For much of their history, video games have largely been surrounded by heated debate over their potential harmful side effects. Whether it be an increase in violent tendencies or the threat of addiction, worries over the downsides of gaming have been common for both parents and politicians. Unfortunately, much less consideration is given to the possible positives that video games can offer. Here are a few examples of times when video games benefited players beyond the simple joys of gaming.
SimCity Student Citizens
As an associate professor at Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg, Matthew Woessner faced the challenge of getting students interested in required gen-ed courses on political science. That’s why he looked to the iconic urban development and management simulator SimCity.
The beauty of all the games in the SimCity series is that there are multiple solutions to the municipal challenges posed to players. Decisions need to be made on how best to design and grow your simulated city. So in order to incorporate SimCity into the classroom environment, Woessner created a simple constitution for students to follow as they played.
One student was designated as the mayor of the city, and all others were given seats on city council. Students were then assigned political positions on various objectives such as lowering taxes or reducing pollution. With their agendas in place, the students then work to pass legislation to augment their virtual town and address whatever new challenges present themselves.
“Part of the reason I created the SimCity governance simulation was to make American government seem exciting, thereby encouraging students to become politically engaged,” Woessner wrote in the academic journal PS: Political Science and Politics. “Whereas survey courses in sociology, literature, and chemistry do not have far-reaching social implications, lackluster high school civics classes or college-level American government courses may contribute to the political apathy of citizens. … Although the use of SimCity-based simulations will not revolutionize political science and civics education, the selective incorporation of these sophisticated civic simulations has the potential to generate enthusiasm among otherwise disinterested students.”
Building Real Friendships in a Virtual World
While you may think that online gaming would be the worst method to developing emotional awareness, researchers at Idaho State University and Armstrong State University examined the way in which this virtual platform can help autistic players.
Working with a small group of college students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, the researchers examined the effect that massive multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs) had on their emotional awareness and social skills. Virtual interactions with other players were monitored, and study participants were interviewed in depth about their personal experiences while playing.
Prior to playing online, the participants expressed fear and frustration related to their struggles with social and emotional connections when face to face with another person. Not only were participants able to use this virtual environment as a way to recognize their own emotions and express them appropriately, these players were also able to comfortably enter into social interactions without apprehension.
“As evidenced by the findings, virtual gaming connections can be a powerful conduit to increase socialization, friendships, emotional awareness, and reciprocation, that hold the potential to support transitions to postsecondary settings,” Jennifer Gallup and Barbara Serianni wrote in the journal Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities. “As described in the data analysis, it is common for gamers to seek out a guild or clan to actively work together and solve complex problems using their advanced digital literacy skills and communication within the game. In addition, the findings presented information related to learning to communicate within a MMORPG and to apply those skills to real-life settings.”
Finding Our Ideal Selves
From that last example, you can see that video games can provide a safe environment for individuals with anxiety around expressing themselves to others. But that’s not the only way in which virtual environments can allow players to be themselves.
One common feature in many modern video games is the ability to customize your virtual avatar. When adopting these in-game identities, players who might not have a safe outlet by which to inhabit their true selves can experiment with their identity without fear of harm or judgment. This is especially true for players who are trans or gender nonconforming.
Researchers at the University of Essex, University of Munich, and University of Rochester joined together to examine this unique aspect of gaming. They investigated how the potential of video games to “put players in touch with ideal aspects of themselves is associated with the games’ motivational appeal and emotional impact.”
These researchers saw that players were more likely to continue playing games that allowed for the greatest convergence of their ideal and in-game selves. Player immersion was heightened for those who were able to “try on” a version of themselves they were unable to realize in everyday life.
These are just three examples of ways in which video games can positively affect our lives. While the potential of video games to lead to more aggression in players has been extensively researched, ways in which gaming may improve the lives of players is understudied. At the very least, we see here that video games do offer opportunities for us to be better citizens, more confident communicators, and the truest version of ourselves.
