People of nearly all ages play computer games for different reasons. Each individual has their own unique motivation for this activity. Before we consider how helpful video games can be for your studies, let’s discuss what else can drive you in computer games.
Gaming motivation
One of the most common motives of people playing video games is competition. As you might know, popular games like Counter Strike, Dota 2, League of Legends, and Valorant are based on competition. While playing them, one team of players has an objective to beat the other team.
Another reason for playing video games is novelty. Just imagine, we have over 1 million games available today. That means they provide endless opportunities for new experiences. And this is what actually keeps life interesting and engaging. With video games, you can discover territories, complete quests, make new friends and obtain unique items. Such a great variety, isn’t it?
Those who love taking risks also choose video games as their hobby. Interestingly, there are two major types of risks: competitive and social. Competitive risk provides you with virtual danger of losing. Social risk means that there is risk in how you socialize while interacting with other players. For example, you can accidentally hit someone in-game, which may lead to bad consequences.
Games are also a great means of relaxation. If you pick a calm game, it will help you unwind after a long day at school. Any kind of stress can be diminished by immersing yourself in a captivating video game. Check out something like Tetris Effect, Zelda, Ark, Skyrim, Untitled Goose Game, and Firewatch.
Improving learning outcomes
Believe it or not, computer games can significantly help you with your studies. How? Learn about it below!
Patience
Patience is a key to academic success. Without this skill, it’s almost impossible to achieve great results at school. And the good news is that playing video games is a way to work on your patience. Just think, when you buy a new video game, it may take you a lot of time to discover its world. You need to figure out all the moves and understand how to progress through the levels. This process is very similar to what you are doing in class.
When you are getting familiar with a new discipline, it takes a while to gain a deep understanding of it and develop your knowledge. Hence, if you are an avid gamer, you can be a better student. Many studies have revealed that individuals that play video are usually more patient when it comes to learning new topics.
Problem-solving
Success in video games is much about making the right decision at the right time. In other words, it’s about well-developed problem-solving skills. Problem-solving can make the difference between winning and losing in the game as well as between success and fail in your school projects.
When studying, you make decisions literally all the time: from choosing the topic of your assignment and deciding whether to pay for essay online or write it yourself to switching the subject of your coursework. By the way, you probably may be wondering why to pay for an essay to someone? The most obvious reason is to save time and get an excellent paper that will bring you high grades. However, you may also buy essays from special services to have paper samples for your future home assignments. Anyway, it’s all about problem-solving when you face study difficulties. So why not brush up on this skill using video games?
Concentration
Have you ever noticed that time flies by when you are playing a video game? Sometimes, you may look at the clock and see that several hours have passed without you even realizing it. It happens because you are completely concentrated on what you are doing. With video games, you can totally zone into a task, which is a valuable skill.
What’s more, this skill can be transferred to other areas of your life, including education. If you can eliminate any distractions that could be getting in the way of your focus while you are playing a game, you can do the same while preparing for a test assignment or completing any other type of academic work. By the way, the ability to focus normally leads to much better quality of your work.
Resilience
Computer games usually provide a lot of pressure. For example, think about your experience playing Call of Duty. In this game, you are trying not to get caught and killed by another player, what can be more stressful? But if you are able to continue playing in this game, you are learning an important skill — stress resilience.
Students that love such games can work under pressure in different circumstances, even at college. Believe it or not, computer games can teach you to hit deadlines and focus on important exams. At some points, gamers notice that these situations seem quite easy to them.
Multitasking
Some people say that multitasking disrupts self-efficiency. And to some extent it may be true. However, it’s sometimes necessary to multitask, especially in college. Imagine you were given a few urgent assignments in different subjects. To complete them on time, you should switch your focus between those tasks very fast. And this is basically what we do while playing computer games.
Games force you to do several things at the same time. You may need to monitor multiple issues simultaneously. For example, you have to track time, explore challenges, avoid threats and keep an eye on inventory. This multitasking skill can be easily transferred into a classroom, contributing to your academic success.
Final thoughts
Reasons for playing computer games vary from one person to another. However, one of the unknown reasons to spend time at gaming is developing important academic skills. In fact, games help study better in multiple ways. They improve problem-solving, multitasking, stress-resilience and concentration, while also developing patience.