The Benefits of Playing Computer Games
Anyone who has read this blog before will know that as well as reading fantasy/sci-fi and watching films in this genre, I love playing computer games. After all, the blog is called “The Old Girl Talks Fantasy” and this includes computer games too. My favourites are RPG games. Role-playing games, for anyone reading this who hasn’t come across them yet, are games where the player chooses either their initial playing character – a warrior, a mage, a thief – or you develop your character into a fighter, a magician, etc as you go through the game and acquire experience points. I don’t just limit myself to RPGs though. I really like other games and I play games on Facebook too.
It’s quite unusual for someone of my age to play anything more than Angry Birds on Facebook, especially a woman. But more older women (and men) really should start thinking seriously about taking up gaming in their free time. There are many benefits.
First of all, as we get older, our reflexes start to slow down. One way to stave off this slowing down is to use them more often. If you play a computer game like an RPG where an enemy may jump out at you at any point and you have to be ready to fight in an instant, playing this will help your reflexes stay young. If you don’t feel ready to play something so demanding, you can start with a game you can find on Facebook like Zuma or Woka Woka Marble Blaster, where you have to shoot the balls quickly to complete the level, or the Monster Blasters Link Blast Daily Challenge which is a timed challenge so you have to be quite fast.
Then, of course, there’s our mental capacity. Doctors say that if we want to keep our brains young and ward off the early onset of senility, we should keep our minds active. What better way than to start playing a new game. RPGs include tasks which demand you work out the best ways to complete them. Usually, there isn’t one single method, so there’s plenty of scope to be creative. Still don’t want to play an RPG? Just go to a site like Bigfish games. They have cheap and cheerful Hidden Object/Adventure Games. With these games, as well as testing your observational skills and using your brain to figure out the next steps, there are mini-games which must be completed to proceed to the conclusion. These mini games include such tasks as connecting a series of pipes so that liquid can find its way to an outlet, matching shapes to form a pattern or jigsaw puzzle type tasks. If you find a mini-game too demanding you have a “skip” option which doesn’t affect the final outcome and you can go back at the end of the main game and try the mini-games again. Practice makes perfect!
(The Chinese Healer Hidden Object Game)
Another problem that affects older people, particularly those who are house-bound, is social isolation. There are so many online multi-player games to play that can help with this problem. Games like World of Warcraft, the Elder Scrolls online, Final Fantasy online and so on. I don’t play these games myself, so I can’t really say too much about them but there are millions of players out there to connect with. Once again, if you don’t want to totally immerse yourself in the gamers’ world, you can play Facebook poker, for example. Here you can play the well-known card game and chat to your fellow players from all over the world. Players often play in the same game room at around the same time so you can get to know your competitors quite well – and there’s no money involved, just play for the fun of it and get to “meet” a lot of new people.
Of course the one thing we all need as we grow older cannot be addressed by playing video games – exercise. Although video games can be a benefit as we grow older, we should still find time to do some form of exercise, to walk or go to the gym, to swim or cycle if we can. So, remember, when you play games, learn and have fun, but don’t get too addicted. Remember to stand up and move around regularly when you play and take regular breaks from the screen.
Play well and stay healthy!
