A recent study found that playing casual games can lift a person’s mood. The study, conducted by East Carolina University (ECU) and funded by Popcap Games, revealed that consumers who regularly played Bejeweled had reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Sound familiar? Good for you, maybe you’ve been playing your casual games like me to boost your mood and outlook.  In June, I posted a blog about another study from the same vendor, “Casual Gaming – Who Knew It Could Improve Cognition?,” which found that consumers playing games such as Bejeweled, Peggle or Bookworm “… for 30 minutes demonstrated an 87 percent improvement in cognitive response time and an overwhelming 215 percent increase in executive functioning.” Now it seems like we’re seeing a trend here – casual games are not only fun, social activities but they also are good for your overall mental health.

These results are part of an ongoing study by ECU, which found that, in addition to helping cognition, playing casual games helped reduce tension, anger and fatigue. According to an article in The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the director of the ECU department conducting the survey found that casual games had potential as a treatment for clinically depressed patients. Just think about how big an impact this could have on the medical industry.

During the past six months, I’ve closely followed the developments of this study and believe the results are a strong affirmation that game developers must cater to their online audience and build a “frictionless” online experience. Limit the distractions during the gaming experience to maximize that positive impact on gamers’ outlooks.

What are your thoughts? This study didn’t look at Farmville or other Zynga games; for those players, do you feel the same? How are casual games impacting your life?

Charlie Born, Plimus Head of Marketing

Charles Born,

Head and VP of Marketing

 

 

 

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jar0d/4649749639/