Psychology of Videogames
Development - Characters - Gameplay
From the sacred rituals of online communities to the moral dilemmas of post-apocalyptic worlds, this section explores how games mirror — and shape — human psychology. Discover how cognition, emotion, identity, and storytelling collide in digital spaces, revealing what play can teach us about ourselves, our culture, and the worlds we build together.
The Value-to-Time Proposition: Duration is Not Value: A Three-Stage Framework for Why Games Feel 'Worth It'
A deep psychological analysis of how players judge value in games through price, playtime, pacing, and endings.
The Architecture of Guilt: A Freudian Dissection of the Psychical Landscape in Silent Hill 2
A Freudian analysis of Silent Hill 2, exploring James Sunderland’s guilt, repression, punishment, and the psychical symbolism of the town and its monsters.
When Family Becomes a Weapon: Criminal Kinship in Like a Dragon
From Kiryu’s orphanage roots to Ichiban’s 'Bond Levels,' this analysis examines the shift from feudal yakuza structures to modern chosen families. Discover how the Like a Dragon series uses attachment theory and 'identity fusion' to explain why we bleed for the group.
When the Company Becomes the Curse: Yuppie Psycho and the Psychology of Institutional Horror
A psychologically rich reading of Yuppie Psycho as institutional horror, exploring status anxiety, learned helplessness, resentment, nepotism, and why the game feels more psychologically convincing than politically stable.
The Horror of Continuity: SOMA, Identity, and the Ship of Theseus
SOMA turns the Ship of Theseus into existential horror, exposing the self as a fragile claim of continuity that can be copied, stranded, and abandoned.
The Affirming Isolation of the Statement Game: Sorry We’re Closed and the Limits of Queer Horror as Declaration
A critical essay on Sorry We’re Closed, queer horror, liberation metaphors, and the risk that statement games can affirm their audience so strongly that they end up persuading only the already persuaded.
Why the Games Industry Keeps Coming Back to Self-Determination Theory
Why does the games industry keep returning to Self-Determination Theory? A Simply Put Psych essay on autonomy, competence, relatedness, and the psychology of player motivation.
When “Unplayable” Is the Point: What an unplayable game?! Gets Right About Accessibility
How an unplayable game?! turns accessibility into a design argument, exposing the myth of the default player and showing why accessibility is part of the work itself.
Why Resident Evil 9 Stops Being Scary Once You Notice the Bottles
A psychology-informed look at how Resident Evil 9 uses selective interactivity, and why Grace’s bottle mechanic weakens immersion, tension, and fear in survival horror.
Stereotype Threat in Video Games: Can Social Expectations Affect Player Performance?
Can social expectations affect gaming performance? Explore stereotype threat, identity pressure, and psychology in competitive video games.
Kim Kitsuragi: Externalised Executive Function in Human Form
An in-depth psychological analysis of Kim Kitsuragi in Disco Elysium, using the game as a case study to explain executive function, co-regulation, and cognitive support.
Expedition 33: AI Moral Outrage We’ve Seen Before
Expedition 33’s AI controversy isn’t new. From photography to word processors, creative moral panics repeat. Here’s why we’ve seen this before.
Why Christmas Video Game Events Feel Rewarding: Psychology of Seasonal FOMO
A psychological deep dive into why Christmas gaming events feel irresistible, exploring seasonal scarcity, reward design, and the monetisation strategies behind festive FOMO.
Controller Psychology: What Game Developers Need to Know
Discover how psychology influences controller design. Explore motor habits, interference, cognitive load and cross-platform consistency to build better game controls.
Why Pokémon Still Has No Voice Acting: A Considered Look at Twenty Years of Silence
Why do mainline Pokémon games still have no voice acting after 20 years? This analysis examines handheld habits, player expectations, development choices, and the contrast with the Pokémon anime to explain the franchise's enduring commitment to silent storytelling.
Gender Swapping in Games: Prevalence, Motivations, and What It Reveals About Digital Identity
Explore why one-third of male gamers choose female avatars, while women swap genders mainly to avoid harassment. Uncover the psychological and social motivations behind gender swapping in gaming.
The Moral Economy of Good Game Design
A deep dive into moral choice in game design, exploring how Scarlet Hollow, Lisa, Omori, and Pathologic use sacrifice and loss to create meaningful player decisions.
GTA6 vs. the Real America: Why Satire Cannot Keep Up With the News Cycle
The GTA 6 Satire Problem: The game faces a cultural shift where politics is beyond parody. Learn how Rockstar may change its tone, focus on character, and avoid timely references.
A Mind Unravelling: Slay the Princess as a Metaphorical Narrative of Dementia
A psychological reading of Slay the Princess as a metaphor for dementia, memory loss, identity fragmentation, caregiving, and the emotional residue that remains when the self begins to fray.
The Hero Forgets, But the Player Remembers: Memory as Game Design in Slay the Princess
A psychological game design reading of Slay the Princess, exploring how memory, forgetting, player knowledge, the Voices, and the Princess create identity across loops.