Like so many technological and cultural innovations, video games went through a phase of being blamed for all manner of society’s ills as they became more popular. But as all but the most committed opponents gave up on the idea that video games might cause violence, a possibly more productive question has emerged — in what ways might playing games actually be good for us? At the same time, cozy games, with their emphasis on the calm and cute, have grown as one of the most obvious places where the psychological benefits of gaming might be realized, if the research backs the idea.
“When it comes to science, we’re most worried about harm before we start talking about benefits,” psychologist Sarah Hays, Psy.D., a program manager for the mental health nonprofit Take This, tells Inverse. “So a lot more research has been done on the harms.”
