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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

How basic psychological phenomena impact (or should impact) game design and user experience.

How can the psychology behind escape room design be applied to the design and play of video games and virtual reality? Or vice versa?

I talk to veteran game designer Jason Vandenberghe, who has turned to psychology and personality theory to understand and empathize with what kinds of experiences gamers want.

Why universities and other institutions offering degrees in the gaming industry are having students take Psychology 101.

How cognitively demanding games can be a big help with developing certain mental and social skills, especially for kids with special needs.

On the 12th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me …TWELVE AUDIO ARTICLES!

In this episode my guest expert and I discuss what psychology has to say about online harassment in games: what causes it, what predicts it, and how we might be able to curb it.

Is it possible to be addicted to video games? How well are scientists doing at finding out?

How morality and moral choices affect game design and how we play.

How avatars can affect our attitudes towards games –and life outside of games.

Why do people collect things in video games, and how can game designers make it more enjoyable and worthwhile?

I interview the authors of the new book Moral Combat: Why the War on Violent Video Games Is Wrong.

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).

In this episode I talk about how some psychologists are using video games as a therapy tool.

This episode’s guest helps us understand what motivates us to play games, and even specific games in particular.

Pitfalls, limitations, and caveats around research on video game aggression and addiction.

Enjoy the audio versions of 12 Psychology of Games articles all assembled together for your listening pleasure.

What’s the formula for habit-forming mobile games like Pokemon Go? How do you break these habits if you don’t want them?

How can biofeedback and psychophysiology –the physiological bases of mental processes– be used to design better video games?

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?

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.

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.

What’s the popular topics and state of academic research on psychology and video games? And how can academics package that information for the media and everyone else?