If You Hold Me Without Hurting Me: Pathways to Designing Game Audio for Healthy Escapism and Player Well-being

TL;DR

Escapism in games can support recovery or lead to avoidance; understanding when it promotes well-being requires examining self-regulation framed by autonomy and positive outcomes. The paper foregrounds audio as a controllable regulatory channel that can modulate arousal, structure time, and cue transitions, arguing it should be treated as a central design element for healthy escapism. Through a critical review of methodological and accessibility gaps in game-audio research, it identifies misalignment between self-reports and physiology, lack of personalization, and neglect of sensitive audiences such as autistic players. It then proposes three directions—multimodal evaluation, transparent reporting of audio design intentions, and stronger academia–industry collaboration—to operationalize audio as a tool for self-regulation and positive emotional outcomes. The work provides a practical framework for researchers and developers to design, evaluate, and report on audio strategies that support autonomous, well-being-focused escapist play.

Abstract

Escapism in games can support recovery or lead to harmful avoidance. Self-regulation, understood as combining autonomy with positive outcomes, is key to this distinction. We argue that audio, often overlooked, plays a central role in regulation. It can modulate arousal, mark transitions, and provide closure, yet its contribution to well-being remains underexplored. This paper identifies methodological and accessibility gaps that limit recognition of audio's potential and outlines ways to address them. We aim to encourage researchers and developers to integrate audio more deliberately into the design and study of healthier escapist play.