Are you sick of people telling you to stop wasting your time playing online games and get out into the real world? Well, you can stick it to the haters, with our post below as there you will find some of the most surprising and wonderful benefits of playing games online that you can next time someone tries to initiate this conversation. Read on to find out what they are.
Boosts your mood
First of all, one of the major benefits of playing online games is that they release a whole heap of dopamine into your brain which is brilliant for boosting your mood, especially after a long day of stressful work. Indeed, it’s the competitive aspect whether it’s against others or yourself that provides enough challenge to get the rewards centers of your brain going, so next time you need a quick mood boost, fire up your PC or console.
Source of Income
Believe it or not, one of the most surprising but very real benefits of playing games online is earning real money! Yep, that’s right you can play online games and get paid for it. There are several ways this can happen.
The first is to get good at competitive online games like League of Legends and join a good eSports crew. You will then be able to earn money not only from the winning prizes in the tournaments you take part in, but the best teams get official sponsorship deals as well. However, eSports is not for the faint-hearted, and you not only need to be at the top of your game but also need to be prepared to dedicate the majority of your life to high-pressure gaming.
The second way that you can earn a source of income from gaming is through resource farming. This is when you have several accounts dedicated to collecting specific resources that hold value and are in demand in the game including currency (such as gold), supplies, armor, and mounts. Some people even make money leveling up characters and selling them online.
Last of all, and perhaps the most popular way of making money from online gaming is to start a YouTube or Twitch channel. Indeed, several YouTubers are now millionaires from making online gaming content. However, it’s worth noting that you have to get a certain number of views per month to enable your channel to become monetised (that is to allow adverts to be played during your videos).
Connection and socialization
Those playing online games can often be pigeonholed as an unsociable lot, but nothing could be further from the truth. This is because online gaming offers a wealth of opportunities to be social and form connections.
A great example of this is the Guilds that operate in nearly every MMORPG such as Final Fantasy Online, Neverwinter Online, and World of WarCraft to name but a few. People in these guilds not only play in-game together but hang out in text and voice chat on platforms like Discord creating whole communities that check in with one another daily.
Learn New Skills
Another major benefit of playing games online is that they can help teach you new skills. For example, by playing backgammon online you allow yourself to learn and get good at the game. Then when it comes to playing matches in real life you will have some significant experience under your belt, which if you want to thrash your relatives at Christmas in your annual game is good news indeed.
With many games being social and /or cooperative, playing online can help you build up your teamwork and leadership skills as well. Not to mention the IT skills you need to get online and make sure your in-game or Discord chat is working.
Improve your reaction times
In real life reaction times matter, whether you are driving, playing sports or just reaching out to grab that mug of coffee you just knocked off the table before it spills on the carpet. The great thing about online games is that they can help improve your reaction times, not only in-game but also in real life.
Indeed, whether you’re playing RDR2 online and you’re practising to be quickest on the draw, or doing some sweet dribbling and passing on FiFA, nearly all online games include using a fast reaction time to your advantage. Also because of the way games are designed, they encourage you to perfect your reaction times by playing over and over. In essence, by playing games online you are training your reaction times to be faster and faster the more you play.
