Quick summary: Bradley University graduate researcher Victoria Alexeev is recruiting adults aged 18 and over for Playing with Emotion, an online study examining how individual video game mechanics influence short-term emotional responses. Participants complete a short original video game experience and questionnaires in about 20–25 minutes. The study can be completed remotely, and participants do not need to play video games regularly.
Bradley University graduate researcher Victoria Alexeev is recruiting adults for Playing with Emotion, an online research study examining how specific video game mechanics may influence people’s emotional responses.
The study takes approximately 20–25 minutes and can be completed remotely. Participants do not need to identify as gamers or have regular experience playing video games.
Alexeev is also inviting individuals and organisations to share the approved recruitment flyer with their networks to help the study reach a broad sample of adults.
Eligible adults can participate online.
Playing with Emotion forms part of Alexeev’s work through VGTx, or Video Game Treatment and Diagnostic Research, an initiative she founded to investigate commercial video games, game mechanics and interactive systems through psychological research.
Studying the psychology of game mechanics
A central focus of VGTx is understanding what happens psychologically when people interact with video games. Its current and planned research covers areas including player experience, mental health, psychophysiological measurement and the potential use of games in treatment or assessment.
Much of the existing psychological research on video games has examined them according to genre or treated individual games as complete experiences. While these approaches can provide useful findings, they can make it difficult to determine whether a particular response is associated with a specific feature of a game.
A 2024 systematic review of 96 studies examining video game classification in psychological research identified limitations in genre-based classification and called for greater attention to individual game mechanics.
Playing with Emotion takes a more focused approach by examining individual mechanics within the same controlled game environment and measuring short-term emotional responses during play. The design is intended to provide a clearer picture of how particular elements of gameplay relate to participants’ emotional experiences than research based solely on comparisons between genres or complete games.
Alexeev designed and developed the original game and research experience used in the study. Its visual design draws inspiration from retro games, while aspects of the research structure were informed by work from the Oxford Internet Institute and collaborators who have used PowerWash Simulator as a research environment.
Other researchers have also explored ways of measuring what happens to players during gameplay, including player experience and physiological responses. These approaches make it possible to examine psychological responses while someone is interacting with a game rather than relying exclusively on broad measures of gaming behaviour.
Commercial video games have also been investigated in relation to mental health. A 2022 systematic review by Boldi and Rapp examined 39 studies involving commercial games and mental health, highlighting opportunities for further research connecting game design with psychological and clinical questions.
Exploring more engaging therapeutic game design
VGTx also aims to investigate how games intended for therapeutic purposes might be designed to remain engaging rather than feeling solely like clinical tools.
Understanding the relationship between particular design choices and player experience could help inform future research into emotional responses, well-being, accessibility and potential therapeutic applications.
The broader approach treats video games as environments in which psychological responses can be examined during interaction. The long-term aim is to produce evidence that can be useful to mental health researchers and game developers working on future studies and interactive applications.
Playing with Emotion is one study within this wider programme of research.
Who can participate?
The study is open to adults with different levels of experience with video games. Regular players are welcome, but so are people who rarely play or do not consider themselves gamers.
Participants must:
- Be 18 years of age or older
- Be able to read and understand English
- Have access to a compatible desktop computer, laptop or mobile device
- Meet the study’s safety eligibility requirements
For safety reasons, people with a history of photosensitive epilepsy, seizure disorders or severe motion sickness are not eligible to participate.
Participation involves completing the short original video game experience followed by questionnaires about the experience. The entire process takes approximately 20–25 minutes.
Upcoming presentation
Victoria Alexeev will present the game and research design behind Playing with Emotion at Gaming the Mind, hosted by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, on 2nd November 2026.
The study has been reviewed and approved by the Bradley University Committee on the Use of Human Subjects in Research, Study #I-2026-031-BU.
Questions about the study or VGTx can be directed to Victoria Alexeev at vzajac@mail.bradley.edu or through the VGTx website.
