In the review titled “A Scoping Review of Tabletop Role‑Playing Game (TTRPG) as Psychological Intervention: Potential Benefits and Future Directions”, Yuliawati, Wardhani & Ng dig into how games like tabletop role‑playing games (TTRPGs) — think systems like Dungeons & Dragons, Savage Worlds, or Pathfinder — are being explored for mental‑health and psychosocial support.
They looked at 51 published papers from the last decade and found that most studies are still exploratory (qualitative or review), with only a handful using quantitative or mixed methods.
The research mostly comes from the US, with limited work in Asian or collectivist societies.
What shines through is the promise: TTRPGs seem to support cognitive and social skills (like problem‑solving, empathy, communication), help with emotional expression, and even reduce risk of things like social anxiety and depression.
The fantasy setting gives players agency, identity‑flexibility, and a safe space to experiment with decisions and roles.
On the flip side, the authors caution that TTRPGs aren’t a universal fit — they rely on players being willing to engage with imagination, the game system (often Western‑centric) may not suit all cultural contexts, and the therapeutic integration (like debriefing) is often missing.
In short: this review makes a strong case that TTRPGs could be a valuable tool in therapeutic and wellbeing settings — but they’re still under‑researched and need more rigorous, context‑sensitive work to fully tap their potential.