Elden Ring top video game in Utah, according to one Report.

Chicks Gold is a company that helps video game players buy, sell, boost or swap their video game assets.

According to a recent study by Chicks Gold, the top five most searched video games of 2024 in Utah are:

• Elden Ring with 5,110 average monthly Google searches for terms related to the game.
• Palworld with 3,306 average monthly Google searches.
• Minecraft with 2,690 average monthly Google searches.
• Grand Theft Auto V with 1,395 average monthly Google searches.
• Helldivers 2 with 1,061 average monthly Google searches.

Elden Ring is a difficult action role-playing game (RPG). It is made by FromSoftware and consulted by Hidetaka Miyazaki and G.R.R. Martin.

The game’s narrative structure presents a story in which the main character is the last hope for the dying world. The game’s difficulty has caused some to consider it a “soulslike” game, however, others suggest it has elements that move beyond that genre¹. The game’s narrative focuses on a hero’s journey to save the world, a dystopian fantasy setting, and a complex storyline with six different endings.

• Gameplay: The game involves an open world that players can explore. It emphasizes player agency and allows for exploration at the player’s own pace.
• Interpretations: A player may interpret Elden Ring as a game about suffering or a game about mastering simple mechanics. Additionally, a player might feel that it is a gothic horror or an uncanny game, or that it contains a “soulslike” genre.
• Analysis: Analyzing Elden Ring can involve considering its difficulty, budget and graphics, as well as the interaction between the narrative and gameplay. The game can be examined through different lenses, including how it relates to cultural and political contexts.
• Personal Experience: Players may have different personal experiences with the game. For example, one player noted that the game’s design creates a negative feedback loop that turns initial frustration into a sense of completion and self-fulfillment. Players may also connect with the story and characters in a way that causes them to try and protect the characters as if they were real people.
• Popularity: Elden Ring has received high historical records and is among the most popular games in the US. It is the most searched game in the state of Utah with an average of 5,110 monthly Google searches. The most searched term related to the game is “Elden Ring map”².

The study analyzed the average monthly Google searches over the past 12 months in Utah for terms related to 100 of 2024’s best-selling video games to reveal the state’s favorite video games. The most searched term related to Elden Ring is ‘Elden Ring map’ and the most searched term related to Palworld is ‘Palworld map’. The most searched term related to Minecraft is “Minecraft mods” and for Grand Theft Auto V, the most searched term was “Grand Theft Auto 5 mods”.

The provided sources include a study from the video game asset marketplace Chicks Gold that analyzed the average monthly Google searches for terms related to 100 of 2024’s bestselling video games in Utah.

Elden Ring is the most searched game in the state of Utah. The most searched term related to this game is “Elden Ring map”. It is also the most searched game in the US, with 321,463 average monthly searches across the country. Palworld ranks second in Utah and 48th in the US, with 239,841 average monthly searches. The most searched term related to the game is “Palworld map”. Minecraft ranks third in Utah and 40th in the US, with 193,145 searches per month. The most searched term related to this game is “Minecraft mods”.

The study from Chicks Gold highlights the popularity of these games in Utah based on search data. This may suggest a strong interest in these titles among Utah residents, however, the study does not explicitly state how the games impact the residents beyond their search habits.

Video games offer several potential benefits, including learning through play, cognitive development, social interaction, and skill development. They can function as “digital playgrounds” where players explore, experiment, and develop technical and strategic thinking skills.

Playgrounds have been shown to serve as dynamic spaces that promote own-experience learning in children through various interactive and sensory activities. Physical exploration, risk-taking, and problem-solving opportunities on playground equipment encourage hands-on learning. Trial and error learning, body awareness, and coordination are fostered as children navigate the unstructured environment of the playground. It has been argued that similar affordances for learning exist in digital playgrounds.³

Games can also provide opportunities for emotional engagement and have even been shown to be useful for teaching economic concepts. However, there are also potential downsides to video games, such as addiction and over-engagement, social isolation and toxicity, and negative impacts of the content creation industry. Some game designs may prioritize objectives over player agency, leading to repetitive gameplay and reduced enjoyment. Additionally, the sources highlight the challenges faced by content creators, including platform dependency and exposure to negative online interactions. Concerns about commercialism, and the perpetuation of negative stereotypes are also noted as potential drawbacks.

Here are some positive aspects of playing video games.

• Learning through play: Video games can serve as “digital playgrounds” that promote learning through exploration and experimentation. This type of learning includes visual exploration and manipulative investigation, both of which contribute to how children understand their environment. In one study, children were able to learn the causal properties of objects through their own experiences in a video game⁴.
• Cognitive development: Video games can have a positive impact on cognitive development⁵.
• Social interaction: Video games offer opportunities to socialize with others. Players can build social networks, engage with communities, and develop both hobbies and professional skills through video game play and content creation⁶.
• Skill development: Players can develop technical skills through video game play. The skills developed through content creation can also be transferable to other career paths.
• Exploration and experimentation: Video games can provide a space for players to explore different roles, identities and behaviors⁷.
• Emotional engagement: Games can evoke strong emotional responses and provide an outlet for emotional expression.
• Improved decision-making: Video games can be used to develop decision-making skills. Players make choices that have both short- and long-term consequences in games.
• Strategic thinking: Competitive video games can encourage players to develop and adapt strategies.
• Potential for education: Video games may serve as a useful platform for learning without the need for adult demonstration. Games can be used to teach economic concepts.

It’s important to note that while the sources highlight these potential benefits, they also address potential negative aspects of video games and the gaming industry, such as negative social interactions, and the challenges of the content creation industry.

Here are some negative aspects of playing video games.

• Addiction and over-engagement: Some sources suggest that people can become overly engaged with video games, and that this can have negative consequences. One source notes that some gamers may have difficulty disengaging and that they may lose themselves in the game world⁸.
• Social isolation and toxicity: While video games can provide opportunities for social interaction, they can also contribute to social isolation and negative interactions. Some players may become withdrawn from real-world relationships, and online interactions can be toxic and abusive.
• Negative impacts of content creation: The content creation industry can be precarious, with creators facing challenges such as platform manipulation, emotional labor, and competition. Content creators can also experience marginalization and abuse.
• Time constraints and stress: Time limits in games can create stress, potentially negatively impacting learning and enjoyment.
• Reduced player agency: Some competitive games can prioritize objectives over player agency, leading to predictable gameplay where strategic diversity is limited. In these situations, players may feel that their individual choices do not significantly impact the game’s outcome.
• Repetitive gameplay: Some game designs can lead to repetitive gameplay, especially when players optimize their strategies to achieve objectives. This can make the game feel predictable and unengaging, reducing enjoyment for players and spectators.
• Platform dependency: Content creators are often dependent on platforms like Twitch and YouTube, which can have complex and opaque moderation policies and payment structures. These platforms can also change their algorithms, requiring creators to constantly adapt their strategies.
• Unrealistic expectations: The sources note that some players may develop unrealistic expectations about the game world, especially if they do not understand the game’s design and limitations. This can be especially true of games that focus on escapism.
• Concerns over commercialism: Some sources note that the video game industry is driven by profit, and that this can sometimes lead to exploitative practices. For example, the sources mention the ways in which game companies use marketing to persuade players to buy games.
• Emotional distress: Players can experience emotional distress when they lose in games or if their favorite characters die. They may also feel the loss of in-game items or progress, and experience a sense of injustice if they perceive a game’s outcome as unfair⁹.
• Potential negative physical effects: The sources do not directly discuss physical effects of gaming, but some sources suggest that there are time costs to gaming, implying that there is time spent not doing other activities.
• Exposure to negative stereotypes: Some games may perpetuate negative stereotypes of certain groups, and the sources suggest that games may reinforce harmful attitudes.
• Lack of transfer of knowledge: One study found that while children could learn causal properties of objects in a video game, they struggled to apply this knowledge to new situations.

The source material has covered the potential benefits and drawbacks of video games, drawing on information from the provided sources. A study by Chicks Gold was used to identify popular games in Utah, but did not go into impacts beyond the data collected.

In short, video games can offer significant opportunities for learning, skill development, and social engagement, but there are potential risks that include addiction, social isolation, and the challenges of the content creation industry. The sources suggest that a balanced approach is necessary, as the benefits of games are not always guaranteed and there are significant drawbacks that players should be aware of.

Bibliography

• Here is a bibliography of the eight sources provided, formatted according to common academic citation practices:
• Kłosiński, Michał. “How to Interpret Digital Games? A Hermeneutic Guide in Ten Points, With References and Bibliography.” The International Journal of Computer Game Research, vol. 22, no. 2, 2022, pp. 1-18, https://www.gamestudies.org/2202/articles/klosinski. This article outlines a ten-point hermeneutic procedure for game analysis, drawing on the philosophical hermeneutics of Paul Ricoeur and others. It discusses methods for interpreting games and understanding the meanings behind game mechanics, rules, and narratives, and it emphasizes the importance of considering the player’s experience.
• Oxenstierna, Johan, et al. “The predictive ability of in-game features in Age of Empires II (definitive edition).” Proceedings of DiGRA 2024, 2024. This paper uses a large dataset of Age of Empires II match replays to explore the predictive ability of in-game features, and it employs machine learning techniques to analyze player behavior and game outcomes. The study focuses on features related to actions, subjects, and objects within the game, and it explores how these features can be used to predict match results.
• Kross, Zoe, et al. “The benefits of own-experience learning in a digital playground: Measuring children’s causal reasoning using video games.” Proceedings of DiGRA 2024, 2024. This study examines how children learn causal reasoning through own-experience play in a video game, replicating a “blicket detector” study. It explores the differences between observational and own-experience learning and investigates how time constraints may impact children’s ability to learn causal properties.
• Byers, Thomas, and Bjørn Nansen. “Understanding Content Creation: An Exploration of the Social, Technical, and Professional Elements of Video Game Content Creation.” Proceedings of DiGRA 2024, 2024. This paper explores the experiences of video game content creators, analyzing the social, technical, and professional elements of their work. Through interviews with creators in various roles (modding, streaming, journalism, etc.), the authors investigate how creators navigate platforms, communities, and the video game industry.
• Salen, Katie, and Eric Zimmerman. Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals. MIT Press, 2004. This book provides an in-depth exploration of game design principles, offering a comprehensive framework for understanding the structure and mechanics of games.
• Miller, Kiri. “The Accidental Carjack: Ethnography, Gameworld Tourism, and Grand Theft Auto.” The International Journal of Computer Game Research, vol. 8, no. 1, 2008, https://gamestudies.org/0801/articles/miller. This article examines Grand Theft Auto as a case study for exploring the potential of ethnographic approaches to game studies. The author discusses the blurred lines between tourism and ethnographic fieldwork within the game’s virtual world. It looks at how players interact with and interpret the game’s spaces, and it also explores how in-game mechanics might simulate real-world social and political issues.
• Toh, Wee-Kiat, et al. “How economic concepts can be applied to understand video game players’ decision-making process.” Entertainment Computing, vol. 42, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.entcom.2022.100487. This study examines how economic concepts can be used to understand video game players’ decision-making, using a thematic analysis approach. It explores themes such as return on investment, risk aversion, and scarcity of resources, and it examines how these concepts influence players’ choices in various games including Bioshock, The Walking Dead, and Mass Effect.
• Devlin-McGurk, Rebecca. “Top 5 Most Searched Video Games Per US State.” Journo Research, 2024, https://chicksgold.com/. This is a report that lists the top five most searched video games in each US state and provides data regarding average monthly search volume. It also lists the search terms that are most often used alongside the video games in the report.

These sources cover a range of topics related to video games, including game analysis and interpretation, player behavior, content creation, and learning through play. They use different methods, including hermeneutic analysis, machine learning, ethnographic studies, and thematic analysis, to explore the complex relationship between games and the people who play them.

Featured Photo by AR on Unsplash

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