{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,2]],"date-time":"2026-08-02T23:36:47Z","timestamp":1785713807759,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":24,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2013,1,1]],"date-time":"2013-01-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1356998400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Games and Culture"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2013,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Gamers spend as many as 2.5 billion hours per week playing games. The gaming literature has relied on the field of positive psychology and the concept of flow to explain why gamers are willing to work so hard in order to have fun. However, many games are played within a social context and hence produce explicit rewards capable of generating status and self-esteem for the individual player. The importance of relative position and the invidious comparisons that naturally take place within a social group can be traced back to Thorstein Veblen\u2019s Theory of the Leisure Class. Applying Veblen\u2019s framework to the modern world of games enables us to develop new insights into why video games have become an important part of life for many in modern society.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/1555412013478685","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2013,2,23]],"date-time":"2013-02-23T07:42:00Z","timestamp":1361605320000},"page":"26-42","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["The Allure of Games"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"8","author":[{"given":"Neil B.","family":"Niman","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Economics, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2013,2,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-1555412013478685","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7208\/chicago\/9780226096315.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr2-1555412013478685","volume-title":"Exodus to the virtual world: How online fun is changing reality","author":"Castronova E.","year":"2008"},{"key":"bibr3-1555412013478685","volume-title":"Fun Inc.: Why gaming will dominate the twentieth century","author":"Chatfield T.","year":"2010"},{"key":"bibr4-1555412013478685","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/00213624.2005.11506778"},{"key":"bibr5-1555412013478685","volume-title":"Beyond boredom and anxiety: Experiencing flow in work and play","author":"Csikszentmihalyi M.","year":"1975"},{"key":"bibr6-1555412013478685","volume-title":"Game frame: Using games as a strategy for success","author":"Dignan A.","year":"2011"},{"key":"bibr7-1555412013478685","first-page":"302","volume-title":"Well being: The foundations of hedonic psychology","author":"Frederick S.","year":"1999"},{"key":"bibr8-1555412013478685","volume-title":"Handbook of positive psychology","author":"Hewitt J.","year":"2002"},{"key":"bibr9-1555412013478685","unstructured":"Howe J. 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