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September 30, 2025
UW researchers focus on their examine which surveyed 166 players about how video video games sparked significant adjustments of their lives.iStock
Even although video video games have grown as an inventive medium since the mid-20th century, they’re nonetheless usually written off as senseless leisure. Research is more and more exploring significant gaming experiences. Less studied, although, are the methods such experiences can alter folks’s lives long run.
In a brand new examine, University of Washington researchers surveyed players about video video games’ results. Of 166 respondents researchers requested about significant experiences, 78% stated such experiences had altered their lives. Researchers then pulled recurring themes from the responses — reminiscent of the ability of wealthy storytelling — in order that builders, players and even dad and mom or lecturers may concentrate on these components.
The group will present its findings Oct. 14 on the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play in Pittsburgh.
To be taught extra concerning the paper, UW News spoke with lead writer Nisha Devasia, a UW doctoral pupil in human centered design and engineering; co-senior writer Julie Kientz, a UW professor and chair in human centered design and engineering; and co-senior writer Jin Ha Lee, a UW professor within the Information School.
What are probably the most vital findings within the examine?
Nisha Devasia: We highlighted three conclusions drawn from modeling the information. The first is that taking part in video games throughout traumatic occasions was strongly correlated with constructive outcomes for bodily and psychological well being. For instance, throughout COVID, folks performed video games they felt strongly improved their psychological well being, reminiscent of Stardew Valley. Others talked about that video games that required motion, or video games that had characters with attention-grabbing bodily talents, impressed them to get exterior or strive new sports activities. Many members additionally stated that they gained a number of perception from the sport narrative. Story-based video games usually inform a type of hero’s journey, as an example. People reported that the perception they gained from these tales correlated to their very own self-reflection and identification constructing.
Finally, most individuals had these significant experiences in very early maturity or youthful, once they’re nonetheless attempting to determine who they’re and what they need to be on this planet. Playing as a personality and seeing your decisions change the course of occasions is fairly distinctive to video games, in contrast with different narrative media like novels or motion pictures.
Do any particular person tales actually stand out to you from the survey you took?
ND: All the tales about Final Fantasy VII, as a result of that’s the sport that I really like. I’m truly sitting in my childhood bed room proper now and the wall behind me is roofed in Final Fantasy VII posters. The quote we used within the title additionally actually resonated with me: “I would not be this version of myself today without these experiences.” I positively can’t think about what I’d be doing in my life if I had not performed Final Fantasy VII after I did.
People additionally stated issues like, “This helped me build the skills that ended up being my career. I learned how to program because I wanted to make games.” I labored within the gaming business and may confirm that’s true for many individuals within the business.
How ought to these findings match into how we view video games as a society?
Julie Kientz: People tend to deal with expertise as a monolith, as if video video games are both good or unhealthy, however there’s a lot extra nuance. The design issues. This examine hopefully helps us untangle the constructive components. Certainly, there are unhealthy components — toxicity and addictiveness, for instance. But we additionally see alternatives for development and connection. Some folks within the examine met their spouses via video games.
Jin Ha Lee: What Nisha research is actually what I dwell. I’m a gamer, and I’ve positively began taking part in sure video games with my two youngsters particularly as a result of I wished to have extra conversations with them. When my daughter performs video games with attention-grabbing tales, now we have the chance to speak about our lives as we analyze the story. What had been these folks considering? Why did they make sure choices?
As researchers, we develop video games for studying, as an example, for instructing folks about misinformation or AI, or promote digital civic engagement, as a result of we need to foster significant experiences. But a number of the prevailing analysis simply focuses on the short-term results of video games. This examine actually helps us perceive what truly induced a recreation to make a distinction in somebody’s life.
What societal adjustments might we make in our strategy to gaming?
JK: Because folks tend to oversimplify issues, a number of the proposed options may be counterproductive. For occasion, limiting children’ display time can truly intervene with constructive experiences, particularly if somebody is immersed within the storyline and identifies with the characters. If half-hour right into a recreation, a child’s Nintendo Switch turns off due to parental controls, that may hinder the power to have a constructive expertise. If we aren’t utilizing these instruments consciously, it would truly result in children taking part in extra informal, junk video games, as a result of these may be performed in half-hour.
ND: You see this with discourse round recreation dependancy, too. Sometimes extreme gaming is due to darkish patterns in a recreation’s design. But it’s usually a symptom of somebody going via one thing troublesome of their life, and the sport occurs to be a option to cope. As our examine reveals, there’s the potential for development in that coping.
JHL: There’s additionally a spot for video games and media that we take into account “bad.” You may play a recreation that’s so horrible that you simply make a meme out of it, and the jokes you share develop into a option to construct neighborhood. Online communities can develop into offline occasions and friendships. But that isn’t essentially apparent should you simply view gaming as one thing it is advisable shield your youngsters from.
What technological adjustments may intensify the significant results of video games?
JHL: Games are naturally interactive and sophisticated, so there’s a number of alternative for essential engagement past simply the gameplay. There’s music, there’s artwork, there’s storytelling. All of those supply house for significant interplay. Designers can skillfully incorporate these components to immediate reflection, evoke feelings, or problem gamers’ views.
ND: We’re calling our subsequent examine Video Game Book Club. Right now I’m constructing a device to permit folks to annotate their gameplay as in the event that they had been writing within the margins of a e book. While you play, a little bit pop-up permits you to make an observation. At the top, an interface pops up displaying your gameplay stream and all of the notes you made, which ought to enable them to mirror on what they had been considering as they had been taking part in.
We’re additionally engaged on a mirrored image chatbot. Every time after you play a session that’s half-hour to an hour lengthy, you’ll work together with this bot that prompts you to suppose critically concerning the expertise, very similar to we’re taught to narrate to literature. What was actually memorable? How is that this related to your life?
Co-authors embody Georgia Kenderova, a UW doctoral pupil in human centered design and engineering, and Michele Newman, a UW doctoral pupil within the Information School. This analysis was funded by the Ramey Research Fund.
For extra data, contact Devasia at [email protected], Kientz at [email protected] and Lee at [email protected].
Tag(s): College of Engineering • Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering • Information School • Jin Ha Lee • Julie Kientz • Nisha Devasia
This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its unique location you possibly can go to the hyperlink bellow:
https://www.washington.edu/news/2025/09/30/qa-how-video-games-can-lead-people-to-more-meaningful-lives/
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