Science Shorts: Video games in research (Mar. 2025)
All about using popular games
Hello JOMT Reader!
Last week, one of my posts, Bricks for PTSD, was featured in a publication called
, a growing collective of writers with small audiences on Substack.
Huge shout-out to
and for reaching out and to for finding and nominating my post to be featured! The feature earned me this adorable badge that I am still trying to figure out where to put:
Although it isn’t quite to the same scale, I’m hoping to do the same and share some amazing writers in the gaming industry 👇
writes , publishing both game reviews and gaming articles. We’ve worked on a piece together, showcasing some of the most interesting science involving video games and a giant collection of predictions for the gaming industry in 2025. I’m on a personal mission to make sure that Harrison’s writing is at the top of everyone’s feed on this side of the world (Harrison writes from Australia); make sure you don’t miss out on Infinite Lives!
TL;DR
Minecraft isn’t just virtual Lego. This all-time best-selling game can be used in many other ways, but especially in education to enhance the learning experience. This article is a collection of summaries about how Minecraft was used in education to level up the classroom.
Read the article here: Minecraft’s Implementation and Impact on EducationThe always-connected video game and devices have given birth to sophisticated ways for criminals to commit crimes. As gaming makes its way into every age group, it’s important for everyone to be protected and protect themselves from potential harm. This article analyzed account profile and online behaviour to detect and predict cybercrime in video games.
Read the article here: Detecting Cybercrime in Online Video GamingViolent video games, like Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, have long been criticized for their supposed negative effects. This article exposed non-gamers to Call of Duty right before sleep and measured how it affected their sleep and brain function. Playing Call of Duty didn’t impact sleep or sleep quality and improved people’s ability to understand where things are in space.
Read the article here: The impact of an action commercial video game on adult non-gamers psychological well-being, cognitive functioning, and sleep
Virtual Lego in the classroom
Link to article: https://www.itm-conferences.org/articles/itmconf/pdf/2025/04/itmconf_iwadi2024_02005.pdf
Title: Minecraft’s Implementation and Impact on Education
Our world and society needs to adapt to changing technology; that is especially true in the classroom so that students are continuing to learn. But teaching methods have sometimes failed to engage students and foster creativity. Video games can help bridge the gap between learning and engagement/creativity. And what better game than the blocky, virtual world of Minecraft to do it? This collection of studies looked at how Minecraft was being used in classrooms for teaching.
What it means: The common thread among these examples was that Minecraft provided a safe place for students to experiment and fail, collaborate, and build skills to solve problems. Minecraft also served as a platform for storytelling, allowing students to design the set and create their story.
Future things: One day, I imagine we will be testing our wildest theories about the world in a video game like Minecraft. I’m also hoping that all of you curiously creative people/gamers will help shape a future where video games become a key component of teaching and learning.
Cybercrime in video games
Link to article: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5146044
Title: Detecting Cybercrime in Online Video Gaming
As a parent, I often think about how and when to expose the broader world of video games to my kids (highly recommend
’s for ongoing discussions and perspectives on video games and parenting). As games become more advanced — especially in the ways they encourage players to spend money — cybercrimes have evolved alongside them. This article analyzed 358,000 Roblox accounts to understand how cybercrime could be detected.What it means: Combined with publicly available data about trading activity in Roblox, accounts that were linked to other banned accounts, were newer, or were trading frequently, were more likely to be engaged in cybercrime. We do have to keep in mind though, there are ethical concerns about flagging an account as “dangerous” before they’ve committed any cybercrime.
Future things: The characteristics and behaviours of “bad” accounts serve as information for game providers to combat the rise of cybercrime. It’s a step forward for players and the industry to work together towards a safer gaming environment.
Blood and gore before going to sleep?
Link to article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1389945725001194
Title: The impact of an action commercial video game on adult non-gamers psychological well-being, cognitive functioning, and sleep
Video games have been accused of negative effects like increased aggressiveness, depression, anxiety, and low quality of sleep. But many other factors, like previous experience with video games, have not been considered. This article analyzed whether exposing non-gamers to Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War right before sleep would affect sleep quality, brain function, and psychological well-being.
What it means: It’s a rare example of using a video game to directly study its effects on human health (most other studies are looking for relationships and correlations). But one hour of CoD right before sleeping had no measurable effect on sleep quality, brain function, and psychological well-being.
Future things: This was a short study conducted over three days, so the long-term effects of playing CoD before sleeping are unknown. We also don’t know if different game types have different effects. Does playing a cozy game help you get better sleep? Or do you get smarter if you play strategy games? Only more studies will tell!
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