Psychology of Video Games Podcast

Feb 02 2025 100 ep. 56 mins 1.2k
Psychology of Video Games Podcast artwork

Examining how psychology explains why video games are made how they are and why gamers behave as we do.

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Episode 100 - Can Playing D&D Be Good For You?

Feb 02 2025 45 mins  
It's frequently argued that playing games like Dungeons & Dragons can help you develop social skills like, cooperation, teamwork, and interpersonal communication. Get in there, use the game as scaffolding to practice those skills in a low-risk environment, and be a better you!And while these arguments make sense and are sometimes paired with anecdotal evidence, research in a co

Podcast 99 - Toxicity and Support

Nov 07 2024 53 mins  
Toxicity in video games has been a long-standing and long-studied problem. In this episode, I talk to someone who has not only studied toxic behavior among gamers, but specifically looked at how players deal with it --or don't deal with it-- and what game companies can do to help gamers when they see or experience it.Audio Credits:“Robot Motivation” by The Polish Ambassador, li

Episode 98 - Embedding Values in Games

Oct 01 2024 63 mins  
Many games put forth some kind of value that they hope will be communicated to players, be they ones that see obvious (like the value of empathy) or subtle (like experiencing life under capitalism). When the insertion of these values into game development is deliberate, what do we know about how it happens and what effects it has on players?Support me on Patreon: https://patreon.co

Episode 97 - Why We Like Really Hard (and Really Easy) Games

Sep 01 2024 46 mins  
We have some decent theories for understanding the appeal of many different types of video games. But one thing I've always struggled to explain is why people love really difficult games (like Dark Souls) or really easy games (like Cookie Clicker). In this episode I'll explore one theory about uncertainty reduction that helps explain why we find ANY kind of game engaging.Support me

Episode 96 - Psychology of D&D Book Kickstarter

Jul 24 2024 51 mins  
My publisher is running a Kickstarter to offer discounted, early copies of my new book on the Psychology of Dungeons & Dragons. To help you decide if you want to back it (I think you should, but I'm arguably biased), this episode contains excerpts from multiple chapters and some of my own inside commentary.The book will be available for sale widely later this year, but this is

Episode 95 Sense of Place

Jul 01 2024 58 mins  
Have you ever become attached to a place in a video game? A virtual environment that you've obviously never visited in the flesh but which you start to think of it like a real place? Maybe the dwarven capitol of Ironforge in World of Warcraft? The spaceship The Normandy in Mass Effect? Link and Zelda's land of Hyrule? Maybe you you have become so familiar with those virtual places

Episode 94 - The Psychology of Gaming Passion

Jun 03 2024 54 mins  
Many of us have considered ourselves "passionate" about one thing or another, including video games or even specific game series or franchises. But what does this mean and is it always a good thing? When can passion become a detriment to our lives and our psychological well-being? These are the kinds of questions I'll discuss with this episode's guest expert.Audio Credits:“Robot

Podcast 93 - Do Games Make You Smarter?

May 01 2024 63 mins  
In this episode, I'll explore some research on whether or not video games can make you smarter or help you develop certain cognitive skills.Audio Credits:“Robot Motivation” by The Polish Ambassador, licensed under Creative Commons: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Episode 92 - Nostalgia

Mar 03 2024 47 mins  
In this episode, I talk with an expert on how video games elicit nostalgia and what it means for players and consumers.Audio Credits:“Robot Motivation” by The Polish Ambassador, licensed under Creative Commons: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Episode 91 - Avatars

Feb 01 2024 55 mins  
What do research and theory say about how our avatars in video games and virtual reality may shape our behaviors --and how they don't?Audio Credits:“Robot Motivation” by The Polish Ambassador, licensed under Creative Commons: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0