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Gaming is an adventure, a way to relax and to catch up with friends.
But have you ever stopped to think it could be teaching you valuable skills?
Yep, it turns out that all the times your parents yelled at you for spending hours hammering away at your controller in your games room, they might have been wrong about it being a waste of time - because you were actually developing a whole host of useful attributes.
Of course, there is no denying that there can be a dark side to excessive gaming - the media is rife with stories of addiction and anti-social behaviour -, but there's also an underreported good side.
The Art of Timing And Learning To Persevere
It turns out that perseverance is a key trait needed to succeed in the modern world. From setting up your own business to climbing the corporate ladder and even things such as parenting or training at the gym, in order to make gains you have to put in the grind. It's a hard thing to keep at something with a long term reward in mind. But what better preparation for the old slow grind and progression routine than the level-up mentality of all those Sonic and Mario sessions you put in as a kid, or the repeat until perfect laps put in on drifting games for pc? Even MMORPGs like EverQuest have done their bit to encourage us to put in the hours until we triumph. That sets you up for the routine and repetition that will be required no matter what else you want to achieve in life - from assignments at college to big work projects and saving up for a new home. Achievement in life is all about delayed gratification and chipping away until you faced that final boss has certainly taught you that.
Logical Thinking And Strategy
Puzzling and logic are huge areas in gaming, and luckily for you, they're also valuable life skills. Involved games like Civilization require you to come up with a strategy and see it through, learning as you go. While the planning and strategy that go into these games are pleasurable, it's also teaching you how to manage a problem. Moving through life’s milestones, from building a career to coming up with a savings plan, requires a problem-solving approach. Being able to think a few steps ahead always puts you at an advantage in any situation. Gaming will have taught you to scenario plan and think through different consequences, often having to adapt on the fly.
Leadership Skills
Despite the lurking stereotype in other areas of the media of gamers as being anti-social basement dwellers, most modern games have a massive element of socialisation to them. Even early gaming usually involved gathering your friends and organising them to take turns. Now, with voice and video chat standard features, it's a whole new level. Gaming allows you to practise leadership- quite literally marshalling the troops in Call of Duty- and get used to commanding, organising and negotiating to achieve a specific result. So you can go out into the world knowing you can lead a team-and yourself- to victory, in games as in life.
This is an interesting article. It highlights the benefits of gaming, which often go unrecognized. Gaming can be a great way to learn important skills like problem-solving, collaboration, and creativity. It's important to remember that gaming can be a powerful tool for learning and personal growth.
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