The Gaming Mind

A New Psychology of Videogames and the Power of Play

By: Alexander Kriss PhD

Narrated by: Matthew Josdal

Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Are videogames bad for us? It's the question on everyone's mind, given teenagers' captive attention to videogames and the media's tendency to scapegoat them. It's also - if you ask clinical psychologist Alexander Kriss - the wrong question.

In his therapy office, Kriss looks at videogames as a window into the mind. Is his patient Liz really "addicted" to Candy Crush - or is she evading a deeper problem? Why would aspiring model Patricia craft a hideous avatar named "Pat"? And when Jack immerses himself in Mass Effect, is he eroding his social skills - or honing them via relationship - building gameplay?

Weaving together Kriss's personal history, patients' experiences, and professional insight - and without shying away from complex subjects, such as online harassment - The Gaming Mind disrupts our assumptions about "gamers" and explores how gaming can be good for us.

It offers guidance for parents, clinicians, and the rest of us to better understand the gaming mind. Like any mode of play, at their best, videogames reveal who we are and what we want from our lives.

©2019 Alexander Kriss (P)2020 Tantor

it gets interesting

at first I wasn't sure if the focus of the book was quite what I was after, and, it wasn't, but I eventually became captivated by the stories and perspectives. glad I stuck with it.

Suprised to love this book

Thoughtful and heartfelt exploration of the psychology of gaming from a psychoanalytic perspective. This book humanizes video games and those who play them, honoring the complexity and depth of the experience that is sure to be eye-opening to gamers and non-gamers alike. I was suprised to love this book as much as I did. Highly recommend for people who have interest in gaming, psychology, and being human.

2 Styles in 1 Book

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I am a therapist and a gamer and I felt this book told the story of gaming from the perspective of a therapist and from the perspective of a gamer, which are two drastically different perspectives. I understand some of the negative reviews where people only enjoyed one of those perspectives. However, if you have any interest in therapeutic activities or the therapy process and gaming as well, I think you'll love this book. I also think this is a good resource for parents who don't understand the gaming habits of their children.

SUCH A GREAT INTERPRETATION OF VIDEO GAME CULTURE!!!

Super informative of the minds of gamers, developers, and on looker of the community. Found myself fascinated with the authors plethora of knowledge and experience.

I wanted to like this book.

I am teacher who is interested in the educational potential of gaming. This title and its description prompted me to pre-order it before its release date. Unfortunately, the book failed to live up to the description. Much of the material has little to do with the psychology of video games or the power of play. Perhaps a rewrite and some coaching from a good editor would make it better. The narrator can read well enough, but his phrasing is so unnatural as to be a constant distraction. I highly recommend listening to a sample of the narration before purchasing this title. It took me four weeks to get through this book; I just kept hoping it would get better.

Nice start but no.

This book takes a lot of shots at other parts of culture and blames basically everything on racism.
Some good ideas to start but quickly devolves into a woke disaster.