In 2007, twelve-year-old Norwegian schoolboy Hans Jorgen Olsen was strolling through the woods with his little sister. Suddenly, a moose approached them in a decidedly unfriendly manner. But the boy does not afraid: first, he distracted the beast from his sister by shouting and gesturing, and when it followed him, he fell, pretending he was dead. The ruse worked: the polecat sniffed the child and left. Hans got this tactic from World of Warcraft – every hunter knows it there.
Of course, the boy was lucky. But it would still be unfair to say that video games don’t teach you anything good. In this article, we will tell you what benefits you will get from playing computer games in real life.
5 Benefits of Playing Video Games in Real Life
Now, Let’s look at some benefits of playing video games in Real Life,
1. Open horizons
Any professional paper writer or researcher would agree that games broaden your horizons and boost creativity. They believe that all games can be considered a source of information in all seriousness. The most striking example – is a series of global strategy Civilizations, in which you must develop the country from ancient times to the near future. Passing this way with its power, exploring technology and opening up land, and strengthening the position of diplomacy and war, it is simply impossible not to enrich the knowledge of history, geography, and geopolitics.
But even games that do not claim to be “scholarly” teach you something – take the story at the beginning of this article. The real beauty is that no one imposes knowledge. Suppose a person with a curious mind captures the game. In that case, they begin to be interested in the mechanics and details of the game world, which often leads them to the pages of online encyclopedias. Any game in the fantasy genre can tell a lot about the mythology and a tank combat simulator – about engineering, ballistics, and, of course, military history. All it takes is the desire to understand!
2. Attention
Neurobiologists from the University of Geneva, led by Professor Daphne Bavelier (Daphne Bavelier), conducted a study comparing the cognitive abilities of gamers and people who do not play video games. The subjects were asked to follow several objects on the screen, moving chaotically among themselves. The study showed that fans of computer games do it much more successfully. Their brains can quickly switch between distributed and focused attention, controlling the big picture and each object separately. MRI confirms these findings: gamers have more developed cortical areas responsible for multitasking and attention distribution.
American psychologist Isabela Granic notes that fans of shooters and role-playing video games (RPGs) have well-developed spatial orientation skills. According to her research, by navigating virtual worlds, gamers learn to remember the way, find landmarks, and use the map no worse than people who undergo special training on the ground.
3. Logic
The right combination of symbols opens the door, and the wrong combination activates the trap. The ghost can only be defeated with enchanted weapons, and arrows are useless against the revived skeletons. You have to use a flamethrower to make your way through the ice. These are just the simplest examples of how a game requires logic. Any good game contains hundreds of logical problems that become more and more difficult as you go. Finding their solutions – is a double pleasure: the reward will be the game bonuses and the opportunity to feel competent.
Speaking of the logical component of games, we can not avoid mentioning Minecraft. This is more than just a game – it’s a virtual world with unlimited possibilities. The player begins with the construction of primitive tools like a knife and shovel, but gradually, guided by logic and imagination, gets to create entire worlds with palaces, cities, electric trains, and so on. With the help of logical algorithms, you can even simulate a computer inside a computer – enthusiasts have created a working hard drive in the game. It’s the ultimate, of course, but any kid can learn how to program using Minecraft as an example.
4. Communication
Many imagine gamers as unsociable weirdos who never leave the house and avoid communication. This stereotype has long disagreed with reality: all popular online games require a lot of interaction between players.
For example, in most role-playing games (RPGs), it is almost impossible to achieve success alone: players team up, strategize together, help each other out, trade resources, and chat, and this communication goes far beyond the game issues. Sometimes the introductions that began in the virtual world continue in the real world, growing into friendships and even love. “We met in an online game” is a story that surprises few people anymore.
5. Motivation
Computer games have a fantastic feature: the player can show wonders of perseverance and patience, improving their skills, trying, again and again, to defeat the final boss, get another achievement and reach the next level of difficulty. Methodologists worldwide sigh, “If only schoolchildren studied with the same zeal…!”
According to the survey conducted by many researchers and writing services, there have been many attempts to combine the game with education in recent decades. True, the incredible popularity of educational games has not won – most likely precisely because they were deliberately educational. Fortunately, educators finally recognized that games could positively affect teenagers.
6. Pleasure
Relax after classes, feel like the master of the situation, and have fun in the company of your favourite characters – can not all this be seen as a benefit of computer games for students? A child, and adults, can not neglect entertainment and hobbies – many psychologists note this.
Why, in that case, are video games worse than adventure books or TV series? All the more so that the game’s stories can be no less elaborate and exciting. In this sense, the game is even more interesting because the player is directly involved in the story and can influence it. Games often allow different versions of the passage and a few endings – depending on the player’s actions.
Read More:
- 3 Big Cyber Security Concerns with Metaverse
- How playing educational games can improve your logical thinking?
Summary
Experts remind you that computer games benefit people only when they play consciously and reflect on the result. Mindlessly playing for hours will not improve attention, communication, or intelligence. Moreover, these skills can suffer over time if the game is too time-consuming. Even enjoyment will disappear, replaced by gaming addiction.
And yet, if your child is addicted to computer games, do not rush to scold them. It is better to try to teach the child to play consciously. Discuss what attracts them to this or that game, and play together. Show them how adults do it – in a tasteful, involved, and indeed in their free time. Your relationship will benefit from this.
A computer engineer by day, gamer by night. He grew up playing Mario and contra, and just like every other 90s kid, he got passionate about mobile gaming. He had done bachelors in computer science and played fps and MOBA games for years.
