There are a limitless number of healthy reasons to play and enjoy video games. To recapture a sense of adventure. To compete. To exercise your brain. Or turn it off and just relax.
But I believe the empowering and interactive nature of video games makes them easier to abuse, and easier to consume for unhealthy reasons. I also believe video games are a more attractive leisure activity for individuals with obsessive leanings, or individuals with unhealthy tendencies towards destructive escapism. Fantasy and escapism aren’t inherently bad, but neither can come at the expense of confronting and embracing reality and living a responsible life.
There is absolutely nothing inherently wrong with video games. Besides all the legitimate leisure-related reasons to enjoy the hobby I touched on above (and leisure time is absolutely essential), games also create safe spaces for people, especially kids, to experiment and express themselves. They provide safe, consequence-free places to fail.
Video games also help players discover things about themselves. What kind of person do you want to be? When given free range to make dialogue choices or build a world, what do you create? People that would never pick up a paintbrush can do incredible things when given the right tools.
All the good that games can do aside, what I have learned is that it’s important for gamers to understand their own motivations. I don’t believe anyone needs to stop playing video games, or necessarily even cut back. But everyone should strive to understand his or her own compulsions.
It never hurts to occasionally reflect on and reassess all the activities we spend time on. This includes other “good” activities like reading, exercise, socialising, etc. It is possible to have too much of a good thing. Life requires finding the right balance.
Personally, I used to play a lot more games. I particularly enjoyed playing strategy and puzzle games. But I must admit there was also an element of pure escapism. Nowadays, I seem to have too many other “grown up” things to do that I don’t play that many games. The balance has gone too far the other way. But I still do try to put aside some time for gaming. There’s a great sense of satisfaction from completing challenging games like Braid, Portal (2), and Starcraft.