People seem to have the belief that video games are bad for children and teenagers. While this is true for some games, others such as Animal Crossing and the most recent entries in The Legend of Zelda franchise have proven them wrong. Studies show that playing Breath of the Wild has improved symptoms of depression and increased happiness. One recent study published in the JMIR Serious Games journal shows 518 postgraduate students in 4 groups. Group one played Zelda: Breath of the Wild, group two watched Studio Ghibli films, the third group did both and the last group didn’t play an open world game or watch Studio Ghibli. After the experiment, students reported on their mastery, skill, calmness and how happy they were overall.
Those who played Breath of the Wild reported having higher levels of happiness compared to those who did not play the game. The effect was increased for the students who both played Zelda and watched Studio Ghibli. The researchers who conducted the study used the bootstrap mediation effect test to see how playing open world games affected the happiness of others. It showed that the nostalgia of familiar gameplay elements in Breath of the Wild enhanced players’ experience. The effect was highest in the group who participated in both activities.
This study showed similar conclusions to another study that involved Breath of the Wild five years ago. Unlike other surveys that are more observation-based, however, this one demonstrated stronger conclusions. Those that conducted the experiment noted that randomly assigning the students to four different groups helped isolate the effects of both playing Breath of the Wild and watching Studio Ghibli films that are nostalgic. While the study only measured short-term effects, the results still suggest that playing certain types of games can positively boost your mood and mental health.
