Podcast 52: Being Indistractable
Psychology of Games Summer Book Club concludes with Nir Eyal, author of newly released Indistractible.
Psychology of Games Summer Book Club concludes with Nir Eyal, author of newly released Indistractible.
What is it about Marvel super hero games that is really effective at making us feel transported to another world?
Psychology of Games Summer Book Club begins with an interview with Dr. Pete Etchells, author of the newly released Lost in a Good Game.
EAs says loot boxes are just beloved “surprise mechanics.” In a way, this is true. In a more relevant way, it is not.
How much screen time is good and/or bad for the psychological well-being of kids?
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.
I’ll be on a panel talking about how I turned my passion for psychology and games into …all this. *gestures broadly at website*
Shared mental models, a concept borrowed from psychology, help explain why some teams dominate in multiplayer games.
Three simple psychological principles that help get players to pay for the Fortnite Battle Pass.
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.
Watch five recent convention panels about psychology and video games
Should loot boxes be considered a form of gambling? Is there a relationship between loot box spending and gambling?
The audio book of Getting Gamers is out, plus how you can appear in my next book
What link have researchers found between intelligence and how well you play MOBAs?
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
The “Squad Eliminated” screen in Apex Legends and the psychology of comparisons.
My book, “Getting Gamers: The Psychology of Video Games” is now available in paperback.
Why does gamification work, or not work? Can a game be used to screen job applicants?
How games provide feedback …and how they’re lacking.
My guest and I talk about the application of Dungeons & Dragons to psychology –and vice versa.
Should game tutorials hold players’ hands or encourage them to fail?
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?
How game developers might use a bit of psychology to better structure moral choices.
You say “What 30 things should researchers study about psychology and games!” I say “Listen to this episode of the podcast!” Woo!
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.
What do therapists need to know about the new video game addiction standards and other topics related to their patients’ favorite games?
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!
Part of why Fortnite is so popular is the way it uses random rewards –and I don’t mean just loot drops.
How basic psychological phenomena impact (or should impact) game design and user experience.
We make new opinions more readily than we change existing ones. How can recommendation engines take advantage of this?
How can the psychology behind escape room design be applied to the design and play of video games and virtual reality? Or vice versa?
How obscuring players’ understanding of what’s going on might actually help them enjoy it more.
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.
Three lessons about the psychology of in-game purchases, illustrated by Destiny 2’s Tess Everis.
How cognitively demanding games can be a big help with developing certain mental and social skills, especially for kids with special needs.
Today’s special guest contributor tells us how to use psychology to make loot boxes truly evil.
On the 12th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me …TWELVE AUDIO ARTICLES!
In which we apply some lessons from the psychology behind combining losses and gains to leveling up in video games.
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.
Horizon: Zero Dawn’s hunting challenges make good use of goal setting psychology, but here’s how they could do a little better.
Is it possible to be addicted to video games? How well are scientists doing at finding out?
How a few seconds with one trick from social psychology may help players get along better.
Why do people play games that simulate jobs, even their own jobs that they spend hours doing every day?
How morality and moral choices affect game design and how we play.
Here’s little psychological trick Heroes of the Storm uses to make us feel better about our performance after a match…