 in Articles.

The Psychology Of Fortnite’s Battle Pass

Three simple psychological principles that help get players to pay for the Fortnite Battle Pass.

July 14, 2019 in Articles.

Podcast 49: Empathy in Video Games

How do psychologists study empathy and how can it best be used in games?

July 4, 2019 in Podcast.

Podcast 48: Loot Boxes, Part 2

The full interviews behind my recent episode on psychology and loot boxes.

June 19, 2019 in Podcast.

Five Recent Con Panels on the Psychology of Games

Watch five recent convention panels about psychology and video games

May 17, 2019 in Videos.

Podcast 47: Loot Boxes and Gambling

Should loot boxes be considered a form of gambling? Is there a relationship between loot box spending and gambling?

May 9, 2019 in Podcast.

New Audio Book, Plus How to Appear in My Next Book

The audio book of Getting Gamers is out, plus how you can appear in my next book

May 4, 2019 in Plugs.

Are MOBA Players Smarter Than You?

What link have researchers found between intelligence and how well you play MOBAs?

April 16, 2019 in Articles.

Podcast 46: Collecting Virtual Items in Games

How do game developers make virtual items as collectible as physical objects?

April 1, 2019 in Podcast.

Podcast 45: The Psychology of The Legend of Zelda

I talk with several authors of the new book, The Psychology of Zelda: Linking Our World to the Legend of Zelda Series

March 5, 2019 in Podcast.

Apex Fish in a Small Pond

The “Squad Eliminated” screen in Apex Legends and the psychology of comparisons.

February 18, 2019 in Articles.

Getting Gamers: Now in Paperback

My book, “Getting Gamers: The Psychology of Video Games” is now available in paperback.

February 11, 2019 in Articles.

Podcast 44: Gamification and Video Games as Employment Tests

Why does gamification work, or not work? Can a game be used to screen job applicants?

February 4, 2019 in Podcast.

How Video Games Do Feedback Well (and Poorly)

How games provide feedback …and how they’re lacking.

January 14, 2019 in Articles.

Podcast 43: Dungeons, Dragons, & Psychology

My guest and I talk about the application of Dungeons & Dragons to psychology –and vice versa.

January 1, 2019 in Podcast.

You Screwed Up: The Value of Errors in Game Tutorials

Should game tutorials hold players’ hands or encourage them to fail?

December 16, 2018 in Articles.

Podcast 42: Tracking Our Mobile Game Affinities

A Product Manager from King discusses how he measures players’ affinities for different kinds of mobile games and what developers can do with that information.

December 3, 2018 in Podcast.

Podcast 41: How Video Games Prepare You For Success

My guest and I explore how video games teach and reinforce skills psychologists have found to be important for success in work and life.

November 1, 2018 in Podcast.

Podcast 40: Our Avatar Relationships

What kinds of relationships do people form with their video game avatars, and why?

October 2, 2018 in Podcast.

Nudging Moral Choices in Games

How game developers might use a bit of psychology to better structure moral choices.

September 18, 2018 in Articles.

Podcast 39: Thirty Questions About the Psychology & Games

You say “What 30 things should researchers study about psychology and games!” I say “Listen to this episode of the podcast!” Woo!

September 1, 2018 in Podcast.

The Focusing Illusion and Overwatch

The same wrinkle in our thinking that explains the optimism of people paralyzed in car accidents explains why it’s so frustrating when people don’t play map objectives in video games.

August 20, 2018 in Articles.

Podcast 38: Mental Health Professionals and Video Games

What do therapists need to know about the new video game addiction standards and other topics related to their patients’ favorite games?

August 6, 2018 in Podcast.

Come See Me at PAX West!

I’m going to PAX West August 31 – September 3rd! I’ll be on panels about gaming disorders and moral choices in games! You should say hello!

July 20, 2018 in Plugs, Site Announcements.

Fortnite’s Success Is Due to Random Chance

Part of why Fortnite is so popular is the way it uses random rewards –and I don’t mean just loot drops.

July 16, 2018 in Articles.

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