Gaming is a popular hobby, and it’s not hard to see why. Immersive worlds, exciting gameplay and even the possibility of an escape from the stress of your life all contribute towards why it’s seen as such a fun hobby.
However, those same things can also make it something that makes you retreat into it and away from the world, which could be potentially damaging after enough time. There’s a possible synthesis that exists here, however, and that might be found in games that evoke a sense of wonder and curiosity back outwards at the world around you.
Replicating the Outdoors
To many people, part of the appeal of gaming is being warm and comfortable indoors while being mentally transported to another world entirely. These other worlds often feature lush and fascinating fictional landscapes, to the degree that they make you want to explore them yourself – ultimately what the experience of the game becomes. However, it’s important to understand that these are often places inspired by the real world, even when you feel as though the slice of the world that you see is repetitive and monotonous.
Games like Skyrim, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Red Dead Redemption 2 all thrive off that sense of replicating what it feels like to be outside. When done well, this can make you want to head out into nature and feel a stronger connection to it.
Gaming on the Go
Some people might feel as though this is an easier task when they don’t have to give up their hobby. Other people might just feel as though the kind of games available through portable systems are often what appeals to them more. In either case, knowing that you can play games while you’re on the move might be the incentive that you need to travel more. Whether this is ports of games you were already playing, multiplayer cross-platform titles or UK slots, you have many choices, even when looking at your smartphone alone.
However, this won’t be for everyone. After all, people who are trying to feel a stronger connection with nature might not want to commit to looking at a screen even more than they already do. In this case, it might just be about striking the right balance.
Framing History
Certain games might also help to make you more interested in culture, history and politics. Quality art is capable of making you consider your own perspective, and that sometimes means asking questions that you don’t know the answers to or making you consider your beliefs as they are. Games like Kentucky Route Zero and Disco Elysium have proven capable of raising conversations about political landscapes and the presence of individuals within them, even encompassing elements of mental health. Meanwhile, titles like Pentiment showcase a well-researched understanding of a particular point of history while also raising questions about how that history is recorded. These also won’t be for everyone, with a focus on narrative over gameplay, but they’re titles that can hold an enormous amount of value for others.
