Can Video Games Make You More Creative? – They can, but it matters how you play them.
This experimental study included 352 undergraduates and compared the effect of playing “Minecraft” on creativity measures compared to watching a TV show (passive control), a driving game (game control), and playing “Minecraft” with specific instructions (an instructional control).
A within-subjects analysis found a significant correlation between trait creativity and game play habits. Between-groups experimental analyses showed that players randomly assigned to play “Minecraft” without instruction demonstrated significantly higher scores on post-game creativity measures compared to those who played “Minecraft” with instructions to “be creative,” those who played a driving game, or those who watched a television show.
Results indicate that effects are not solely predicted by game mechanics, but also by the way the player plays. Playing games is a powerful way of facilitating creative thinking because it lowers the barriers of established social norms by offering new rules and realities.
This is becoming a very common theme for therapeutic design of games as well. We see that a strong overlap between the treatment mechanism, game mechanics and intention of the player results in the most beneficial play.
