Playing Minecraft gets the 'creative juices' flowing, suggests research

Computer games can stimulate creativity - but only certain games, under certain circumstances, researchers suggest

Playing video games that foster creative freedom can increase people's creativity, according to research from Iowa State University - but only certain types of games.

The study compared the effect of playing Minecraft, both with and without instruction, to watching a TV show or playing a more frenetic racing-based video game. "Those given the freedom to play Minecraft without instruction were most creative," the researchers concluded.

"It's not just that Minecraft can help induce creativity. There seems to be something about choosing to do it that also matters," added Douglas Gentile, a professor of psychology.

The research involved a total of 352 participants, with the Minecraft cohort split into two groups, one of which received instruction and was told to be as creative as possible.

After 40 minutes of the activities, the participants were asked to draw "a creature from a world much different than Earth". The human-like the drawings, the lower the marks awarded for creativity. However, the researchers admitted, "surprisingly, those instructed to be creative while playing Minecraft were the least creative" - a finding that the researchers could not easily account for.

"Being told to be creative may have actually limited their options while playing, resulting in a less creative experience," Jorge Blanco-Herrera, lead author and former master's student in psychology, said. "It's also possible they used all their 'creative juices' while playing and had nothing left when it came time to complete the test."

The paper was published on Taylor-Francis Online.

Previous work by the Department of Psychology at Iowa State University has focused the potential for aggression or beneficial social behaviour. The researchers added that even first-person shooter games, like PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), can potentially inspire creativity as players think about strategy and look for advantages in combat.

Earlier this year, researchers at Brigham Young University claimed that playing games like Fortnite and PUBG in squads could help improve office team work and productivity. It's not known whether playing old Sinclair Spectrum or Commodore Amiga games have quite the same positive impact…