Open-world games, nostalgia, and overall happiness in life
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN14757739 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN14757739 |
| Secondary identifying numbers | 219867 |
- Submission date
- 29/04/2025
- Registration date
- 30/04/2025
- Last edited
- 04/08/2025
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Mental and Behavioural Disorders
Plain English summary of protocol
Background and study aims
This study aims to examine the extent to which open-world games, such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and nostalgia, evoked by Studio Ghibli movies, such as Totoro and Kiki’s Delivery Service, affect postgraduate students’ sense of exploration, calmness, mastery and skill, purpose and meaning and, ultimately, happiness in life.
Who can participate?
Adult full-time postgraduate students
What does the study involve?
A controlled laboratory experiment was conducted, employing a 2 (Playing an open-world game vs. no open-world game) × 2 (Nostalgia vs. no nostalgia) between-subjects design. Study participants were randomly assigned to the study’s four conditions and answered a brief questionnaire, examining their sense of exploration, feeling of calm, mastery and skill, purpose and meaning, and, ultimately, happiness in life.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
No possible benefits or risks were identified
Where is the study run from?
The study is run from Imperial College London, UK, and held at Doshisha University, Japan.
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
Mid to the end of April 2025
Who is funding the study?
Investigator initiated and funded
Who is the main contact?
Prof Andreas B. Eisingerich, a.eisingerich@imperial.ac.uk
Contact information
Public, Scientific, Principal Investigator
Imperial College London, Imperial College Business School, South Kensington Campus
London
SW7 2AZ
United Kingdom
 ORCID ID |
0000-0001-5531-4662 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +442075949763 |
| a.eisingerich@imperial.ac.uk |
Study information
| Study design | 2 x 2 between-subject experimental design |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Interventional |
| Secondary study design | Randomised controlled trial |
| Study setting(s) | Internet/virtual, University/medical school/dental school |
| Study type | Quality of life |
| Participant information sheet | Not available in web format, please use contact details to request a participant information sheet |
| Scientific title | Examining the effects of playing open-world games and nostalgia on happiness |
| Study objectives | Open-world games and nostalgia impact happiness |
| Ethics approval(s) |
Approved 14/04/2025, Kyushu Sangyo University Ethics Committee (2-3-1 Matsukadai Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, 813-8503, Japan; +81926735266; sangaku@ml.kyusan-u.ac.jp), ref: 2024-0017 |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | Overall life happiness of postgraduate students |
| Intervention | This study employed a 2 (Playing an open-world game vs. no open-world game) × 2 (Nostalgia vs. no nostalgia) between-subject experimental design. All study participants were randomly allocated to one of the four study conditions, using a random 1-4 number generator (Condition 1: Playing an open-world game + nostalgia; Condition 2: Playing an open-world game + no nostalgia; Condition 3: No open-world game + nostalgia; Condition 4 (control group): No open-world game + no nostalgia). The study was conducted in a lab experimental setting on a university campus. More specifically, in Condition 1, participants were invited to spend 30 minutes playing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on the Nintendo Switch in handheld mode. After 30 minutes of video game play, participants were invited to watch a brief seven minute clip from a Studio Ghibli film (randomly assigned, so that some participants watched My Neighbor Totor and others watched Kiki’s Delivery Service). Finally, study participants completed a brief questionnaire. In Condition 2, participants were invited to spend 30 minutes playing the open-world game as in Condition 1. After having played the game for 30 minutes, participants in Condition 2 completed the brief questionnaire. In Condition 3, participants were randomly allocated to either watch a brief seven minute clip from Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbor Totoro or Kiki’s Delivery service and subsequently complete a brief questionnaire. Finally, in Condition 4 (control group), participants simply completed the brief questionnaire. As part of the study, univariate and bootstrapping-based moderated mediation analysis were conducted with 5,000 resamples. |
| Intervention type | Behavioural |
| Primary outcome measure | Self-expressed life happiness was measured across all four study conditions using a brief questionnaire with four Likert-scale measurement items (1 = strongly disagree, 9 = strongly agree), after participants had played Zelda and watched the Studio Ghibli film clip (Condition 1), after playing Zelda (Condition 2), after watching the Studio Ghibli film clip (Condition 3), and upon starting the study (Condition 4): 1. “I feel grateful for the good things in my life.” 2. “I am satisfied with the overall direction of my life and look forward to what lies ahead.” 3. “Overall, I would describe myself as a happy person.” 4. “I generally feel a sense of peace and contentment when I think about my life as a whole.” |
| Secondary outcome measures | Self-expressed sense of exploration, feeling of calm, mastery and skill, purpose/meaning in life were measured using the following measurement items after participants had indicated their happiness in life: 1. Exploration was measured using 3 items: “I appreciate seeking out new experiences, even if they feel unfamiliar or slightly uncomfortable at first.” “I view my life as an adventure that lies ahead, filled with possibilities and opportunities.” “I view each day as a chance to discover something new.” 2. Sense of calm was measured with the following three items: “I feel calm and collected in my daily life.” “I am feeling angry about a lot of things in my life.” (reverse coded) “I generally feel upset.” (reverse coded) 3. Sense of mastery and skill was measured using the following three items: “I can find solutions when I face difficulties in my life.” “I believe I am well equipped to navigate life’s day-to-day challenges.” “I have the necessary skills to master life.” 4. Sense of purpose/meaning in life was measured using the following three items: “I feel my life contributes to something larger than myself.” “I experience a deep sense of fulfilment when I think about the path I am on.” “Overall, I view my life as meaningful and purposeful.” |
| Overall study start date | 14/04/2025 |
| Completion date | 25/04/2025 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Learner/student |
|---|---|
| Age group | Mixed |
| Lower age limit | 18 Years |
| Upper age limit | 80 Years |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | 500 |
| Total final enrolment | 518 |
| Key inclusion criteria | Full-time postgraduate student |
| Key exclusion criteria | Participants had to be full-time students |
| Date of first enrolment | 14/04/2025 |
| Date of final enrolment | 25/04/2025 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- Japan
Study participating centre
Kyoto
602-0898
Japan
Sponsor information
University/education
2-3-2 Matsukadai Higashi-ku
Fukuoka
813-8503
Japan
| Phone | +81926735266 |
|---|---|
| hou@ip.kyusan-u.ac.jp | |
| Website | http://www.kyusan-u.ac.jp/index.html |
"ROR" |
https://ror.org/01wqrpc44 |
Funders
Funder type
Other
No information available
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | 01/08/2025 |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | Yes |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Available on request |
| Publication and dissemination plan | We aim to make the study results as widely and publicly available as possible. Thus, we aim to publish the study and its findings in an open-source international medical journal such as JMIR (Journal of Medical Internet Research). |
| IPD sharing plan | The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are/will be available upon request from Prof Andreas B. Eisingerich, a.eisingerich@imperial.ac.uk |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results article | 01/08/2025 | 04/08/2025 | Yes | No |
Editorial Notes
04/08/2025: Publication reference added.
29/04/2025: Study's existence confirmed by the Kyushu Sangyo University Ethics Committee.
