The past 15 years of social science research have seen an explosion in curiosity surrounding video games as a legitimate object of study – a medium that traces its roots back to at least the 1950s. While early research on games tended to quixotically focus on the anti-social effects of video games on users, emerging perspectives consider myriad uses and functions of video games as a psychological, communicative, and social tools. Much of this diversity can be attributed to a renewed focus on the player, with scholars working to understand the experience of the “squishy bits” behind the computer screen. Drawing from a variety of original studies, the presentation will translate player-focused media research to a diverse audience of designers, programmers and researchers. Topics covered include the mechanics of cognitive skill and game challenge, psychology of audience effects, habitual and (morally) intuitive decision-making, the social nature of player-avatar relationships, and the overall complexity of entertainment experiences as “more than just games.”