Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Serious Games
Date Submitted: Apr 25, 2025
Date Accepted: Jun 30, 2025
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Studio Ghibli Effect on Young People’s Sense of Exploration, Calm, Skill, Purpose and Meaning and Overall Happiness in Life: An Exploratory Randomized Control Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Young people increasingly feel anxious, depressed and sad today. Engaging with works of art and entertainment, such as playing open-world games or watching Studio Ghibli films can be more than just a pastime. However, the extent to which, if at all, open-world games and feelings of nostalgia affect overall happiness in life remains unanswered.
Objective:
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 films, such as Hayao Miyazaki’s My Neighbor Totoro or Kiki’s Delivery Service, affect postgraduate students’ sense of exploration, calmness, mastery and skill, purpose and meaning and, ultimately, happiness in life.
Methods:
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 (N =518) 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. As part of the study, we conducted univariate analyses and bootstrapping-based moderated mediation analysis with 5,000 resamples.
Results:
The results showed a significant and positive impact of playing an open-world game on overall life happiness (Mplayedgame= 4.563, SD = .072 vs. Mnotplayedgame = 3.170, SD = .072; F(1, 517) = 117.246, p <.001). Furthermore, the study results demonstrated that the positive impact of open-world games on overall life happiness is significantly enhanced by nostalgia evoked by watching Studio Ghibli films (Mnostalgia= 5.45, SD = .102 vs. Mnonostalgia = 3.58, SD = .102; SE = .144; p <.001, CI= [1.332, 1.900]). Moreover, moderated mediation with bootstrapped-based analyses and 5,000 resamples demonstrated that the effect of playing open-world games on happiness is mediated by sense of exploration (Effect = .11, SE = .05, 95% CI = [.04, .21]), sense of calm (Effect = .32, SE = .09, 95% CI = [.15, .51]), sense of skill and mastery (Effect = .08, SE = .05, 95% CI = [.01, .18]), and sense of purpose and meaning (Effect = .32, SE = .14, 95% CI = [.06, .60]).
Conclusions:
This study shows that playing an open-world game such as the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild significantly fostered a sense of exploration and calm in life as well as a feeling of mastery and skill and purpose/meaning, hence, contributing positively to one’s overall happiness in life. Furthermore, the results demonstrated the positive role played by nostalgia, which was evoked by watching Studio Ghibli films, in further enhancing the positive effects of open-world games on overall life happiness. Clinical Trial: ISRCTN 14757739
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