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.
Getting Gamers: The Psychology of Video Games Book
Getting Gamers: The Psychology of Video Games and Their Impact on the People Who Play Them is a book about how video games use psychology to shape our behavior, manipulate our beliefs, and rig our purchasing decisions.
Podcast 8: Envy and Microtransactions
How can envy can drive us to make in-game purchases and microtransactions? But also, what do we think of others who just buy things we chose to grind out? Let’s see what the research suggests.
The Kuleshov Effect: Is Batman Hungry?
An old technique from film making has psychological roots that reach into the world of video games.
Podcast 7: The State of Video Game Debates
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?
Shenmue 3 Kickstarter and the Affect Heuristic
How do gaming Kickstarters that rely on nostalgia make use of our irrational decision-making?
Podcast 6: Using Psychology to Craft User Experiences
If the users of games are humans, then a little psychology should help a lot in user research, right? Celia Hodent from Epic Games explains why in this episode.
When the Pay to Win Button Backfires
How do players react and what social comparisons do they make when others pay real money for in-game advantages?
Podcast 5: Building Better AI Through Psychology
How can a little psychology make NPCs and other artificial intelligence agents in games seem more like real humans?
Free Money, Grocery Bags, and Smarter Than You
How the irrational way we treat “free” as a price in games can lead us astray …or keep us on track.
Podcast 4: Toxic Behavior
I talk to Dr. Jeffrey Lin about using psychology to curb toxic behavior in online games.
Why Did the Mass Effect 3 Ending Ruin The Whole Series?
What do the ending of the Mass Effect series and a painful medical procedure have in common? They both illustrate how memory and evaluation of experiences interact.
Podcast 3: Psychological Flow
I talk to Dr. Linda Kaye about psychological flow in video games, including the new topic of group flow in multiplayer gaming.
Support Psychology of Games on Patreon
After 6 years and 151 pieces of content, I’m asking for a little support to move this whole psychology of games thing forward.
Why We Hate (Some) Motion Controls
Some recent research suggests how to predict whether motion controls and other weird peripherals will lead to frustration or enjoyment.
Podcast 2: Big Data and Becoming a Video Game Psychologist
We talk to Dr. Nick Yee about game companies’ use of big data and how he became a video game psychologist.
Three GDC 15 Talks on Psychology and Video Games
Get 3 free talks about psychology and video games from the 2015 Game Developer’s Conference.
Psychology and Video Game Kickstarters
3 psychological phenomena that can help determine the success (or failure) of a Kickstarter video game pitch.
Podcast 1: Rage Quitting, Frustration and Aggression
I talk to Dr. Andrew Przybylski from Oxford about video game aggression, frustration, rage quitting, and motivation.
Hand over $4.99 or Spider-Man Gets It
All it may take to get people to spend money in free to play games is one well placed countdown timer.
Red vs. Blue: Which Should You Choose?
Has anyone ever done research on whether playing on the red team or the blue gives one a mental edge in games? Yep.
Psychology & Loot in Edge #276
I have an article on the psychology behind loot, grinding, and player envy in the new issue of Edge Magazine, #276. Read more for some more details.
Book Update: Call for Info
I’m almost done with my book, but I need your help if you’re interested in covering it for your publication, providing pre-release comments, or using it in your classroom.
Psychology of High Scores, Leaderboards, & Competition
How can information about players’ scores and other accomplishments be framed so as to motivate them to compete and try to do better than other players? Let’s explore 3 psychological phenomena that can help.
The Psychology of Destiny’s Loot Systems
Destiny’s loot system leaves out one very important component that could make playing the game more compulsive and habit forming. But it adds in another that might be prolonging player enjoyment after getting a sweet loot drop.
Cheap Beer and the Psychology of PlayStation Now Pricing
Sony just launched its PlayStation Now service that lets you rent access to streaming games. The pricing seems a bit odd to some, but it actually uses some well established psychological tricks to nudge you towards the option that Sony wants you to take. Allow me to explain…
Three Books on the Psychology of Video Games
Hey, while I work on my own book about the psychology of video games, here are three good reads on the topic to tide you over.
Frustration vs. Video Game Violence in Real-Life Aggression
Does violent content in video games cause violence in real-life? Or might something more mundane like frustration over controls and difficulty offer an alternative explanation?
When Marketing to Gamers Backfires
Products frequently try to appeal to group membership when marketing to gamers, but a new study shows when this “you’re not a real gamer if you don’t buy this” approach is likely to backfire.
Thomas’s Dark Soul Is Alone
What do Dark Souls and Thomas Was Alone have in common with a cartoon from 1944? They all illustrate how we’re biased to fill in story gaps based on our own experiences and beliefs.
The Psychology of Video Games: The Book Is Coming!
Have you ever wanted to read about this stuff in book format? Good news!
Why We Love Ellie From The Last of Us
Why do we feel like we have a real relationship and feelings for characters like Ellie in The Last of Us? The psychology behind parasocial relationships explains why video games are better at this than any other medium.
You Can Cheat, But Don’t Be a Cheater
My wife was once highly offended by a cartoon mole, and the story highlights how a simple attack on self-concept can reduce the frequency and severity of cheating in video games.
Twitching and Choking: The Audience Effect in Games
Between Twitch and YouTube, many people are now gaming for an audience. What effect does this have on performance? It depends on the audience and the game.
Fake Feels and Free Passes
The story of one very scary bridge may explain why Game of the Year discussions ignore the flaws in games like The Last of Us.
50-Something Gaming Academics on Twitter
Here’s a list of 50+ academics on Twitter who study or write about the overlap between video games and fields like psychology, communications, sociology, law, and more. Find someone new to follow!
The Psychology of Video Game Avatars
Are you more dominant, kind, assertive, clever, or flirty depending on how your character appears in-game? Both new and old research has shown that the avatars we adopt can influence our behaviors not only inside the game, but outside as well.
How Not to Compare the Xbox One and PS4
With the Xbox One and PS4 in stores this month, many of us are comparing bulleted lists of features when trying to decide which to buy. That’s a step up from blind fanboyism, but such an approach can still trigger a couple of mental errors in judgment. Here’s how to avoid them.
The Psychology of Video Game Nostalgia
With the help of researchers in psychology and marketing, let’s explore why we tend to get nostalgic about old games, why we may be fooling ourselves about how great they were, why it may be a good thing anyway, and why it makes us vulnerable to marketers.
Saucy Necromancers And the Psychology of Self-Perception
What effect does using highly sexualized avatars have on our preoccupation with body image and acceptance of rape myths? Some new research on self-perception theory and virtual reality avatars suggests some things you should be aware of the next time you sit down at a character creation screen.
Less Humble Bundles Are More
The “less is more” effect can make one product seem more valuable than another even though it has less to offer. The Humble Bundle deals provide a great real-world example of how you might be willing to pay more if the deals were presented in just a slightly different way.
Why You Don’t Burn Out on Candy Crush Saga
Candy Crush Saga is the most popular game on Facebook, iOS, and Android. Unsurprisingly, it uses a few psychological levers to move its players, and this article focuses on one of them to answer the question: Why do they limit the number of lives you have per day instead of letting you play as much as you want?
Why Do Color Coded Clues in Level Design Work?
Level designers often use colors to guide players along their way. The psychology of inattentional blindness and traffic accidents has more in common with this than you might think.
Does Respeccing Your Character in Diablo 3 Make You Happy?
My latest column over at Gamesindustry.biz looks at the question of whether we’d be happier if we had to stick with our choices in games instead of always having the option to respec, respend, and revise without penalty.
Why Gone Home Is So Immersive
The first person exploration game Gone Home is one of the most immersive games I’ve ever seen, and it was done with just a tiny budget and team relative to AAA games. Let’s look at what theories of spatial presence have to say about what the developers did and why it works so well.