Don’t Do Your Best: Goal Setting and Horizon:Zero Dawn
Horizon: Zero Dawn’s hunting challenges make good use of goal setting psychology, but here’s how they could do a little better.
Compared to Other Heroes of the Storm…
Here’s little psychological trick Heroes of the Storm uses to make us feel better about our performance after a match…
Podcast 28: How We See Our In-Game Avatars
How avatars can affect our attitudes towards games –and life outside of games.
Why We Love to Hate Negative Reviews
How one bit of negative information in a game review or forum post can color our entire perception of a game.
Podcast 27: Collecting Things in Video Games
Why do people collect things in video games, and how can game designers make it more enjoyable and worthwhile?
Carrying the Responsibility Bias for the Team
A cognitive bias helps explain why some people insist that they carry the whole team in online competitive games.
Podcast 26: Moral Combat on Violent Video Games
I interview the authors of the new book Moral Combat: Why the War on Violent Video Games Is Wrong.
Why Being a Better Gamer Can Help You Be a Better Person
How being good at games can make you more open to improving other parts of your self.
Podcast 25: A Parent’s Guide to The Psychology of Video Games
I talk to the author of the new book, A Parent’s Guide to Video Games about psychology, kids, video games, and what we really know (and don’t know).
A Blizzard of Procedural Justice
What we can learn from Blizzard’s changes to Overwatch about creating a sense of procedural fairness.
Podcast 24: Using Video Games for Therapy
In this episode I talk about how some psychologists are using video games as a therapy tool.
The Consistency of Automatic Helping in Games
How one simple trick from the psychology of persuasion could lead to better gaming experiences.
Podcast 23: Self Determination Theory and Why We Play Games
This episode’s guest helps us understand what motivates us to play games, and even specific games in particular.
Zeigarnik Effect and Quest Logs
How checklists and quest logs get us to keep playing.
Deliberate Practice and Getting Good
How a certain kind of deliberate practice might help gamers get good.
Overwatch Overjustification
How rewarding Overwatch players with bonus loot boxes may push them back towards Quick Play.
Podcast 22: Research on Games, Aggression, and Addiction
Pitfalls, limitations, and caveats around research on video game aggression and addiction.
30 Questions About Games Psychologists Should Answer
30 questions about psychology and video games that I wish academics would answer (or answer better).
Do Non-Player Characters Count as an “Audience”?
Can the presence of NPCs affect our performance the same as having real people watching us?
Podcast 21: Achievements and Motivation
Do achievements, badges, and other sources of external motivation always work as game designers expect, or can they undermine motivation to play?
The Overjustification Effect and Game Achievements
How achievements, trophies, and badges in games can lower player motivation under the wrong circumstances.
Podcast 20: 12 Months of Psychology of Games Posts
Enjoy the audio versions of 12 Psychology of Games articles all assembled together for your listening pleasure.
The Near Miss Effect and Game Rewards
How failure can feel like success and motivate you to keep playing under the right circumstances.
What Do You Want to Know About the Psychology of Video Games?
I need your help preparing for an upcoming talk. Let’s brainstorm!
Podcast 19: Habit Forming Games
What’s the formula for habit-forming mobile games like Pokemon Go? How do you break these habits if you don’t want them?
Twitching, Cheering, and Dirty Laundry
Twitch has added microtransactions as a way to support streamers. Cool. But what are some psychological quirks at play?
Podcast 18: Biofeedback and Video Game Design
How can biofeedback and psychophysiology –the physiological bases of mental processes– be used to design better video games?
Why Do Achievements, Trophies, and Badges Work?
Do achievements, badges, and trophies in video games work? If so, why?
Podcast 17: Gaming Psychology and Learning
What is it about video games that make them such effective tools for learning and teaching people new material?
Dark Souls and Gitting into a Gud Mindset
How Dark Souls 3 taught me to be a better parent by encouraging me to embrace failure.
Podcast 16: The Qualities of Online Relationships
In this episode we discuss friendships and other relationships formed in online games. Can they substitute for offline relationships? Are they better or worse in some ways?
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Kisses, Anticipation, and the Lost Art of Identifying
Wait. Don’t identify that loot yet. You’ll enjoy it more.
Podcast 15: Simulation Sickness and Virtual Reality
I talk with Ben Lewis Evans, a psychologist and UX researcher at Epic Games, about simulation sickness in VR and how developers work around it.
Psychology and Video Game Product Engagement Presentation
A recording of the slide deck I used for a lecture on video games, psychology, and product engagement.
Kill Cam Kudos and Overwatch
Video: How a small tweak to Blizzard’s new game might nudge people towards sportsmanship.
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Enjoyed the articles and podcasts over the years? Kick a buck or two my way to keep them coming.
Podcast 14: Why People Play Games
Nick Yee from Quantic Foundry talks about their research on what motivates different kinds of people to play different kinds of games.
Favorite Sentences from My Book
Some of my favorite stupid sentences from my book about the psychology of video games.
Four More GDC Presentations About Psychology and Video Games
Four free talks from the Game’s Developer Conference about psychology and video games.
Podcast 13: Stress, Games, and Recovery
This episode I talk to Dr. Emily Collins about how video games can be used to recover from a stressful day.
Learned Helplessness and Halo 5
Why some games and some experiences make us feel more helpless than others –and what designers can do about it.
Podcast 12: Video Game Violence
In this episode I talk to Dr. Christopher J. Ferguson about research on the effects of video game violence.
Newtonian Engagement and Metal Gear Solid V
Why are some games better than others at getting us to just keep playing without taking a break?
Podcast 11: Video Games and Our Health
How do video games affect our health –both physical and mental– for better or worse?
The Steam Winter Sale is Too Much Sale
The 2015 Steam Winter Sale has ditched the daily and flash deals. Here’s why I think that may be a bad idea.
Podcast 10: Can Video Games Make You Smarter?
I talk to Dr. C. Shawn Green from the University of Wisconsin-Madison about whether brain training programs work and if regular old action games can make you smarter –and what that really means.
Reason Based Choice and the Golden Path
How a simple choice of words can bias your choices in video games, such as what NPC factions to support.
Podcast 9: How Do Games Differ From Other Media?
I talk to Dr. Nick Bowman from West Virginia University about how video games differ from other media in terms of the demands they place on players and thus how our approaches to studying them should differ. It turns out that video games ARE special and something new.
The Psychology of Horror Games
In celebration of Halloween, let’s look at some of the psychology behind why people like scary video games.
A Wii Little Fluency Effect
“Wii U” sounds silly, but Nintendo’s consoles might be benefiting a little from what’s known as the fluency effect.