Tetris
Attenuates or reduces trauma and potentially eases the severity where its already happened
Seems to promote geometric and analytic thinking irl
“Revita” is a game I play when I get distraught. It’s a game that focuses on the stages of grief and is a somber game. It comes with a warning regarding the themes and messages of the game.
Very well done, very good game.
Have you played Undertale?
I have not! I’ve Heard of it and watched a bunch of gameplay. I might pick it up at some point, but as of right now it’s just in my wishlist
Passage
It’s a game released to the public domain, that gives a Zen kind of appreciation for life, and how it is finite but filled with experiences.
https://libregamewiki.org/Passage
For the best experience, don’t read spoilers on the bottom part of the page.
Playtime is 5 minutes.
Left 4 Dead and tons of RTS games (mostly Westfield stuff like Command & Conquer: Generals and Battle for Middle Earth ) have helped me manage anxiety and function in the face of an overwhelming onslaught. I also learned my (short, brief) limits of functionality in such conditions.
The Brain Age series on Nintendo DS was based on the work of Dr. Ryuta Kawashima; the games are designed to activate the player’s prefontal cortex to improve brain functions.
Playing League for years improved my reflexes and I’ve managed to catch a few things mid-air that I accidentally dropped. It made me feel like Spiderman on more than one occasion.
I think there was a study showing a reduction in PTSD when people played Tetris right after the traumatic event. Found it.
On a much smaller scale, you can invoke logical thinking in children to help them get past being upset. Having them count to ten does wonders.
No real skills but Stardew just happened to come out and a pretty rough time in my life and helped a lot. I would absolutely call it therapeutic.
Same here with A Short Hike.
At adult day programs they play games like wordle and tic tac toe which apparently help reduce cognitive decline.
I play boggle and find it helps with my anxiety but I’m most likely just using it to distract myself rather than it actually helping.
I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of video games help with reaction time and peripheral vision. I haven’t seen any studies, but it would be interesting to know if regular video game players have better driving and accident avoidance skills.
Surgeons sometimes claim students who play video games tend to perform much better off the bat than non gamers so there‘s that. I remember an interview a while ago where one claimed he always asks the gamers among the students to demonstrate a technique for the class first because of that.
Have you seen GTA players?
/joke
I have definitely seen studies saying that people who play video games are better surgeons. Surgeons who don’t play video games take longer to develop their fine motor coordination to the same level of competence.
I remember tanggrams being great as a kid as solitary creative play. Helps reinforce colors and shapes, their relation/fit with each other. How they combine to form new shapes. Prob more I’ve forgotten.
All of them, as long as you take them seriously and continue learning about them. Games can be a mindless escape from reality when used passively, but when played actively they are vessel for learning and testing of various ideas and theories.
The Souls series has made me a more patient, observant person IRL, and helped me manage my medically caused anger.
D&D for social anxiety… I mean, it didn’t “fix” mine, but it helped.
And public speaking… And improvisation… And conversational skills… And strategy… And creativity… Am I missing something?
Old Sierra and Lucasarts games taught me a ton of English (second language). Probably also a ton of cultural references and random trivia.
