Roleplaying Games and Wellbeing
A special issue of Behavioral Sciences (ISSN 2076-328X). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Psychology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 May 2026 | Viewed by 22
Special Issue Editors
Interests: roleplaying games and wellbeing; AI use in psychology and in higher education; awarding gaps in higher education; belief and its psychological purpose; parapsychology; dark personality
Interests: role playing games and skill development; game based learning; higher education pedagogy and innovative/creative practice in higher education
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Roleplaying games (or RPGs) involve groups of individuals coming together (either online or in person) in a form of modern-day storytelling; the most popular of these is Dungeons and Dragons. The shared narrative is guided by the Game Master or “Dungeon Master” (DM), players potray characters, and the outcomes of their decisions and actions are typically determined by dice rolls. This engenders a rich and immersive storytelling enviroment which cultivates creativity, shared experiences, and friendships through a form of life-long play; the popularity of which increased dramatically during the pandemic and beyond. However, there has been limited research published exploring the wellbeing benefits of playing roleplaying games, and this Special Issue aims to address this. This Special Issue focuses on the explorations of the potential benefits of playing roleplaying games, encompassing various displines and research methods. We welcome original research papers and review articles in the following areas (among others):
- Roleplaying games and wellbeing benefits;
- Playing roleplaying games and identity;
- Roleplaying games and mental health;
- Use of RPGs to support specific groups in society;
- RPGs and childhood development;
- The use of roleplaying games for postive pedagogical experiences.
Dr. Ian S. Baker
Prof. Dr. Ian Turner
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Behavioral Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- roleplaying games
- RPGs
- Dungeons and Dragons
- D&D
- wellbeing
- lifelong play
- play
- storytelling
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
