Podcast 35: Player Empathy and Drivers of Gameplay
In this episode of the podcast, I talk to one veteran game designer Jason Vandenberghe, who has tackled the issue of understanding what kinds of experiences gamers want with the aid of psychology and...
View ArticlePodcast 36: Psychology, Escape Rooms, and VR
In a way, classic adventure games were the precursors to the escape rooms that are popping up in strip malls and warehouses all over the country. But unlike adventure games, escape rooms take place in...
View ArticlePodcast 37: Cognitive Psychology and User Experiences
Basic psychological phenomena like memory, perception, and emotions have huge implications for the design of products or experiences, from nutritional labels to phone apps to voting registration forms...
View ArticlePodcast 38: Mental Health Professionals and Video Games
It may shock you to hear this, but not everyone is intimately familiar with video games. I know, right? Despite the fact that video games continue to become more mainstream and cut across all kinds of...
View ArticlePodcast 39: Thirty Questions About the Psychology of Video Games
I'm at PAX West participating in panels and making new friends, but that doesn't mean you don't get a new podcast. Enjoy this audio presentation of a lecture I gave about 30 things I wish researchers...
View ArticlePodcast 40: Our Avatar Relationships
Think about the last avatar you controlled in a video game. What did he, she, or it mean to you? Was it just a tool that you used to get from one end of a maze to another? Was it a richly detailed...
View ArticlePodcast 41: How Video Games Prepare You For Success
Video games often get kind of a short shrift when it comes to how valuable they are considered, versus a being a waste of time. Yet an argument can be made that they teach and reinforce valuable skills...
View ArticlePodcast 42: Mobile Game Affinity
Say it's time to download a new game for your phone or tablet. What, out of the billions of choices out there, will you choose? Psychology pretty consistently tells us that when we have too many...
View ArticlePodcast 43: Dungeons, Dragons, & Psychology
I talk in this episode with my guest expert, Megan Connell PsyD, who uses Dungeons & Dragons in group therapy with remarkable results and runs a weekly D&D game with psychology nerds on Twitch....
View ArticlePodcast 44: Gamification and Game Based Assessments
I talk with Dr. Richard Landers, an expert researcher on gamification and game-based assessments. We discuss some of the psychology behind why gamification does (and does not) work, as well as why it's...
View ArticlePodcast 45: Psychology of The Legend of Zelda
I talk with Dr. Anthony Bean and several of his collaborators on a book about psychology and the Legend of Zelda.
View ArticlePodcast 46: Collecting Virtual Items
How do game developers make virtual items as collectible as physical objects?
View ArticlePodcast 47: Loot Boxes and Gambling
What is the relationship between loot boxes and problematic gambling? Should loot boxes be considered a form of gambling? In this episode I talk with Chris Lee, a politician, and David Zendle, a...
View ArticlePodcast 48: Loot Boxes Part 2
Special ALL HAWAII EDITION! To give me a little breathing room after finishing up my book manuscript, here are two complete interviews I did while researching the recent loot box podcast episode. One...
View ArticlePodcast 49: Empathy
Empathy --the ability to understand and share the emotions of others-- is a powerful tool for those wanting to create games where the goal is to get players to think differently and have powerful...
View ArticlePodcast 50 - Moral Choices in Games vs. Other Media
My guest experts and I discuss how moral choices in video games are different from other media and what makes them so difficult. We also discuss some of our favorite and most compelling choices from...
View ArticlePodcast 51: Lost in a Good Game
Psychology of Games Summer Book Club begins with an interview with Dr. Pete Etchells, author of the newly released Lost in a Good Game.
View ArticlePodcast 52 - Being Indistractable
Welcome to part two of this two part miniseries on Psychology of Games summer reading. In this episode I talk with author and consultant Nir Eyal about how to use psychology and other methods to avoid...
View ArticlePodcast 53 - Online Relationships (Rebroadcast)
Are friendships and other relationships formed in online games substitutes for offline relationships? Are they better?
View ArticlePodcast 54 - Sexualization in Games
Should you expect playing as a sexually objectified avatar like Lara Croft to impact women's attitudes towards their own bodies or to create other harmful attitudes? My guests this episode engaged in...
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