Can gaming develop your skillset?

There are many benefits of having a diverse transferrable skill set, many of which can help individuals to excel in their personal and professional life. Gaming keeps minds engaged whilst improving these vital skills and so education and gaming can go hand in hand. Who wouldn’t want to be able to learn and develop whilst doing something fun that they enjoy? As humans, our brains are wired for pleasure and gaming can allow people to effectively learn these new and highly useful skills whilst doing something they love. It is well known that some people think that gaming does more harm than good, and most gamers can admit there are pros and cons, but what exactly can we learn from gaming and how can we use those skills in reality?

There are hundreds of thousands of games available online, many more being developed every day. From action-adventure and role-playing games to design and architecture focused building simulations, gaming allows for interest focused learning that can develop a deeper understanding of numerous industries to promote curiosity and creativity. First and foremost, gaming encourages individuals to pursue something they take an interest in or are passionate about. Games can focus around controversial themes and plots;therefore, it is understandable how some may find gaming divisive. However, when we look at the wider set of skills that these games can promote, many can be really positive. Matthew Barr conducted a study into gamer culture at the University of Glasgow to see how gaming can improve transferable skills. The results showed that after playing for just 14-hours, resourcefulness scores increased significantly for 81 percent of the gamers. Adaptability scores increased for 75 percent. And communication skills scores increased for 69 percent of participants. Barr concluded that gaming does indeed promote the development of employable skills.

One prime example can be found in one of the most popular forms of gambling; games of poker can be highly competitive therefore developing personal skills, like persistence and working under pressure. When explained most simply, poker is a maths game, therefore the more you play, the better at arithmetic you will get. Games such as Texas Hold’em and Omaha Hi require serious attention to detail and concentration, it rewards those who pay attention to their surroundings, surely a valuable skill to have in everyday life. However, things can get more complex as you get better at the game. Concepts like pot odds will challenge players to be able to do work with speed and think on their feet, therefore the stronger their maths skills the more advantage they will have when playing and in real life. Poker is a game of incomplete information where the outcome of the hand is never known, resilience is a vital skill that will benefit players in all aspects of life. Logic and risk management are integral to a game with such high stakes.

 

Video games such as Minecraft and Fortnight can help develop a multitude of cognitive and manual skills such as problem-solving, hand-eye coordination, vision and speed skills. Whilst gaming might be considered a sedentary activity, the physical skills it can promote can be used elsewhere. Hand-eye coordination is essential to games like baseball and cricket, additionally speed skills can be applied to a huge number of sports. In addition, playing simulation sports games on consoles like the Wii and Kinect can even promote physical exercise whilst you game. Puzzle games such as Suduko and Crosswords might seem simple, however, they can promote a wealth of transferrable skills. Organisation, problem solving, and strategy are all essential to succeed in these games and there has even been study suggesting that regularly playing games that require a level of rational thought will boost your IQ. 

Whilst some people consider gaming to be a solitary and isolating hobby, multiplayer and role-playing games can require individuals to work together. This entails effective team work to achieve success. Multiplayer games such as World of Warcraft and Grand Theft Auto Online require collaborative problem-solving skills. Whilst these games may not need face to face contact, they do need their players to be able to trust each other and utilise to each other’s strengths in order to win. From these kinds of multiplayer-games, individuals will be able to use the skills they have learnt in real life scenarios whether that be asking for a colleagues help to provide the best advice for a client or in an high pressure emergency services position where team work is essential to survival. 

When it comes to gaming, the opportunities to learn are endless and each game will present you with different options.Perhaps one of the most important skills gaming can teach is resilience, learning from mistakes will allow individuals to come back stronger and smarter. This is a universally transferrable skill that can be applied to any situation, personal or professional. Whilst games present challenges and problems to players there will always be the opportunity to progressively develop maths, teamwork, hand-eye coordination, logic and maths skills which can all be attributed to improved success.