Episode 100 - Can Playing D&D Be Good For You?
It's frequently argued that playing games like Dungeons & Dragons can help you develop social skills like, cooperation, teamwork, and interp...
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TV & Film
Psychology of Video Games Podcast
Examining how psychology explains why video games are made how they are and why gamers behave as we do.
Episodes
20 of 100 episodesPodcast 99 - Toxicity and Support
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...
Episode 98 - Embedding Values in Games
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 emp...
Episode 97 - Why We Like Really Hard (and Really Easy) Games
We have some decent theories for understanding the appeal of many different types of video games. But one thing I've always struggled to exp...
Episode 96 - Psychology of D&D Book Kickstarter
My publisher is running a Kickstarter to offer discounted, early copies of my new book on the Psychology of Dungeons & Dragons. To help you...
Episode 95 Sense of Place
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 y...
Episode 94 - The Psychology of Gaming Passion
Many of us have considered ourselves "passionate" about one thing or another, including video games or even specific game series or franchis...
Podcast 93 - Do Games Make You Smarter?
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....
Episode 92 - Nostalgia
In this episode, I talk with an expert on how video games elicit nostalgia and what it means for players and consumers. Audio Credits: “Robo...
Episode 91 - Avatars
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...
Episode 90 - ADHD and Gaming
In this episode I talk with an expert on diagnosing and treating ADHD in children. We'll talk about the challenges video games present to pe...
Episode 89 - In-Game Purchasess
In-game purchases are a staple of modern game design, especially in the free-to-play and live service categories. This isn't necessarily bad...
Episode 88 - Dungeons & Dragons & Skills
Sometimes we have to sell people on the merits of games like Dungeons & Dragons. People like parents, principals, teachers, or even our own...
Podcast 87 - Immersion and Presence in Video Game Worlds
Is technology or game design more important for determining whether we feel immersed and present in the world of a video game? What kinds of...
Podcast 86 - The Psychology of Role-Playing
What do psychologists and games researchers have to say about the idea of role-playing, when you pretend to take on another person's persona...
Podcast 85 - The Psychology of Loot and the Diablo Series
What can the psychology of loot drops tell us about the evolution of the Diablo series? Audio Credits: “Robot Motivation” by The Polish Amba...
Episode 84 - Games and Moral Reasoning
Can playing a lot of games lead us to become better at explaining why a given character or behavior is moral or immoral? Audio Credits: “Rob...
Episode 83 - Grinding
In this episode, I'm flying solo and doing a deep dive into what one theory has to say about why we're motivated to play video games, with a...
Podcast 82 - Therapy With Dungeons & Dragons
There's a growing trend among therapists who bring people together --often children, but sometimes adults-- to play Dungeons & Dragons and o...
Episode 81 - Digital Sales
I talk about some of the psychology behind sales, especially digital sales that have no physical items or storefronts involved. What are som...