Science Shorts: Video games in research (October 2025)
Personalization, pain, and Kickstarter campaigns
Science Shorts is a monthly roundup of the most interesting research involving video games. I try to source only open access articles so that you have the option to read the articles as well. It’s part of a comprehensive look at happenings in video game research along with my LFG: Learning from Games and Coming Soon series!
👋🏼Hello JOMT Reader!
In my last Coming Soon post, I hyped about MENACE, an upcoming turn-based game from the creators of the now-classic Battle Brothers. Shortly afterwards, I was able to try out the demo and there is a lot to love about this game. It’s not an easy stroll by any means, but the level of tactical control that the game gives you makes the armchair tactician in me very happy.
One of the things I appreciate about games like MENACE is that mission failure doesn’t mean game over. I failed the last mission of the three-mission demo campaign and while the demo ended, the way the mission ended gave me hope that the game wouldn’t be lost. It’ll be a setback for sure, but the immediate, harsh penalty of a game over isn’t something I have to worry about if I make a mistake. It’s far more rewarding knowing that I can learn from the mistake than dreading restarting the campaign. I can’t wait till I get my hands on the full game campaign!
With that out of the way, if you are new here, this is the series where, in addition to research, I highlight some of my favourite game writers on Substack. It’s the least I can do to give back to the community of awesome, insightful game writers!
Today, I want to highlight
who writes about how to consider a mindful relationship with games. It’s an important theme to explore as games take over the entertainment industry and the noise around the dangers of gaming become louder. One recent article that I loved reading was one on mindfulness during co-op gaming sessions. It’s a great way to think about how to practice mindfulness in a structured but fun setting like video games. If you haven’t already, make sure you give Mindful Gamer a read and sub!
A hyper-personalized game scoring system
Link to article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1875952125001090
Title: Personalized ranking for video games based on online reviews: An S-Kano-TOPSIS method integrating requirement categories and public opinion
📃TL;DR
Can a personalized video game ranking system be created using AI to sort through online reviews? This study, using 8 games and 72,000 reviews says yes.
⚠️Why it matters
A number of us have written about the volume of games that are being released and the fatigue it generates trying to keep up with it all. If you’re not a content creator, only the most popular/most hyped games will grab your attention as the rest get drowned in the sea of games.
But a personalized ranking system would solve some of these issues and allow smaller games to enter the rankings. The hyper-personalization is my untested thought experiment, weaving in player motivations alongside online reviews to help you find games that you will like. I’m planning to write a more in-depth discussion once I get my hands on the article, so stay tuned!
Playing video games at the doctor’s office
Link to article: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/13/19/2439
Title: Acceptability, Usability, and Effectiveness of a Music Video Game for Pain Management: A Crossover Study
📃TL;DR
Can a VR game lessen feelings of physical pain? Participants who played Clone Hero in this study were able to withstand pain longer than those who watched Clone Hero being played.
⚠️Why it matters
Trips to the doctor’s office can be stressful at any age. Especially if you know that whatever they might do to you will hurt. But what if you also knew that trips to the doctor meant playing video games that could lessen any pain you feel?
VR games distract players who are going through painful procedures, from feeling pain. That distraction can lead to a more positive experience, which in turn could mean that the person is more likely to return for future visits. While we never want to be a frequent flier at the doctor’s office, the difference between an early visit and a delayed one could be life and death, literally.
Why do we back Kickstarter campaigns?
Link to article: https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A2000246&dswid=-8818
Title: Motivations Behind Donors’ Financial Support for The Coral Island Crowdfunding Campaign
📃TL;DR
Why do donors give money during crowdfunding campaigns? It turns out that for Coral Island, the primary motivation for funding the campaign was recognizing that the game brought something new to the genre.
⚠️Why it matters
I know some of you are in the game dev space, potentially looking to crowdfund your next masterpiece. There’s a lot of different ways to market for a crowdfunding campaign, but you might be taking a shot in the dark about what will resonate with potential backers.
There were two interesting findings from the Coral Island Kickstarter campaign. One was that those donors aren’t actively searching for projects to back. Many of them found the game by chance, highlighting the importance of word-of-mouth campaigns to reach as many relevant people as possible.
The second was that the number one reason for backing the Coral Island Kickstarter campaign was that backers recognized that Coral Island brought something new to the farming game genre. This recognition was more important than financial value, aesthetic appeal of the game, or emotional value of the game.
I know it’s just one game, but maybe this insight will unlock millions of dollars for your next game!
If you liked what you read, please consider giving this post a like and sharing it with your community! I’d love to hear from you about whether hyper-personalized rankings and recommendations will be useful, so feel free to share your thoughts below!