The Unexpected Health Benefits of Gaming

It turns out that playing video games can be good for you. But there's a catch.

Reviewed by Davia Sills

Key points

• Playing video games can help mental health.
• Different types of gaming consoles seem to impact life satisfaction differently.
• There have been no benefits found from playing video games for more than three hours a day.

Contrary to what many people believe, video gaming is not a bad activity with which to engage. To some extent, this may be common sense; gaming is, after all, something that many people do on a daily basis.

Just think about the number of people that play Wordle, Connections, or Sudoku (I bet you know a few). However, no one seems to suggest that playing such games is bad for you. Rather, it is thought of as a bit of fun that most people seem to perceive as perfectly acceptable.

Hence, you may ask, why should video games be any different? After all, they are still just games.

Sure, video gaming is not always considered a positive activity, but interestingly, there is more proof coming through that video gaming can, in fact, be good for our mental health.

Video gaming and well-being

One study conducted in Japan between 2020 and 2022 challenges the commonly held negative perceptions of video gaming. A survey including almost a hundred thousand Japanese residents aged between 10 and 69 found that game console ownership, coupled with increased gameplay, broadly improved mental well-being. However, there was not a linear relationship between the amount of time played and improved life-satisfaction. Instead, it was found that those playing more than three hours a day experienced the same benefits as those playing just three hours a day.

The survey took advantage of a natural experiment that happened in Japan at that time. During the lockdown in Japan, the demand for video game consoles and associated games skyrocketed. Therefore, console makers attempted to make things fair by holding lotteries. This study capitalized on the lotteries to understand the impacts of video game play on those really interested playing games.

Different types of consoles produced different results

Curiously, the results revealed that different consoles generated varying impacts on well-being. However, such results differed depending on factors such as type of household, gender, and age.

The impact was bigger for men who owned a PlayStation 5, while for Nintendo Switch, it was similar for both genders. PlayStation 5's impact was also more pronounced for households without children and for hardcore gamers, while Nintendo Switch's impact was greater on non-gamers.

Nintendo Switch was found to have a large positive impact on children. However, PlayStation 5 was found to have a rather small psychological benefit.

The difference in findings for the different types of consoles raises some questions regarding the specific products and how they affect our lives in different ways, and it certainly warrants future investigations. Brands and products have for a long time been known to be aligned with self-representation. Thus, it is possible that the more closely aligned the type of console is to who you are or who you wish to be, the more it may contribute to psychological benefits, as it makes you feel good interacting with something that represents who you are.

COVID-19, video gaming, and mental health

As the study took place during COVID-19, it is possible that people were seeking refuge in gaming at a time when they were faced with many negative life experiences. This may either strengthen or weaken the results of the study—strengthen in that it may show the importance of gaming when people are faced with difficulty, and weaken in that it is difficult to say whether the results are replicable today when life has (pretty much) gone back to normal, and the levels of poor metal health are reduced. Equally, as people can now also engage in any activities they like, it may be that gaming is not only less important but also less effective.

Studies such as the one outlined here can help to provide more depth and breadth to understanding the impact of gaming on individuals. Together with other studies that have also shown the positive effects of video gameplay, this research can help policymakers and organizations that are involved in regulations regarding digital media consumption make better decisions.