A lot of people feel like video gaming is a bit of a guilty pleasure. They worry that maybe they should be spending their time more productively, but in reality, video games can be incredibly beneficial for learning new skills. They have also been proven to boost mental health, and for these reasons, video gaming can be a great hobby to take up as a university student.
The skills you learn from video gaming will vary depending on the type of game you play. For instance, you’ll learn different skills if you choose online poker versus Call of Duty. What remains the same, however, is the mental stimulation and ability to practice a skill until you become proficient.
Focus
Most video games you play will require significant concentration and focus. Video games are designed to test your perception and attention to detail, and they have even been found to improve memory in children and adults. When you’re playing a game, it is often filled with details that require focus and attention to absorb and assess. Many games also feature misdirects, which can teach us to be more analytical and understand which parts of the game require our attention and which do not.
Patience
Anyone who has ever encountered a particularly challenging level or boss in a video game knows that patience is crucial when gaming. It can teach you not to give up when you experience setbacks and help you overcome challenges and difficulties in daily life. Patience can be a hard skill to learn, and doing so through gaming can be an invaluable way to do so in a low-pressure environment.
Socialising
The social side of university is just as important as the educational side. For many people attending university, this is their first time living independently, and the friendships you make while studying can last for a lifetime. However, many students find it challenging to go somewhere completely new and make all new friends. Gaming can help you overcome these challenges and help you make new friends.
Most games have some element of socialising involved. This could be joining a lobby of strangers to battle a boss together, playing a live poker match online or even attending meetups for fans of particular games. The more you practice chatting with and getting to know people in a low-pressure environment like gaming, the better you’ll be able to translate these skills into the real world.
Risk-Taking
In life, knowing when you should and should not take risks is essential. Understanding when taking risks is appropriate and when it is not is vital to help you navigate many different situations throughout your university career and beyond. Playing games gives you the chance to take risks and see different outcomes based on the types of risks you take. This understanding and evaluation of risk can help you work out how to react to scenarios in your daily life.
Casino games offer some great examples of games that involve risk-taking. Slots are one of the easiest casino games to try out, though it is important to understand the game before you start playing with money. Look for options like the PlayLive free spins, which allow you to test the waters before you play with real money.
Adaptability
Video games can often throw curveballs your way to make the game more exciting and unpredictable. Learning how to think on your feet and roll with these changes can be an invaluable skill that will benefit you in your daily life. The better you are at adapting quickly when faced with a challenge, whether in real life or in video games, the better.
Creativity
There are plenty of video games out there that have been shown to improve creativity in their players. Games like Minecraft combine technical skills with the ability to create sprawling worlds in-game. Creativity is a skill that improves the more we use it, and even things as simple as building your own avatar in a game can help improve your creativity. Games like Minecraft can also help you open your mind to new possibilities, allowing you to create digital art and push the limits of your imagination.
Teamwork
Teamwork is a vital skill in university and beyond. There are many different situations where you’ll be required to work within a team, so the more you practice the skill, the better for your future. Teamwork requires you to be able to able to work with people from different walks of life, personalities and skills to achieve a common goal.
Many games require players to work together to achieve certain tasks in the game. For games like Pokémon Go, this means joining with other players to battle a high-level raid boss, while in RuneScape, it can mean grouping together to defeat a challenging boss. These all require everyone to work together and identify the skills that each player has to help the group as a whole.
Hand-Eye Coordination
Almost all video games will require a level of hand-eye coordination to play successfully. Like most skills, hand-eye coordination can be improved with consistent practice and repetition. In particular, games like Call of Duty and other first-person POV games have been shown to be the most effective at improving hand-eye coordination. Improved hand-eye coordination can be invaluable throughout your life, helping with activities from sports to writing.
Resource Management
Many games require you to carefully manage resources, such as weaponry and currency. Learning to manage these things in a gaming setting can help you with critical life skills. As a student just leaving home, you will be fully in charge of your own finances, likely for the first time. The skills you learn from managing resources in a video game can translate effectively to managing your resources in real life.
Conclusion
Video gaming can instill great life skills when played in moderation. It is a good idea to try out games that can give you different skills and help you develop in areas you might need to improve. It is also crucial not to allow video games to take up too much of your busy schedule, ensuring there is enough time for you to study and socialise alongside your gaming activities. You might be surprised by just how much you can learn from gaming.