Socially Afflicted - how people affect gameplay experience (Topic Discussion)

As I was listening to an episode of the Ludology podcast
recently, one focused on games and health, I started to think
about how much the people we play with influence our gameplay
experience. Selecting board games based on the audience is much
more important than we may like to believe. Get it wrong, and you
have one player rebelling and playing opposite to expectations,
another disengaging completely, and the overall mood shifting
from playful enjoyment to uncomfortable tension. In this article,
I want to discuss how a mismatch can impact the enjoyment of the
whole group, alter the tone of reviews, and even affect playtest
outcomes.


Read the full article here:
https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2025/12/30/socially-afflicted-how-people-affect-gameplay-experience-topic-discussion/


Useful Links


Ludology podcast episode 351, Better Health Through Gaming:
https://ludology.libsyn.com/ludology-351-better-health-through-gaming

Pandemic review:
https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2020/01/18/pandemic-saturday-review/

Amit Bar's and Tobias Otterbring's study “The role of culture
and personality traits in board game habits and attitudes” in the
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969698921000722

Qian Zhang's, JiaLe Ruan's and DingYong Xiong's study
“Differential effects of exposure to cooperative versus
competitive games on sharing behavior in young children" in
Frontiers in Psychiatry:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12268353/

Bez Shahriari's reflections on playtesting behaviour:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bez_Shahriari

Board Game Design Lab: https://boardgamedesignlab.com/

Mahiro Egashira's, Daisuke Son's and Arisa Ema's study
“Serious Game for Change in Behavioral Intention Toward Lifestyle
Related Diseases” in JMIR Serious Games:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35188465/

Ramy Hammady's and Sylvester Arnab's review “Serious Gaming
for Behaviour Change, A Systematic Review” in Information:
https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/13/3/142






Music


Intro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot
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Music: "Epic Inspiration" by AShamaluevMusic.
Website: https://www.ashamaluevmusic.com


Music: "Galaxy" by AShamaluevMusic.
Website: https://www.ashamaluevmusic.com


Music: "Legend" by AShamaluevMusic.
Website: https://www.ashamaluevmusic.com


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