There exists a vast body of research on whether games are beneficial to the development of younglings, or even adults, in the grand scheme of things. While a lot of this research is predominantly done on video games (because they come in all shapes and sizes, on many varied platforms), a good chunk has also been done on table top roleplaying games - such as Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, Warhammer, Call of Cthulhu, and many many more!

 

But what kind of benefits are we talking about? Well, research shows the benefits that these types of games can have in developing social, emotional, and other skills such as…..

 

• Empathy

• Tolerance

• Teamwork

• Sharing

• Critical Thinking

• Problem Solving

• Creativity

• Communication

• Literacy

• Maths

• History

• Probabilities

• Imagination

• Creative writing

• Self-reflection

• Resilience

• Improved mental health

• Building, maintaining, and strengthening relationship

 

“But that’s just hearsay, show me one source!” I hear you cry into the void that is the internet. Well, there are many of them of course!

 

Too many to properly cite and dissect. An edutainment (that's educational entertainment, for those of you, like us who had no idea that was a thing) magazine describes how the use of D&D in academic settings was found to boost  learning in maths, reading, social interaction, and of course creative writing - and that this difference was seen especially in those who had previously struggled with those areas (Carter, 2013).

 

Fantastic! Don’t tell the kids they’re learning all these skills though, they might not want to play! 

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But wait, there’s more! On the social side of things, analysis of group dynamics has highlighted at least four themes in gameplay. One of which is the development of democratic ideology - something much of our way of life is based upon - was seen within games. This strikes me as self explanatory, and that even though as a games host I can tell the players how they should or shouldn’t act - I don’t! The player retains their own agency, working with the group to decide courses of action, a skill integral in identity building (Adams, 2013). This in turn brings to the fore their own strengths, developing their self-efficacy - their belief in their own skill to overcome challenges (Check this out further here).

 

Speaking of challenges, the dice do sometimes roll unfavourably. But facing those challenges - regardless of success or not - teaches folx that all important resilience that most adults rely on in day to day life. Yes your character tried to jump over a chasm and fell in, yes they were injured but in doing so gave the party a chance to bond over the inevitable rescue attempt by the other players; perhaps teaching them that they don’t have to work alone and that it is ok to fall, and it is certainly ok to ask for help. This helps build, maintain, and strengthen friendship relations, but also builds upon teamwork skills, and cooperative problem solving.

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Next up, something even adults find hard to do, self reflection. This process is meant to benefit the development of the self but the process is quite frankly boring - we had to do it at university and I can confirm it is the most tedious thing. However, table top RPGs to the rescue! Because the skills needed to do that process are built into the game, the player must reflect on how their character is doing so as to improve that character; longsword not working out? Hmm perhaps you're more of a finesse fighter and need a rapier! This process starts from the very beginning, right from the character creation where customisation and myriads of options give the player much to reflect on when coupled with the levelling up and unlocking of new skills! These reflection skills translate to real life, enabling everyone to better self-reflect.

 

Now, emotionally the players can go through a veritable rollercoaster. This is good, emotional regulation is important and while we all struggle with it, in game is the perfect safe place to identify and act vicariously through a character in a space free of the stigma the real world unfortunately has at times. You want your surly dwarf to weep at the loss of a family pet? You do that, because then you can *feel* what they feel and by extension understand your own feelings, developing schema and tools to live and seek support with these feelings in the real world, boosting mental wellbeing.

 

Games can also improve mental health, by way of positive interaction, outcomes, and generally good feelings, we find ourselves refreshed and good to go - even if the session didn’t go as planned, there were likely fun times and socialising had by all. This is important, it fills that void people sometimes have to be a part of something, being part of a party sailing the sea hunting a pirate vessel to rescue a kidnapped prince - an adventure with meaning, stakes, and pirates! Another innate desire to experience the unknown, but from the safety of home, with the added bonus of perceived danger it can excite and create a sense of awe - more positive emotions shown to increase mental health (Adams, 2013).

 

Interviews with players that had been playing since teenage years tell us that they unanimously consider playing TTRPG's as a positive force in their life. Their literary skills are better, and with a greater depth and breadth of experience in games, they were more willing to participate in speaking, reading, and listening activities; and more able to overcome real world difficulties in these when they occurred (Kaylor, 2017).

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There is so much to gain while having fun too!

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References

 

Carter, A. (2013). Using Dungeons and Dragons to Integrate Curricula in an Elementary Classroom. In Ma, M., Oikonomou, A., and Jain, L. C. (editors) Serious Games and Edutainment Applications. New York: Springer.

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Adams, Aubrie S. (2013) "Needs Met Through Role-Playing Games: A Fantasy Theme Analysis of Dungeons & Dragons,"Kaleidoscope: A Graduate Journal of Qualitative Communication Research: Vol. 12 , Article 6.

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Kaylor, S. L. B. (2017). Dungeons and Dragons and literacy: the role tabletop role-playing game can play in dveloping teenegers' literary skills and reading interests. Graduiate Research papers, 215.

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Clarke, S., Arnab, S., Morini, L., and Heywood, L. (2019). Dungeons and Dragons as a Tool for Developing Student Self-reflection Skills, International Conference on Games and Learning Alliance 2018, Games and Learning Alliance pp 101-109.