From crawling through dungeons or having a bit of gambling fun at SpinBit Casino, games tap into something primitive and therapeutic. By doing this, they allow the brain to release a neurotransmitter called dopamine, which helps people calm down.
Video games have evolved significantly from 2D blips on a screen to a complex array of gameplay, storylines, and memorable set pieces. Pick out any modern game from Naughty Dog or the Rockstar games, and you will understand what I mean.
In this article, we will delve into how video games have helped me become a better version of myself. Therefore, follow along to learn how video games have helped me, so that you can understand it as well.
How Have Video Games Helped Me Be A Better Me?
I started gaming at a relatively young age. I started it as a hobby, and over the years, it has transformed into something completely different. Personally, I dont play video games to cause chaos mindlessly. I play it to relish, to appreciate the complex and nuanced worlds that developers have built.
However, unknowingly, video games did help me become a better individual. It did not do this overnight. It took its time, but eventually I realised that video games did not just keep me engaged, but they also helped me become a better person.
In the following section, I will outline how video games have helped me become a significantly better person than I was before. Let’s go!
Memory
Strategy and concentration are essential elements that nearly all games require. What is interesting is that each match requires a different strategy. Therefore, playing other games simultaneously can help us improve our cognitive abilities and even improve our memories.
For example, Minecraft demands that you have a better understanding of space and planning, while RDR2 demands a different strategy. Therefore, switching between games has helped me hone my memory and become a better strategist.
Medical studies conducted by the National Institutes of Health suggest that juggling between games is equivalent to a workout session for your hippocampus. Hence, prolonged gaming helps to develop our memory.
Spatial Visualization
Understanding space is an important and daily life skill. Spatial awareness and visualization help humans to have a better understanding of their surroundings. Games that feature high-speed vehicular action or sports video games can help individuals develop better spatial visualization skills.
Enhanced spatial visualization is quite important and falls under basic life skills, since it allows drivers to be better and more aware drivers. On the other hand, spatial visualization is a crucial skill for individuals working in STEM career fields.
Perception & Vision
Gaming environments have come a long way from 2D dungeon crawling to complex 3d worlds with their own lore and weather systems. Therefore, navigating through these different environments can help develop different perceptual qualities.
Developing perception enables an individual to recognize deviations from the normal pattern of things. Moreover, it also helps people create better reactions and assessment qualities in various situations.
This is an important and useful life skill that has helped me deal with a myriad of situations life has thrown my way.
Decision Making
Offline video games may not put people under real pressure, unlike online casino video games, such as https://slotspeak.net/gates-of-olympus-demo/. Still, they do help gamers hone their decision-making skills over time.
Studies show that individuals who use real money during gaming tend to become more skilled at making quick decisions. As a result, these individuals are better suited to make fast decisions to save the day.
Games like NFS or Crew put players in the seat of a seasoned racer. Therefore, making quick decisions on the road while racing develops that part of the brain, which is eventually translated into real-life situations.
Problem Solving
Strategy and role-playing games compel gamers to solve complex puzzles or problems to complete objectives. Although these problems are mostly simplistic and do not require much mental effort, they also have additional benefits.
For example, the innate mechanics of Zelda: BOTW or Zelda: TOK are to complete simple puzzle shrines. These shrines typically feature a challenging boss or a puzzle. Doing this enough times would help you identify patterns gradually.
Identifying patterns and using them to solve a given problem is a valuable real-life skill with a profound impact.
Mood
The mood-elevating properties of video games are often overlooked. According to Oxford University, players who genuinely enjoy playing video games exhibit signs of a better or more positive sense of well-being.
In other words, video games are great mood elevators. Take Ghost of Tsushima, for example. Just take a small walk in the Kashine Grasslands of the Island of Tsushima as Jin Sakai. Or experience the final scene of Arthur Morgan in RDR2.
These said experiences might not appeal to a non-gamer, but if you look at games the way I do, you will realize the mood-elevating capabilities modern video games possess.
Social Skills
Multiplayer and online casino games are not just great for their winnings and gameplay, but they also help individuals develop real social skills. One of the most common misconceptions about video games is that they make individuals antisocial.
However, that is untrue. Video games of today are focused on building a community. Games like Diablo or Call of Duty often feature their group chats, discussion forums, and in-game chat capabilities. Therefore, allowing gamers to interact with other players as well.
These experiences have helped me build genuine friendships that have translated into real-life relationships. Therefore, it helped me become comparatively more social than I was.
Curiosity & Learning
According to studies, gamers exhibit signs of growth and development while playing video games. This is because a gamer’s mind is constantly processing multiple things simultaneously. This is why fanning the fires of curiosity and learning effectively is important.
Moreover, games like Assassin’s Creed or other historically accurate games can also be quite educational, to say the least. While they do tend to bend history for creative purposes, I think that is warranted.
That Was Everything
Video games and their essence can be deeply personal to everyone. In other words, each gamer experiences and feels different emotions while playing the game. Hence, it would be redundant to generalize them.
Still, I have tried keeping this article as objective as possible. So that more and more gamers could relate to what I had to say.