The Psychology of Video Games. A Psychologist's View on Video Games, Gamers, and the Gaming Industry

This book dispels popular myths and misconceptions about the harm of video games. In fact, they help develop skills, achieve success at work, and form good habits. Explore what happens in our minds when we buy games and play them, and start approaching them on your own terms, extracting benefits and enjoying them.

• Is it true that video games make us smarter?
• Why do people like violent games and why is it okay?
• How do games sell each other and make us spend money on in-app purchases?
• How do games train us to chase achievements and rejoice in loot?

Understand how games and gaming marketing affect players and how people can establish a healthy approach to them.
Learn to use psychology to create engaging games that satisfy players' needs without exploiting them.
Discover why certain marketing approaches, community development, social media, and pricing strategies work — or do not work — in the gaming industry.

«A generation of gamers has emerged in Russia and already influences many sectors of business, culture, education, politics, and other areas. The social and cultural impact of video games is so great that it cannot be ignored. Therefore, it is important to understand from a psychological and behavioral perspective how the gaming experience creates more opportunities for social interaction and shapes the next generations». — Vasily Ovchinnikov, head of the Video Game Industry Development Organization, candidate of sociological sciences