Jeremy Kaplan
When computer games first appeared, kids were told that they were wasting their time playing these ‘silly’ games. They should get outside and play sports or help their parents by washing the car. As time has gone by and computer games of a wide variety have become part of everyday life, more employers are seeing skills that come from game playing that are of real benefit to them in their business.
Simple skills
First on the list are the simple skills that game players learn that can manifest as useful in a host of different occupations – and not only from playing role playing online games where you shoot aliens or chase spies. The skills we are talking about are hand eye coordination and speed of reflexes and these can come from something as simple as playing in an online casino in UK. Players learn to react quicker to what they see on the screen and their reflexes improve due to this.
Even reading skills can be improved by some kinds of games. Say you are on that casino website and you want to play a new game. You hit the ‘read more’ button and read through the terms, taking in all the information you need to play the game and away you go, suddenly well versed in that particular activity.
Social skills
Again, playing games was once seen as somewhat anti-social but with the new online games where you can play and communicate with countless other players, this isn’t the case. The result is that people are developing social skills that were fading a little and also learning teamwork, a highly valued skill for many jobs. They learn to take their part, fulfill it and then look to do things for others, the kind of attitudes that many employers will love.
As well as physically developing coordination, eyesight and reaction time, games can also help with decision making. Gamers learn to quickly make a choice among many options or learn to assess a situation and make a decision based on the information provided. In fast moving work places, this ability to think on the go, sometimes with only limited information, can be a useful one.
Dealing with life skills
Finally, studies have shown that gamer can use their games to relax, reduce stress and cope with depression and other conditions. While there are examples of games making people worse, many others can point to the positive side of games, the relaxation and escape they provide as a way to help them deal with high stress jobs and recharge their mental batteries for the next working day.
