Even though video games have grown as an artistic medium since the mid-20th century , they are still often written off as mindless entertainment. Research is increasingly exploring meaningful gaming experiences. Less studied, though, are the ways such experiences can alter people's lives long term.
In a new study, University of Washington researchers surveyed gamers about video games' effects. Of 166 respondents researchers asked about meaningful experiences, 78% said such experiences had altered their lives. Researchers then pulled recurring themes from the responses — such as the power of rich storytelling — so that developers, gamers and even parents or teachers might focus on those elements.
The team will present its findings Oct. 14 at the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play in Pittsburgh.
To learn more about the paper, UW News spoke with lead author Nisha Devasia , a UW doctoral student in human centered design and engineering; co-senior author Julie Kientz , a UW professor and chair in human centered design and engineering; and co-senior author Jin Ha Lee , a UW professor in the Information School.
What are the most significant findings in the study?
Nisha Devasia: We highlighted three conclusions drawn from modeling the data. The first is that playing games during stressful times was strongly correlated with positive outcomes for physical and mental health. For example, during COVID, people played games they felt strongly improved their mental health, such as Stardew Valley. Others mentioned that games that required movement, or games that had characters with interesting physical abilities, inspired them to get outside or try new sports. Many participants also said that they gained a lot of insight from the game narrative. Story-based games often tell a sort of hero's journey, for instance. People reported that the insight they gained from those stories correlated to their own self-reflection and identity building.
Finally, most people had these meaningful experiences in very early adulthood or younger, when they're still trying to figure out who they are and what they want to be in the world. Playing as a character and seeing your choices change the course of events is pretty unique to games, compared with other narrative media like novels or movies.
Do any individual stories really stand out to you from the survey you took?
ND: All the stories about Final Fantasy VII, because that's the game that I love. I'm actually sitting in my childhood bedroom right now and the wall behind me is covered in Final Fantasy VII posters. The quote we used in the title also really resonated with me: "I would not be this version of myself today without these experiences." I definitely cannot imagine what I would be doing in my life if I had not played Final Fantasy VII when I did.
People also said things 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 worked in the gaming industry and can verify that's true for many people in the industry.
How should these findings fit into how we view games as a society?
Julie Kientz: People have a tendency to treat technology as a monolith, as if video games are either good or bad, but there's so much more nuance. The design matters. This study hopefully helps us untangle the positive elements. Certainly, there are bad elements — toxicity and addictiveness, for example. But we also see opportunities for growth and connection. Some people in the study met their spouses through games.
Jin Ha Lee: What Nisha studies is essentially what I live. I'm a gamer, and I have definitely started playing certain games with my two children specifically because I wanted to have more conversations with them. When my daughter plays games with interesting stories, we have the opportunity to talk about our lives as we analyze the story. What were these people thinking? Why did they make certain decisions?
As researchers, we develop games for learning, for instance, for teaching people about misinformation or AI, or promote digital civic engagement, because we want to foster meaningful experiences. But a lot of the existing research just focuses on the short-term effects of games. This study really helps us understand what actually caused a game to make a difference in someone's life.
What societal changes could we make in our approach to gaming?
JK: Because people have a tendency to oversimplify things, some of the proposed solutions can be counterproductive. For instance, limiting kids' screen time can actually interfere with positive experiences, especially if someone is immersed in the storyline and identifies with the characters. If 30 minutes into a game, a kid's Nintendo Switch turns off because of parental controls, that might hinder the ability to have a positive experience. If we aren't using these tools consciously, it might actually lead to kids playing more casual, junk games, because those can be played in 30 minutes.
ND: You see this with discourse around game addiction, too. Sometimes excessive gaming is because of dark patterns in a game's design. But it is often a symptom of someone going through something difficult in their life, and the game happens to be a way to cope. As our study shows, there's the potential for growth in that coping.
JHL: There's also a place for games and media that we consider "bad." You might play a game that's so horrible that you make a meme out of it, and the jokes you share become a way to build community. Online communities can grow into offline events and friendships. But that isn't necessarily obvious if you just view gaming as something you need to protect your children from.
What technological changes might accentuate the meaningful effects of games?
JHL: Games are naturally interactive and complex, so there's a lot of opportunity for critical engagement beyond just the gameplay. There's music, there's art, there's storytelling. All of these offer space for meaningful interaction. Designers can skillfully incorporate these elements to prompt reflection, evoke emotions, or challenge players' perspectives.
ND: We're calling our next study Video Game Book Club. Right now I'm building a tool to allow people to annotate their gameplay as if they were writing in the margins of a book. While you play, a little pop-up lets you make a note. At the end, an interface pops up showing your gameplay stream and all the notes you made, which should allow them to reflect on what they were thinking as they were playing.
We're also working on a reflection chatbot. Every time after you play a session that's 30 minutes to an hour long, you'll interact with this bot that prompts you to think critically about the experience, much like we're taught to relate to literature. What was really memorable? How is this connected to your life?
Co-authors include Georgia Kenderova , a UW doctoral student in human centered design and engineering, and Michele Newman , a UW doctoral student in the Information School. This research was funded by the Ramey Research Fund .
