Study finds RDR2 players actually learned about wildlife

Posse up, Red Dead Redemption 2 players. The results are there and the science says that if you know your sturgeon from your rainbow trout, you might have Rockstar’s surprisingly detailed cowboy to thank for it. A published study found that RDR2 players, especially those who have played recently, are more likely to visually identify 15 different species of animals that appear in the game. The statistical results are interesting in themselves, but this which is almost cooler are the anecdotes players shared during the study about things they thought they learned from all of the simulated wildlife in RDR2.

One of the study’s authors posted the results on Reddit. Entitled “The Educational Value of Virtual Ecologies in Red Dead Redemption 2,” the study used an online survey of 586 participants, asking them to identify 15 different species that appear in RDR2 based on photographs of real animals. . Participants were first asked to name the animal by typing a spontaneous response into a text box and, if they chose to leave this field blank, choose the species from a multiple choice list of species. similar.

I’m not a statistician, so I’ll let the author give you the more digestible version of the results:

“We found that people who played RDR2 correctly identified 10/15 animals correctly, three more than players who had never played RDR2. We also found that the scores tended to be higher for people who had played more recently, for more hours, or if they had played the role of ‘Naturalist’ from Red Dead Online. ”

While this particular study was conducted with participants over the age of 18, the authors note that there is something to be learned about education through play, even games where the primary focus is not on playing. ‘educate.

“There is something to learn here for educators and environmentalists who wish to improve the teaching of the natural history of the world; “gamification” and immersion in a learning experience, making sense of people’s actions, may be more effective than simply having people learn a list of animals by heart. ”

It is not very surprising that gamers have better memory of animal names after playing RDR2. Hunting and naturalism (in Red Dead Online) can both be somewhat repetitive, which certainly helps cement this stuff in memory. Heck, I know my flowers better after playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons last year too. It’s pretty cool to see it formally studied and its real statistical relevance.

To me, some of the trivia players shared when asked an open ended question about what they learned about real-life animals and behaviors while playing RDR2 are almost cleaner than proper science. “Notably, several participants said they learned about the comparative difference in defensive aggression between grizzly bears Ursus arctos and black bears american bear, and on “accusations of bluffing”, “says the study.

In response to a question about memorable experiences with wildlife in the game, the authors state, “One particularly noteworthy behavior, independently reported by six participants, was that of gray wolves. Canis lupus appearing to mourn the slain pack members. ”

RDR2 isn’t always meant to be a realistic simulation, of course. The authors note that some animals in the game exhibit more aggressive behaviors in response to humans than they would in life. It’s always quite interesting to hear the authentic behaviors such as hunting, foraging, and habitats that players have learned about different animals while playing.

If you want to take a look at the numbers and methods, or just more player stories, you can read the full study here.

If you’re ready for more Wild West creatures, Nate has reviewed a lot. He gave grizzly bears a 10/10 so that’s an objectively correct list, although he completely disrespects black bears.