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Put aside smartphones and start jumping and dancing children and adults will help video games. And thanks to some of them, one can develop and improve oneself, the existential-humanistic psychotherapist Stanislav Malanin is convinced.
Among the millions of different games, you can find those that develop creativity, erudition and even empathy. The developers are also concerned about the fact that generation Z has stopped reading, and are actively introducing texts into their products, without knowing which it is impossible to advance to the next game levels.
What else do video games teach?
1. Interaction and imagination
Thanks to online role-playing games, each of us can create our own system, character, and you will never guess either the appearance or the gender of the person behind him. This is a whole world with an unlimited number of possibilities (for example, Lineage or World of Warcraft). You can build a house, create a business, do a craft, find yourself in any era and point in space. Participants learn to negotiate, defend their boundaries and fantasize.
2. Strategy and logic
The so-called platformers take us from point A to point B, forcing us to overcome obstacles, solve logical and situational tasks, take risks, sometimes losing our lives (hard versions). For example, Trine: teaches how to correctly calculate the time and play in a team.
3. Susceptibility
A beautifully crafted space promotes relaxation. In addition, the game develops motor skills (joystick or keyboard control) and attention (speed increases at each level). And in the reissue of Tetris, beloved by several generations, the authors tried to let the player feel the music, the richness of color and volume in the world of synesthesia.
4. Coordination
You don’t have to sit in front of a computer anymore. The answer to everyone who is afraid of physical inactivity is games where you have to jump, bend down, squat and even dance. By the end of such a video game, seven sweats will come down. For example, in Beat Saber, the player smashes red and blue cubes flying on the screen with Jedi swords, moving quickly in space. Or he repeats the dance moves of a man on the screen to the music, scoring points, as in Just Dance, and competing with other participants.
5. Communication in the company
PlayLink direction games help not only to have fun, but also to spend time in the company wisely. The game starts on the console or computer, and the phone becomes a controller (remote control) using the appropriate application.
In such games, situations are modeled where you need to choose a certain type of behavior. Or it is proposed to take a selfie, repeating the facial expression of a person on the screen. Or draw an image of a nun or a cowboy on another participant’s photo, and all participants vote for the best photo.
6. Comprehension of life and understanding of the other
In interactive games, we influence the story. This is one of those areas of the industry that helps to think about important issues, develop compassion. For example, in the touching existential quest Last Day of June, we can change the past, but each time one of the heroes dies, because death is not only part of the game, but also of life.
How to make a humane choice every minute, teaches the game Detroit: Become Human. It helps to realize that we are different from each other, we are not bad, but just different. And in the game Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, you can see the world through the eyes of this other: become a girl with schizophrenia and experience the complexity of life with an illness. This journey was developed in collaboration with the American Psychiatric Association.