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2024-12-01 23:38:47 +0000 UTC
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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 pl...
2024-11-07 15:20:36 +0000 UTC View Post
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Imagine you're playing Dungeons & Dragons and your dungeon maste...
2024-10-15 12:40:48 +0000 UTC View Post
If you haven't played Concord, the competitive, team-based shooter developed by Firewalk Studios and published by Sony ...well, you're not going to be able to change that fact. Concord was released...
2024-10-08 20:06:38 +0000 UTC View Post
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)...
2024-10-01 14:42:31 +0000 UTC View Post
Someone actually studied this question and provided an answer. Text version is on the w...
2024-09-15 19:59:37 +0000 UTC View Post
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...
2024-09-01 15:52:30 +0000 UTC View Post
My publisher is running a Kickstarter t...
2024-07-24 13:54:25 +0000 UTC View Post
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 th...
2024-07-01 16:30:25 +0000 UTC View Post
Many of us have thought of ourselves as "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 th...
2024-06-04 00:17:45 +0000 UTC View Post
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.
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In this episode I talk with an expert on how video games elicit nostalgia and what it means for players and consumers.
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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?
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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 people with ADHD and some strategies for dealing with probl...
2024-01-03 00:13:18 +0000 UTC View Post
In-game purchases are a staple of modern game design, especially in the free-to-play and live service categories. Which isn't necessarily bad as a business model, but there are some psycho...
2023-12-04 15:14:57 +0000 UTC View Post
Sometimes we have to sell people on the merits of games like Dungeons & Dragons. People like parents, principals, teachers, or even our own significant others Usually this comes in the form of ...
2023-11-05 19:04:13 +0000 UTC View Post
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 things will make us forget about the screen between us a...
2023-10-01 13:35:40 +0000 UTC View Post
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, point of view, thoughts, and state of mind? What effect...
2023-09-01 15:20:03 +0000 UTC View Post
What can the psychology of loot drops tell us about the evolution of the Diablo series?
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Can playing a lot of games lead us to become better at explaining why a given character or behavior is moral or immoral?
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Thanks for being a Patreon supporter! 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 an emphasis on grindi...
2023-04-01 16:32:34 +0000 UTC View Post
There's a growing trend among therapists who bring people together --often children, but sometimes adults-- to play Dungeons & Dragons and other role-playing games in a therapeutic con...
2023-03-01 16:25:38 +0000 UTC View Post
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In this episode, I talk about some of the psychology behind sales, especially digital ...
2023-02-01 17:52:27 +0000 UTC View Post
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Could we develop a training regime for esports teams? It happens all the time in other kinds of sports. Coaches assign certain types of weight tr...
2023-01-02 15:30:39 +0000 UTC View Post
How can we use one classic finding in the persuasion literature to combat toxic behavior in games?
Thanks for being a Patreon supporter! If you want to see the text version of this post, 2022-12-04 23:59:40 +0000 UTC View Post
I share a lecture I recently gave on the psychology behind nostalgia, that bittersweet remembrance of times past. We'll explore why nostalgia has led to so many remakes, remasters, and reboots of o...
2022-11-15 20:14:24 +0000 UTC View Post
Why video games are a great solution for the difficult problem of pain management. Want to read the text version of this story? 2022-11-02 14:53:01 +0000 UTC View Post
How can watching people play Critical Role or playing D&D yourself lead to transformative, psychologically meaningful experiences? And is that a thing you want?
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Thanks for being a Patreon supporter! Here's your bonus micro-podcast.
How do you best give feedback to a Dungeons & Dragons dungeon master about how to improve their game?