Strategy games and the effect they have on your brain

The harmful effects of computer games on people have been discussed for a long time. It has been said that this type of games occupy a large part of the individual’s time without offering any positive reward, that is, without having any good effects on the life of the human being as a whole. Furthermore, it has been argued that computer games have as their main result restricting people’s interaction with each other in the virtual world, leading to isolation.

However, one aspect of computer games that has not been given enough attention is the educational aspect. Computer games, and especially strategy computer games like SimCity or Age of Empires, are designed to challenge the human brain and make it find new ways to solve difficult problems. Players are faced with real life situations or possible situations and are given the freedom to choose what they want to do. Without making the right moves and the right decisions, the player cannot go to the next level, he cannot evaluate. These games are intended to make the player think, find new solutions, evaluate them and choose the most suitable ones. In addition, it forces the player to face the consequences of their actions and take it all over again if they don’t meet all the requirements or if they don’t make the right decisions.

This means that more than one feature of the brain is exploited. The player must be able to learn (the rules of the game, the situations and some of their responses, etc.), solve problems and mysteries, evaluate different possibilities, choose between them and have enough patience to observe the evolution of the game and start all over again when one or more tasks have failed.

There is no doubt that strategy computer games really do have the power to keep your brain working for longer hours. And more intellectual activity means higher IQ, from which we can infer that they are really useful for improving intellectual abilities. So, if you want to increase your IQ in a fun way, these games are a very good alternative to chess and riddles, but not enough.