What if building communication skills, strengthening friendships, and encouraging motivation could happen through storytelling, character-building, and imaginative play?
Role-playing games aren’t only leisure activities; they’re effective tools for personal growth. While not a one-size-fits-all solution, these engaging experiences have the potential to supplement more traditional approaches to developing social-emotional skills, intrinsic motivation, and overall well-being.
In this article, we’ll explore how RPGs support social-emotional learning, motivation, cognitive flexibility, and well-being, along with how they’ve been used in educational settings. We’ll also consider key challenges like frustration tolerance and the need for generalization beyond the game itself.
Whether you’re an educator, guardian, clinician, or neurodivergent person, you’ll discover how RPGs can support learning in engaging ways.
What are Role-Playing Games?
Role-playing games (RPGs) are games where players take on the roles of fictional characters in a shared story or world. Whether played solo or in a group, players make decisions as their characters, and those choices help shape the direction of the game’s storyline. All RPGs involve stepping into a new role, using imagination, and often working with others to tell a story.
While all RPGs center on role-play and decision-making, they can also vary in how they’re played. RPGs vary widely in format, content, and rules and vary on single-player and multiplayer designs. Some are tabletop games (e.g., Dungeons & Dragons), which are played with paper, dice, and pencils. Other RPGs are played digitally using apps or video games (e.g., Skyrim or Minecraft). No matter someone’s interests, there’s likely an RPG to match their play style.
A Brief History of Role-Playing Games
One of the earliest and most influential role-playing games is Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) which was first released in 1974. This is a fantasy RPG where a group of players create characters such as wizards, fighters, or rogues and go on adventures to explore, solve problems, fight enemies, and complete quests. Sessions are led by a player who is designated the “Dungeon Master” who describes the world, plays non-player characters, and helps move the story forward.
Dungeons & Dragons influenced the growth of the RPG genre, inspiring both tabletop and digital games that build on its collaborative and character-driven format. While many RPGs remain rooted in fantasy, others focus on combat, ethical decision-making, or real-world scenarios. Interest in the educational and social potential of RPGs began to grow in the 1960s and 1970s, with researchers in sociology and education beginning to explore how role-play could influence learning and behavior.
6 Potential Benefits of Role-Playing Games
As the research base on role-playing games continues to develop, promising potential benefits have been identified such as supporting well-being, cognitive growth, and motivation through creative, low-pressure learning and play.
1. Social & Emotional Learning Skills
Research suggests that RPGs can support the development of key social and emotional learning skills. Through collaborative storytelling and gameplay, players can practice skills outlined in the CASEL 5 framework:
- Self-Awareness – By exploring a character’s emotions, motivations, and goals, players practise recognising their own thoughts and feelings.
- Social Awareness – Players must consider the perspectives and motivations of other characters and players in order to reach their goals in gameplay. This process helps players practice perspective taking and empathy skills.
- Self-Management – Players learn to manage frustration, push through challenges, and regulate uncomfortable emotions during gameplay. These skills, when practiced in other settings and situations independent of the game, can be transferable.
- Relationship Skills – Players collaborate, negotiate, and resolve conflicts within the game, especially when cooperating with a team of other players.
- Responsible Decision-Making – Throughout the game, players make choices that have positive and negative consequences in the game. This helps players analyze situations, solve problems, and consider the impact of their actions and what that could mean for the storyline and others in their group.
For a clear look at how these abilities typically evolve from infancy through adulthood, explore our Executive Functioning Skills by Age Guide for milestones and practical next steps.
2. Leisure Time
Everyone has different ways of relaxing after a stressful day, and for many people, role-playing games are an enjoyable way to unwind. Leisure time activities that we choose to do because they are enjoyable, and not because we have to. Leisure activities help reduce stress by creating feelings of enjoyment. Using activities to cope with stress and promote well-being helps individuals become more resilient.
3. Low-Pressure Learning
Role-playing games also provide individuals a safe way to practice social roles, like being a leader or team member (p. 3). These roles are similar to real-life roles, without the real-life consequences. Because the game takes place in a fictional setting, trying different approaches becomes part of the story. This allows neurodivergent individuals to try out different ways of communicating, working with others, advocating for themselves, and making decisions without feeling pressured or judged. If something becomes too challenging or uncomfortable for the individual during gameplay, they can take a break or change roles at any time. This makes role-playing a low-pressure way to build confidence and social skills.
4. Cognitive Flexibility
Cognitive flexibility is the ability to shift thinking or behavior based on changes in a situation. In RPGs, players constantly face new challenges that require them to shift their thinking. Examples of these challenges might include unexpected events, difficult decisions, and changing goals. While problem solving in multiplayer games, players may need to take on different perspectives and work with each other’s ideas to move forward. RPGs naturally challenge players to think flexibly and adapt, especially when frustration builds or progress in the game is slow.
5. Intrinsic Motivation
Motivation is what drives players to keep playing role-playing games. Research has identified three main types that influence player interest (p. 773):
- Achievement – The desire to master the game, compete, and gain in-game power or status. This includes the mechanics and challenges within the game.
- Social – The enjoyment of interacting with others, working as a team, and building relationships.
- Immersion – Using the game as an escape from real-life stressors and enjoying role play and exploration of fictional worlds. This also includes enjoying customization of the characters and other components (e.g., world, home) in the game.
While different theories exist about what motivates players, most agree on these core categories. Some models highlight additional or overlapping motivations, but these three consistently appear across studies as key reasons players are drawn to RPGs.
6. Well-Being
Researchers define well-being as meeting basic needs, maintaining social connections, and expressing oneself (p. 74). Role-playing games conveniently have these qualities; allowing players to collaborate with others on gameplay and express themselves through character creation and storyline progression. All the above-mentioned benefits are ways in which individuals may improve their perspectives of well-being.
RPGs are also ways in which individuals can escape feelings of stress and anxiety, which is called escapism. When used in moderation, escapism can be a healthy way to reduce stress and practice creativity. Excessive escapism can be harmful when individuals begin avoiding responsibilities in everyday life or when emotions are being ignored and repressed.
RPGs & Education
Educators have incorporated RPGs into many classroom settings. RPGs are often built around a mastery model, where players are presented with introductory gameplay skills, which progressively become more challenging as the player moves through the storyline and is presented with more difficult challenges. A mastery model is like learning academic subjects like math, reading, science, and history, which build on content knowledge and previously learned skills over time. Researchers have found ways to create RPGs that taught math and geography textbook content (p. 2-3). It is believed that the effectiveness of RPG-based learning is based more on the attention and motivation to engage in the learning, more so than the actual RPG itself (p. 3).
In fact, I often use a similar format in my own work with students! I often use a digital platform called Centervention for some of my students. In the game, students create a character and guide them through a fictional world where they face real-life social challenges, such as taking turns, managing frustration, and working as part of a team. Players must make decisions that directly impact their character’s relationships and progress in the story, while getting repeated practice with different skills like impulse control and cooperation. Because the learning happens in the context of a game and is so personalizable, it’s fun for students to complete!
Challenges & Considerations
While RPGs show promise as a tool for building social and cognitive skills, it’s important to be aware of potential challenges.
Generalizability
Although role-playing games can help neurodivergent individuals practice communication, cooperation, and other interpersonal skills, playing within the structure of a game doesn’t automatically mean those skills will transfer to real-life situations. To make these skills last, individuals need to practice them with different people and in various situations beyond the game. This includes maintaining these skills over time and changing their responses based on the situation. Without continued, intentional practice of these skills outside of the game, individuals may find it challenging to apply them in daily interactions which are more unpredictable and less structured.
Frustration Tolerance
Some players may experience challenges with frustration tolerance, particularly when faced with slow progress or complex challenges early in the game (p. 3). Some players might feel temporarily stuck or overwhelmed with the game, which can lead to discouragement and shutting down just like in a traditional educational activity. While many RPGs are customizable, the limits of customization and differentiation are pre-set and may not be flexible enough to adapt to individualized needs. Alternatively, this frustration can also serve as a valuable opportunity to teach and practice coping skills in the moment.
Internet Safety
While online multiplayer RPGs can be fun and social, they also come with risks, especially when playing with unknown people online. Players may be exposed to inappropriate language, unsafe behaviors, or pressure to share personal information. In 2023, about three-quarters (~73 %) of players aged 10–17 experienced harassment in online multiplayer games.
To help protect your learner, ensure any necessary parent protections are in place to restrict permissions for gameplay and ensure conversations online are age-appropriate. Be aware that some online interactions may model inappropriate or unhealthy behavior. Learners may need support learning what is appropriate and what is not, and maintaining open communication helps them navigate online spaces safely.
Additional Resources
Resource for Families
Common Sense Media is a free, trusted platform that helps parents and guardians make informed decisions about the games, apps, movies, and websites that their children, teens, or adult learners use. Each review includes age recommendations, describes any concerning content, and explains if the game has educational value. This is a quick and easy way to ensure the games and sites your child, teen, or adult learner visits are safe and appropriate.
Resources for Educators and Other Professionals
If you are looking for any recommendations for RPGs that help support the development of essential life skills, check out Centervention as a great school-based intervention. This site details the programs available for students to participate in, cost per student (per year) and additional free resources that can be used as stand-alone or extension activities.
As a school-based professional, I personally have been interested in the Critical Core tabletop role-playing game which was created specifically to teach social problem solving to neurodivergent learners. Though I have not tried it out yet, stay tuned for an update in the future! Check out Game to Grow’s website to learn more about their mission.
TL;DR – (Too Long; Didn’t Read)
Role-playing games are more than entertainment; they’re tools that can be used to benefit neurodivergent youth and adults as they learn and practice various skills. These games offer safe and engaging opportunities to build social-emotional learning skills. Players can practice teamwork, decision-making, and leadership in low-pressure situations through character role-play. RPGs also address executive functioning skills such as cognitive flexibility by challenging players to adapt to challenging situations and consider differing perspectives. In educational settings, RPGs have been successfully used to teach academic and social skills through game-based mastery learning. As leisure activities, they also reduce stress and promote overall well-being.
Role-playing games are best able to support neurodivergent individuals’ social, emotional, and cognitive development when paired with intentional practice in various other settings and situations outside of the game. Educators and guardians should also consider factors such as generalizability of desired skills, frustration tolerance, and internet safety when allowing students to play RPGs.
Further Reading
- Anti-Defamation League (2024) – Hate is No Game: Hate and Harassment in Online Games 2023
- Britannica (2025) – role-playing video game
- Centervention (2025) – Emotional Wellness Programs for Grades K-8
- Common Sense Media – Ratings and reviews parents trust
- Forbes (2024) – What Is A Role-Playing Game? RPG Types Explained
- Heinz & Prager (2019) – Exploring the Use of Role-Playing Games in Education
- Iris Center (2025) – Behavioral Principles: The Basics of Understanding Student Behavior, Page 6: Generalization
- Stubbs & Sorensen (2025) – Tabletop role-playing games and social and emotional learning in school settings
- Takiguchi, Matsui, Kikutani, & Ebina (2022) – The relationship between leisure activities and mental health: The impact of resilience and COVID‐19
- The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (2025) – What is the CASEL Framework?
- Verywell Health (2023) – The Meaning of Escapism in Psychology
- Winardy & Septiana (2023) – Role, play, and games: Comparison between role-playing games and role-play in education
- Yee (2006) – Motivations for Play in Online Games
- Life Skills Advocate (2021) – Executive Functioning Skills 101: Flexibility