Miniature Mindfulness: Finding Spiritual Flow with Warhammer 40,000 Models

Miniature painting in Warhammer 40,000 induces a flow state that is meditative, meaningful, and positive for mental health. Based on interviews and journal entries from a 6-month participant study of 14 painters, the authors indicate that painters achieve deep concentration and a temporary loss of self, consistent with Csikszentmihalyi's definition of flow. The activity fosters mindfulness and a heightened awareness of the body, connecting to situated cognition. The paper argues that this flow state, while often studied in videogames, has received less attention in hands-on creative activities like miniature painting.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Warhammer 40,000 (40k) is the world’s most popular miniature wargame. The game is played with miniatures (small-scale figures made of hard plastic or other materials), which have usually been painted by each individual player. These player–painters typically spend hours in deep concentration painting the models. Drawing on interviews and journal entries from a six-month participant study of 14 painters, this paper explores whether miniature painters achieve a flow state, whether this creates a greater feeling of mindfulness, and how painting impacts their overall mental health. Results from this study indicate that miniature painting is meditative, meaningful, and positive for the participants’ mental health. Using the definition of flow outlined in Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s book Optimal Experience: Psychological Studies of Flow in Consciousness (1988), flow is a state of pleasure had when an individual concentrates on a specific task. Csikszentmihalyi, from his research on flow, notes that this state of mind involves both immersion and a sense of transcendence, where the individual temporarily loses a sense of self. This sense of loss of self was explored with an increased attention to the feeling of the body, and situated cognition has been further explored to understand how this connects to painting. While flow is regularly applied to videogame studies, less work has been carried out on this flow state during activities like miniature painting.