Casual Games, Cognition, and Play across the Lifespan: A Critical Synthesis

Abstract

Games, including video games have long been associated with both rhetorics of progress and frivolity, simultaneously recruiting efforts to employ games toward furthering cognitive skills, while also eliciting concerns about the decadence of players. Casual games, defined as games with a low barrier to entry and quick play sessions often focus on cognitively-oriented challenges and are perceived by many players to promote cognitive, social, and emotional benefits. Research on the cognitive, social, and emotional impact of casual games now spans games marketed as entertainment, “brain games,” and digital therapeutics; despite these games sharing similar qualities, the bodies of research literature on them remains largely distinct. This review finds little support for the cognitive benefits of playing casual games, with exception of the elderly or those with dementia. This research synthesis finds evidence for the social and emotional benefits of casual games when they are sought for these purposes, played mindfully, and within robust social contexts. However, the same games, when played in different contexts can have negative consequences, consistent with findings from the mindset literature more broadly. Researchers thus should take seriously the context of game play, perhaps treating the emergent phenomena of play as the unit of analysis, rather than the media artifact.