TECH
13 Reasons Why Gaming Is Good for You + Links to Clinical Studies
Nikshep Myle │Updated: 08 February 2023
Introduction
Gaming has long been associated with hours spent in front of a screen, but plenty of studies and real-world evidence suggest that it can positively influence your wellbeing.
Enhancing attention, encouraging relaxation, improving communication, and honing problem-solving skills are just a few advantages of gaming. But, like the best fitness gadgets, not every game offers the same benefits, and for long-term merits, you have to play sustainably.
If you’re wondering whether gaming is good for you or your child, you’re in the right place. Along with discussing some benefits of video games, we’ve linked to appropriate studies that back these claims.
Why Gaming Is Good for You
1. Builds your attention span
Although helpful, popular social media platforms like Instagram and YouTube are dangerously fragmenting our attention spans.
The fix? Doing the opposite of consuming bite-sized media that forces your brain to switch from one subject to another within seconds — spending sufficient time on a single activity.
Games are powerful tools if you can play a single game for a moderate amount of time (say, one hour) but with complete attention. Action video games especially demand heightened levels of concentration and can improve your response time, selective visual attention, and the ability to pay attention to multiple objects.
A 2021 report also saw that first-person shooter (FPS) players had a lower switch cost during work. Switch cost is the mental and physical cost you incur when switching between two tasks, and it’s known to decrease overall productivity.
2. Enhances communication skills and promotes teamwork
According to some studies, games can help boost social skills. Cooperative video games create an experience akin to playing at the playground or hanging out at the arcade with your friends.
Unlike single-player games, co-op games need a group of players to work together and achieve a common objective. Along with strategy and skill, the players need to communicate effectively with each other if they want to succeed.
Games like It Takes Two, Overcooked! 2, Minecraft, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons are excellent for promoting teamwork. If you seek action and fast-paced video games, check out co-op shooters like PUBG and Destiny 2.
3. Exercises your strategy and problem-solving skills
Studies have shown that puzzle-based video games can refine problem-solving skills.
But it’s not just puzzle games that need strategic thinking. Many types of video games, like open-world, turn-based, first-person shooters, sports, or role-playing, require strategic thinking to overcome challenges.
While puzzle games, like 2048 and Mini Motorways, have a more relaxed vibe, sports, and action games need you to strategize on the fly along with managing hand-eye coordination.
Turn-based games aren’t as demanding as fast-paced as action games but require sustained strategizing. Based on a long-term study, children who played strategic video games developed better problem-solving skills and had higher grades the following year.
4. Develops spatial navigation and perception
A study from 2012 found that shooter video games help people allocate attention faster and more accurately, and enhance their mental rotation abilities.
According to another 2013 study, shooter video games can grow spatial skills and spatial memory as effectively as high school and university-level courses designed to do the same.
But are the results only short-term? No.
These improvements in spatial skills were found to remain with the players for a long period and transferred to other spatial tasks (outside the game). However, these benefits weren’t observed when people played puzzle or role-playing games that weren’t fast-paced.
5. Faster and more accurate decision-making
Video games often require gamers to track multiple objects visually and make many swift, accurate decisions to come out on top.
A 2022 study found that gamers had reduced response time and high decision accuracy compared to non-gamers. 28 of the 47 participants in the study had played video games for five hours or more per week for two years. The remaining 19 participants averaged under an hour of gaming per week for two years.
6. Improves manual dexterity, hand-eye
coordination, and multi-tasking ability
You might’ve guessed that video games can improve dexterity and hand-eye coordination, but by how much?
This study with 33 surgeons found that during laparoscopy, surgeons who played video games were 27 percent faster and made 37 percent fewer errors than non-players.
Another study with 303 surgeons revealed that those who played video games for six minutes before laparoscopic procedures performed faster and with fewer errors than those who didn’t play games. The results were the same across all ten trials, but remember that the video games they played required hand dexterity and spatial awareness.
It’s not surprising, then, that there are controller-based games to help stroke patients regain greater control over their hands.
7. Increase your brain's gray matter
A study from 2015 found that playing action video games increases the brain’s gray matter. Gray matter is responsible for memory, sense perception, muscle control, decision-making, speech, and much more.
More gray matter means enhanced cognitive functions, which is essential because as we age, the amount of gray matter reduces — long before the onset of cognitive problems.
The study also found that action games considerably elevated connectivity between specific brain regions associated with the abovementioned functions.
8. Enhances your learning ability
Action games can heighten your ability to learn. Based on this 2014 study, people who play action video games can display accelerated learning curves when exposed to new subjects or situations.
Our brains constantly build mental models or templates to develop perception and prediction skills. With improved cognitive benefits, you can swiftly create templates for various tasks, so you don’t take too long to learn new things or adapt to unfamiliar situations.
9. Can help with dyslexia
Believe it or not, action video games can help dyslexic children read faster.
This study had one group of children playing action games and another playing non-action games. With just 12 hours of play (not continuous), the kids who played action games had better reading speeds without reduced accuracy. Interestingly, this advancement was more significant than a year’s worth of spontaneous reading skill development.
10. Good for your mental health
Ever played video games after a long day at work? Like watching TV shows, it’s perfect for relieving stress and unwinding, but it offers better brain stimulation and can uplift your mood considerably.
Accomplishing goals in games brings a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction, and small wins daily boost your motivation. Playing with friends or family can be a joyful experience and create a deep sense of belonging.
11. Inspires you to be resilient, determined, and accountable
Video games often feel good because of the in-game challenges you have to overcome. A game’s varied obstacles push you to think differently and approach situations from multiple perspectives.
That’s why games contribute to building resilience and determination in the player, and it translates to better approaching real-life difficulties.
Games are an effective tool for players to develop accountability because, unlike passive entertainment, players are responsible for their actions and will face the consequences of their decisions rapidly.
12. Instills empathy
Not every game will do this, but certain games build empathy among video game players.
Multiple studies from Singapore, Japan, and the US showed that prosocial games, where characters help each other non-violently, increase short-term and long-term helping behaviors in school kids and young adults.
Gaming with others can also help develop cognitive empathy, which is how well you can perceive an individual’s emotions, and can, in turn, improve your communication with others.
13. Cognitive benefits for older people
Games can encourage neuroplasticity in older folk, which is the brain’s ability to rearrange its neural networks in response to new experiences and learning. Neuroplasticity can strengthen your cognitive functions and learning ability, which is especially useful for seniors with declining mental abilities.
A University of California San Francisco study revealed considerable enhancements in memory, attention, and multitasking capabilities of seniors who played video games.
Have Fun Gaming, and Remember To
Play Sustainably!
Whether you use a controller or the best purple gaming keyboard, playing video games has ample benefits, from improved attention and dexterity to enhanced spatial navigation and decision-making skills. Children, adults, and seniors — everybody can use different types of games for enjoyment and self-improvement.
But keep in mind that excessive and compulsive gaming can be harmful to you. As long as you’re playing in moderation and in balance with other life activities, you’ll be reaping the best of what video games offer.
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