- Cam Adair, founder of Game Quitters on video game addiction - His personal struggle, turning to games for help, and realizing how he could improve his life without them - The American Psychiatric Association (APA) criteria for Internet Gaming Disorder in the "Conditions for Further Study" Diagnostic Statistical Manual 5th Edition (DSM5): LINK - ^ basically, how a group of psychiatrists wants to define what we are always calling "gaming addiction" - What your first step should be if you...

- Game designer/clinical psychologist Kelli Dunlap discusses the overlap of game design and psychology - What she learned from her dissertation on gaming habits + psychology - How games are being studied differently than in the past - Ellie Beagle: Therapy Dog - the game about a psychologist dog based on an Ace Attorney style - Why we turn into Snidely Whiplash in games - A game that walks you through cognitive behavioral therapy for depression - Games that have mental health as a...

- Episode 1 of a new season and a 7 episode arc on Games + Mental Health - Dr. Jennifer Hazel is a psychiatric doctor and the founder of Checkpoint Organization - Checkpoint is a nonprofit that raises awareness and gives resources about mental health in the gaming community - Normalizing the language around mental health - The results of the latest research on the psychological benefits of video games (hint: RPGs are apparently amazing) - The number 1 game that gamers find improves their...

Just a little trailer for Season 2! +++++++ About +7 Intelligence +7 Intelligence is the podcast about how games impact people. Each episode explores a different perspective on how games profoundly influence the real world. Interviews with game designers, psychologists, professionals, and everyday players discuss the unique way that games influence their life and work.   +++++++   Listen to the show:   Apple Podcasts | Android | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Play | Radiopublic RSS...

A brief announcement about the launch date of Season 2 of +7 Intelligence! +++++++ About +7 Intelligence +7 Intelligence is the podcast about how games impact people. Each episode explores a different perspective on how games profoundly influence the real world. Interviews with game designers, psychologists, professionals, and everyday players discuss the unique way that games influence their life and work.   +++++++   Listen to the show:   Apple Podcasts | Android | Spotify | Stitcher |...

- Dan Machado talks about the unique dexterity board game Gravity Warfare and it's unconventional origins - How a family spread throughout the globe works together to make the game a reality - Gravity Warfare started as a dream (literally), but we discuss the reality of what it takes to bring a board game to life   Links - Gravity Warfare website - Gravity Warfare on Twitter: @_GravityWarfare - Gravity Warfare on Facebook - Gravity Warfare on Board Game Geek   -...

- Calls for video game legislation and NRA boycotts have me thinking - A thorny side of the issue that isn’t often discussed - Show announcements - including a new website! Links - 2013 Article on the licensing deals between video game companies and weapon manufacturers: Shooters: How Video Games Fund Arms Manufacturers - 2018 Guardian article: Video games and violence are linked – but not the way Trump thinks - EA will no longer pay gun makers for the right to depict weapons in...

A puntastic Status Update First, a quick comment about progress on +7. A recommendation for a great podcast about video games to hold you over until +7 returns: Forbes Overworld Then: the trailer for Season 2 of the Podgolmerate show about immigration: Status

  - Many of the stories we hear about the video games influencing acts of mass violence are exaggerated or incorrect - The flaws of the research pointing to violent content as a cause of actual violence - How video games and other media can incidentally lower violence - Guests Dr. Patrick Markey and Dr. Christopher Ferguson discuss their book and research that runs against the tide of popular opinion about the harmful effects of video games   Links - Dr. Christopher Ferguson's...

- Robin Bates of Coaching for Geeks introduces us to the ways that games can be used for self-development - Robin recites the most epic Playstation ad of all time - Why and how roleplaying games reinforce soft skills like confidence, teamwork, and communication to bridge the gap between knowledge and real world implementation   Links   - Coaching for Geeks - Coaching for Geeks Podcast - That Playstation ad: "Double Life" - LOOT   +++++++   About +7 Intelligence   +7 Intelligence is...

- Robbie Farlow of Side Quest Fitness chats about his video game-inspired coaching methods - How boss battles help get motivated to exercise   Links   - Side Quest Fitness - @sidequestfm - LOOT   +++++++   About +7 Intelligence   +7 Intelligence is the podcast about how games impact people. Each episode explores a different perspective on how games profoundly influence the real world. Interviews with game designers, psychologists, professionals, and everyday players discuss the...

- Jordan Erica Webber and Dan Griliopoulos discuss their book Ten Things Video Games Can Teach Us: (about life, philosophy and everything) - We discuss a variety of ways that video games approach philosophical concepts, such as ethics, the philosophy of mind, and more - Some games mentioned in this episode: - Bioshock - System Shock - SOMA - To the Moon - Papers, Please - Ultima Underworld - and virtue ethics - Swapper - Talos Principle - Fable 2 - That Dragon, Cancer - How...

- Tony Chan talks with +7 about developing his first game and about his game dev industry podcast - How he bounced back from initial disappointment to fulfill his dream of creating a game - How Final Fantasy 7 helped him learn to read when other teaching strategies had failed Links - Game Dev Loadout Podcast - Game Dev Loadout on Twitter: @gamedevloadout - Tony Chan Email: [email protected] - Finding Leo - Android Game - EO Fire Podcast   - LOOT +++++++ About +7...

- This week I am talking with Matt Forbeck - We talk about his journey finding and sharing healthy lifestyle methods - and how games fit into it all. Links - The Force Within Website - The Force Within on Twitter: @forcewithintv - The Force Within Youtube channel   - This week's episode is brought to you by Sudio Sweden. Click this link to check out the Sudio headphones that I use. Use the code intelligence15 at checkout for 15% off! - For the month of October, they are donating...

This week I am talking with Mike Sweetman, the founder of The Force Within We talk about his journey finding and sharing healthy lifestyle methods - and how games fit into it all.

This week I am talking with Betty Adamou about her firm Research Through Gaming. What she does is a mix of psychology, game design, technology, and business that all combines and works together to solve modern problems. We also talk about the 3 Pillars of science that she builds her games upon. Research Through Gaming: http://www.researchthroughgaming.com/ Betty Adamou’s Twitter: @bettyadamou Betty Adamou's email: [email protected] LOOT PAGE:...

No new episode this week. Hurricane Irma has required my full attention this week. Just a brief check-in. Check out the LOOT page!

I speak with Jupiter Hadley about the phenomenon of game jams and the world of indie games Game Jams How to get involved in making games Awesome places to find indie games, like itch.io How she has played more indie video games than anyone – but the Guinness World Book of Records won’t give her credit for it How indie games can explore topics that AAA games can’t Links Jupiter’s Youtube Channel Jupiter’s Patreon Page Find ALL THE GAME JAMS Play indie games at...

I speak with Kim Hansen and Kelly Wright, former game designers who have created a tech startup known as Gretta How games are slightly more fun than computational linguistics Their experience working on the Mass Effect series Working on educational games Why Myst is not the best model for a kids game Working on UX for Eon Altar – which fuses tabletop role-playing with a couch co-op. Also smartphones. Robot Round Robin – the gamified survey they use to test their speech-to-text algorithms How...

I speak with Shanna Zwart, also known as the Twitch Streamer Shannanina We talk about her video game and music streaming career Shanna’s history with video games The personal connection that Shanna has about games and how they helped her through a difficult period of her life How playing games online can either improve or hurt your friendships Shannanina’s tough love advice for how to be a successful streamer How Shanna’s experience going to school for game design (and dropping out) gave her...

I speak with Leslie – one of the current operators of Habitica – the app that turns your life into a game We talk about how Habitica has been helping people with everything from flossing to getting through med school How we wish that we would spend as much time on ourselves as we do on our avatar How games hold the key to so many productivity efforts: motivation How Pokémon (aka Pokemon) and Dungeons & Dragons influenced the design of Habitica How Habitica toes the line between being a...

Tyler Renelle is the creator and co-founder of Habitica, an app that turns your everyday tasks and habits into a video game We talk about the road from an idea to the successful Kickstarter of Habitica Habitica is very complex, but uses strategies form games to ease users into creating new habits Many people claimed to hold the secret to effective habit-forming, but Habitica sampled from many different games to create something that fits a variety of people Tyler turns a bad World of Warcraft...

+7 Talks with Travis Eriksen of the Gamer-founded charity, Child’s Play We talk about how Child’s Play was founded by gamers of Penny Arcade wanting to counter negative press with positive action How the most uninteresting game of all time is used to raise money Child’s Play donates games because the positive effects on mood, morale, confidence, and even because it reduces the need for pain medication Please consider donating to Child’s Play – if that’s not something you can do, then spread...

Dr. Jamie Madigan spreads awareness of what psychology can tell us about video games. How psychology plays a role in designing video games. How a study about memory explains the “one . . . more . . . turn . . . ” phenomenon How the psychology of arousal might explain why you play games through the night.   Links The Psychology of Video Games Website Dr. Madigan’s Book: Getting Gamers +++++++ Share this Episode: 1-click Twitter share 1-click Facebook share 1-click Google+ Link to...

Zhenghua Yang tells how video games helped him through a truly frightening part of his life – and now he creates them to bring meaning to people. Z talks about his first video game created at the age of 10, and now, his studio: Serenity Forge. 5 areas where video games are transforming the future. The diverse ways that video games can bring meaning   Links Serenity Forge Z’s TEDx Talk: Video Games Saved my Life and How They Will Save Yours Mystic Melee Gone Home Luna’s Wandering...