HomeNews
Study finds that Red Dead Redemption 2 players sure do know their animalsI’ve definitely chased enough Pronghorns to remember them
I’ve definitely chased enough Pronghorns to remember them
Posse up,Red Dead Redemption 2players. The results are in and science says that if you know your sturgeon from your steelhead trout you may have Rockstar’s surprisingly detailed cowboy ‘em up to thank for it. A published research study has found that RDR2 players, especially those who’ve played recently, are more likely to be able to visually identify 15 different species of animals that appear in the game. The statistical results are interesting on their own, but what’s almost cooler are the anecdotes players shared during the study about things they believed they’d learned from all of RDR2’s simulated wildlife.
Red Dead Redemption 2 Nature TourWatch on YouTube
Red Dead Redemption 2 Nature Tour
I’m no statistician, so I’ll let the author give you the easier to digest version of the results:
“We found that people who have played RDR2 identified, on average, 10/15 animals correctly, three more than gamers who had never played it. We also found that scores tended to be higher for people who had played more recently, for more hours, or if they had playedRed Dead Online’s ‘Naturalist’ role.”
Although this particular study was conducted with participants over 18, the authors note that there’s something to be learned about education through gaming, even games whose primary objective isn’t to educate.
It’s not terribly surprising that players have a better memory for animal names after playing RDR2. Hunting and Naturalism (in Red Dead Online) can both be somewhat repetitive, which certainly helps cement those kinds of things in memory. Heck, I know my flowers better after playingAnimal Crossing: New Horizons last year too. It is quite neat to see it formally studied and the actual statistical relevance.
Almost neater than the proper science, to me, are some of the anecdotes that players shared when asked an open-ended question about what they’d learned about real-life animals and behaviors from playing RDR2. “Notably, multiple participants reported learning the comparative difference in defensive aggression between grizzly bearsUrsus arctosand black bearsUrsus americanus, and about ‘bluff charges’,” the study says.
If you’re keen to peek the numbers and the methods, or just more player stories, you can read thefull study over here.
If you’re up for more wild west creatures, Nate happens to havereviewed quite a lot of them. He gave the grizzlies a 10/10 so it’s an objectively correct list, even if he completely disrespects black bears.
