What impact do games have on our life? There have been contradictory answers to this statement, but one thing is certain – games do affect our mental and physical well-being.
Experts have found that kids who played action games are far more likely to focus on their goals in life. Action games also increase the level of awareness, thus, improving the cognitive ability of the players.
But this is just one positive aspect of gaming. There are many more, and people are unaware of these positive aspects of gaming.
We will learn about each one of them in this blog with evidence and researches published by experts.
1. Games increase focus
Action games are designed to improve focus. Games like Splinter Cell, Medal of Honor, Call of Duty, others require gamers to focus on more than one aspect at a time.
When these games are played for an extended period, like 2 to 3 hours per day, our brain learns to focus on more than one thing simultaneously.
Even in real life, the focus stays the same. These games have been tested in labs. Experts have found a positive correlation between these games and improved focus.
2. Games increase eyesight
It is hard to believe, but games can improve our eyesight. Science has also proved it. In one such study, experts targeted a group of children with weak eyesight. They were asked to play action games for two weeks, two hours each day.
After two weeks, their tests were done, and it was revealed that their eyesight had improved. Although results can depend on multiple extraneous factors, like short-sightedness, color correction, contrast level deficiency, the generic view is that games can improve eyesight if played in limits.
3. Games boost confidence
We all know that games depict our actual life. In each game, the person plays as a protagonist. They are the savior of their land, and sometimes even the world. Thus, when they accomplish missions, they get a boost in confidence.
According to experts, this phenomenon arouses a ‘can-do’ attitude in players. We, humans, work according to the law of attraction. The law of attraction says when we believe that we can achieve something, we succeed in achieving it.
That’s where the can-do attitude acquired through games help people in real life. Thus, we can conclude that games do improve confidence.
4. Games improve social skills
Game developers are now focusing on socially beneficial games that can instill social qualities in the players.
For example, people who do not know how to perform kind acts can learn about them by helping others in the game.
When a reward is associated with these acts in games, they are likely to pick up on them and repeat the acts in real life.
5. Games increase social cognition
There are games like SIMs, Second Life, and Civilization that help improve the overall social awareness of the players.
For example, in the SIMS game, people can learn what other people go through. Everyone is passing through different emotions at a certain time in their life. When you play SIMS, you get to witness all these emotions.
Similarly, Second Life is a social interaction game where peers can meet, interact, become friends, and share stuff. It is the “Facebook of gaming.”
Gamers from diverse cultures and backgrounds meet each other in this game. They get to understand how others behave and clear the doubts that we have stigmatized.
6. Games lead to faster learning
In another experiment, researchers found out that games help people learn faster. All humans have the same memory capacity. When people use their memory more, they learn faster. It is just like keeping the other muscles in your body in good shape through exercise.
Just like we have equipment for physical exercise, there are games for mental exercise as well. These games are purpose-built to improve memory retention.
For example, puzzle games like Scrabble, Minesweeper, Sudoku, and Chess are a few games that require people to make a strategy to win.
They can make calculated moves to defeat the enemy slowly and gradually. It requires them to use every aspect of their mental capacity to overcome their adversary. In this way, their cognitive skills improve.
Games help kids in learning, as well. Various online subscription-based gaming platforms like Unlimited Gamez Mo have games in the education genre. These games help children learn faster through their interactive gameplay.
Kids can play these games on smartphones and tablets. There is a double benefit here. They will not get bored, while throughout the game, they will learn new things.
7. Games lead to empathy
Two years ago, the University of Wisconsin researched to understand how children can learn empathy from video games.
The video game they developed was about a crashed robot on a distant planet. The planet had aliens just like humans. They spoke a different language, and robots had to do everything to win their trust.
Children were to play that game for two weeks, and after that, they were tested for empathy. Most of the children who played the game showed an increased level of empathy on the test.
8. Games being emotional control
The game ‘Simon says’ is an emotional intelligence and self-regulation game. We all know what “Simon says” is all about, so there is no need to describe it.
This game shows that people are actually able to self-regulate themselves through the instructions given in a game. So, emotional control can be achieved by games.
9. Games relieve depression and stress
Don’t we all play games to de-stress and forget our worries? Games are said to improve the mental condition of people who are passing through depression and stress.
Clinical psychologists conducted a study to find out if depression can be relieved through games. They wanted to know if there was an alternative to medication because the medication has adverse effects too.
So, they tried fast-paced action games on a set of patients for two weeks. They were surprised to see that those who played the game were much more responsive, active, and less likely to have episodes of depression.
Key Take away
Video games can have both positive and negative effects on gamers. It depends upon how we are trying to benefit from them. Games can help overcome stress, depression, cure eyesight problems and much more.
Researches have also proved that the positive experiences far outweigh negative gaming experiences. Thus it is about time that we accept the positive impacts gaming can have on our life.
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