With new immersive video gaming technology coming into being, researchers have been very curious about the social and psychological aspects of video games, and the effects they have on gamers.

A new study shows games rich in storytelling make players more motivated to play compared to games that lack narrative stories.

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The study also shows it makes them more immersed with the game and that the narrative elements can change the players' ability to assess mental states of others ("theory of mind").

"Although the effects regarding theory of mind were relatively small, we were excited to see initial evidence for the short-term enhancement through in-game storytelling," said Daniel Bormann, from the University of Freiburg in Germany.

"Importantly, this effect was specific to the condition in which participants actively engaged in the games narration, while the mere exposure to the narrative video game did not affect theory of mind, in comparison to playing a neutral video game."

"Immersion is characterized by an experience you might have enjoyed while watching your favorite movie for the first time -- the sensation of being transported to another time or space, as though you are taking a real journey, or the feeling of being emotionally impacted by the protagonist's fate." said Bormann.

Bormann added that further study into the effects of in-game storytelling could enable clinicians and software developers to develop useful tools that can help them treat disorders such as autism.

The games used in the study were "Gone Home" and "Against the Wall". Gone Home takes players into the shoes of a female American college student who arrives at her house after a year abroad.

She is later tasked to figure out what has happened to her family. In Against the Wall, players merely climb up an infinite wall by interacting with bricks.

TagsIn-Game Storytelling, Video games, psychology, Social, University of Freiburg, Immersion, Gone Home, Against the Wall