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Abstract: There is often thought to be a link between games and creativity, such as in the concept of "flow". This is a mental state with an intense focus on the task, whether that is playing a game, or some creative endeavour. It may be that video games, as long as they are fun to play, could be used to induce a more creative state of mind. If so, video games could have another role to play in the school classroom, or college or university. We would then like to know whether all games would be equally effective at this, or whether some genres of game would be better than others. In this experimental study, we investigate the relationship between genre of video game, and any increase in the player's creativity. Three different types of game were played, including a puzzle game (Portal 2), a first-person shooter (Serious Sam), and a sandbox game (Minecraft). Before and after playing the games, the players took the Torrance test for divergent thinking to measure that aspect of their creative capacity. Our hypothesis was that if any game genre would influence creativity, then it would be the sandbox game, because it is less constraining, and such games are often used to attempt to stimulate creativity in children, in particular. Results showed that the games did indeed have an effect on creativity, but it was the puzzle game that improved it most. This is only a short-term effect, as far as we know; but it is of interest to educators in any case. A temporary increase in creative powers would be useful to induce in students, if it helps prepare them for subsequent creative learning. Results showed that there were differences between the games. They all showed some improvement, but the puzzle game was most effective, and the FPS game was next. It was also interesting to see that the games affected only one of the measures of creativity in particular: namely that of flexibility. The implication is that video games could possibly be used to put students into a more creative state of mind, which may be useful for learning certain types of subject or skill.
Keywords: Creativity, divergent thinking, puzzle games, sandbox games, game genre, enjoyment
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