A lot of people have misunderstandings about gamers. They think gamers are people who ignore everything, like familial relationships and family time.
This was something which more than 40% of parents agreed with, as per a survey conducted by the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in 2020.
However, these facts do not illustrate the complete truth. That’s because gaming also improves cognitive problem-solving abilities. More than 50% of gamers vouched for this, as per the American Psychological Association in 2025.
Apart from that, gamers learn how to develop their ability to handle stress as well as quick thinking. These abilities help them in the real world as well.
But if you’re still not convinced, continue reading to learn about how gamers are better equipped to handle high-octane situations.
Understanding Strategy and Pressure in Gaming
While it must be tempting to think of video games as animated environments where characters cause mayhem, that’s not actually true. Video games also involve elements of strategy. The type of strategy might differ from game to game, but it exists.
Let’s take a more in-depth look below.
Types of Games That Require Strategy
Generally, you can expect to find strategic elements in the following types of games:
● Real-time strategy (RTS)
These refer to games wherein you have to control several characters or elements to fulfil a certain objective. Generally, they involve armies, as well as a base of operations and people of your own to protect.
When you play any strategy game, you will have to get your in-game characters to perform various functions, like farming, building fortifications, and so on.
You have to also mount defenses against virtual attacks by other groups and so on. One popular example is Clash of Clans, by Supercell.
● MOBA
MOBA refers to Mobile Online Battle Arena games. These games primarily involve two teams, with a set number of players. The basic objective of these teams is to capture the other team’s base.
These games also involve elements of two or more teams defending a common base from external attacks.
The number of players who can play a MOBA game depends on the team size. Generally, an average MOBA game, like Dota 2, involves five player teams. Each player within this team controls a different character.
They use the special abilities or powers of their characters strategically to defend the base.
● Battle Royale
Battle Royale games have been popular since the inception of PUBG or Player’s Unknown Battle Grounds by Krafton in 2017.
The basic concept behind a Battle Royale game involves a group of between fifty to hundred players who have to fight each other, until one player, or a team is left standing. Players control virtual avatars or characters who are para-dropped onto an island or similar location.
They then make their characters search for weapons, armor and special accessories to give them an edge in the game. Players have to think about how to stay hidden, take out opponents without receiving in-game damage and how to get the best accessories.
All of these things require a special degree of strategic thinking. That’s because they have to plan the correct locations to raid, places to ambush the enemy, and so on.
● Tactical FPS
As their name suggests, these games involve first-person shooters which aren’t just about shooting other opponents. You have to co-ordinate with your team, understand your opponents’ strategy and then take them out.
Generally, these games involve two to four teams of three to five players each. However, you can customize this as per your needs, in custom servers.
One popular example is Counter Strike: Global Offensive.
Time Sensitivity and Consequences
As you can see, all these games involve making decisions within a split-second, or similar time-frames. Not doing so can lead to heavy losses. These abilities help them become better decision makers in the real world, especially under pressure.
For example, if they’re playing pokeror attending a high-stakes board meeting, then they can use this ability to:
- Make a profitable decision for their organization
- Win the game
But what other skills do they gain? Continue reading to learn about them below.
Cognitive Skills Gamers Develop
Apart from rapid-fire decision making, gamers develop a host of other skills. These are:
Situational Awareness
Playing a video game often means that you have to focus on several elements at once.
Take PUBG or Counter Strike, for example. In PUBG, you not only have to track where you’re going, and the presence of your enemies, but also listen for the sounds of other players’ feet, approaching vehicles and the supply plane.
You also have to ensure that the place you’re hiding or about to camp doesn’t have other players. This is something you can keep track of from the map. The map is also something you also have to focus on.
On the other hand, in Counter Strike, you have to keep checking the corners continuously, listen for the sounds of the players’ boots, look at the map to detect enemies and ensure that you don’t mistakenly shoot your team mates.
This multi-faceted observation ensures that players get used to judging multiple things at once, which improves their ability to understand a situation.
In the real world, they become better at understanding multiple points of a situation or track changes across games, such as in the poker app. They can keep an eye on the player’s stakes, cards drawn or dealt and so on.
Pattern Recognition and Anticipation
Playing video games also helps you understand how to track patterns, and predict outcomes. For example, in Dota 2, the enemy characters often attack in pre-determined waves, or groups.
By judging the frequency of their attacks, you can predict the next attack and arrange your forces accordingly. On the other hand, in Clash Royale, which is a Real-Time Strategy mobile game, you can usually guess the next kind of attack your opponent will mount.
That’s because they will use a fixed collection of in-game characters. You can study the character combinations they use for offense, such as a Valkyrie with a Giant and Archers, for example.
By studying their combinations, you will be able to mount a strong defense, with a trio of Goblins, a Giant Skeleton bomber, the Skeleton army, and a Baby Dragon.
Let’s now take a look at some of the benefits of gaming below.
Psychological Advantages of Gamers
Gamers enjoy the following kind of psychological edge over normal people:
Stress Tolerance
Mostly, gamers are bombarded with a variety of sensory distractions. They have to account for multiple things within the game, and make split-second decisions. Initially, this causes stress, because they aren’t used to this.
However, with time, they adapt to this degree of stress, and calmly respond to stress in the real world as well.
Mental Resilience and Adaptability
As in sports, gamers do not win all the matches they play. These setbacks allow them to analyze their losses, and strategize better to win the next time around. Apart from that, they learn how to treat losses calmly and be patient for victory.
Competitive Mindset
Last, but not the least, playing against other teams or players helps them develop a competitive spirit, and treat things in a sporting manner.
A Final Take
As you can see, while everything has both an upside and a downside, approaching gaming with a balanced perception helps in building many positive skills. Gamers learn how to be calm under pressure, think fast, handle stress easily, and be aware of many things at once.
So, whether you’re a first time gamer, or a passionate gamer, just keep gaming, and having a good time!