What game has given you the most benefit in life?

[GPX | 1,370]

As per title, what game would you consider has given you the most life benefits? This is probably something that needs time to ponder, but here are some possible suggestions:

- a game that has increased your IQ?

- a game that has got you more fit and motivated to be active?

- something that has helped you to learn some valuable life lessons?

- a game that has helped you woo a partner when playing together?

- a game that has helped you get through hardship?

- other reasons?

[fcgamer | 4,725]

Tetris. Any time I need to cram things in a suitcase or the trunk of a car, this helps.

[erac | 78]

Not quite sure what game it was, but I learned English by playing games.

[twiztor | 851]

2 hours ago, fcgamer said:

Tetris. Any time I need to cram things in a suitcase or the trunk of a car, this helps.

this is an answer that resonates with me too.

Ms. Pac-Man got me laid once, which i can't specifically say for any other game.

i like to think Legend of Zelda has honed my problem solving skills.

[ifightdragons | 234]

Perhaps The Curse of Monkey Island. It really helped me hone my English at a young age.

By the way, great thread!

[PII | 1,886]

Wow, this will take more than one trip down memory lane...

In the meantime: This is a very real thing.

2 hours ago, twiztor said:

Ms. Pac-Man got me laid once, which i can't specifically say for any other game.

As a general rule, I would say that playing video games in public has not opened the door to introductions with the female persuasion.  If there is one exception it is this game.  Being really good at it helps.  Some of the questions I've been asked while playing this one are off the charts.  One such chick wanted to know about my parentage...

[DarkTone | 985]

Animal crossing. The good one. 

[Andy_Bogomil | 815]

I'd say Rockband has had the most impact. I essentially learned how to play drums from playing, motivated me to play more actual guitar, heard some new songs, and had a lot of parties in university where it really made for a great time. I can't think of another game that's given as much overall. 

[Brickman | 3,988]

Persona 4 & Tetris.

persona- those quizzes taught some interesting things I never knew. I also learnt a lot about Japanese culture.

Tetris- as previously mentioned about packing. I also think it helps you think more logically in life, maybe on a subconscious level.

[Makar | 1,946]

Pokemon. Played it for the first time when I was 6 or 7 and actually built up a lot of vocabulary with words like deposit, withdraw, and then all the various moves in the game. 

Tetris is also up there as many have mentioned. It really helps when you're trying to organize things. 

Fire emblem has probably helped me analytically by helping me understand the best decisions to make when, with what character and how to accomplish tasks to complete a mission. 

Lately fortnite has been a great game to play to bond with friends and family. 

[GPX | 1,370]

3 hours ago, PII said:

Wow, this will take more than one trip down memory lane...

In the meantime: This is a very real thing.

As a general rule, I would say that playing video games in public has not opened the door to introductions with the female persuasion.  If there is one exception it is this game.  Being really good at it helps.  Some of the questions I've been asked while playing this one are off the charts.  One such chick wanted to know about my parentage...

One chick wanted to know about your parentage while you played Ms. Pacman? Please explain. 

[PII | 1,886]

@GPX

It was this night I was out to meet a friend at a punk show several years ago and I had some time to kill, so I went to this place down the street to spend some time with Beer and Ms. Pac-man which has always been my #1 Arcade game of choice.  As such I was doing well -really killin' it, and this girl and her friend came over to watch and at one point she was like "Tell us about your mother" in a really inquisitive way, and so I said: "She's a hell of a woman!", among other things; she smiled and we bonded.

[GPX | 1,370]

I’ve had some sleep to think this question through. My best answer right now is Defense Grid on Xbox Live (360 download).

I’ve pretty much been playing the game on a weekly basis for the past 6-7 years. Prior to this, I was more into my arcade action and never was into tower-defense type games. I gave it a try during a time when my grandmother was significantly ill and she was bedbound for several years until she passed away. The entire family shared duties in looking after her, and for these few years I could only spend time playing in short bursts, with a busy work schedule as well. 

So Defense Grid is my pick for reasons:

- great gameplay

- nostalgia and helping me get through stressful times

- helps keep the brain active, kind of like “brain training”

- addictiveness; I’m still playing it till now. For most of the levels, I’ve got top 50 rankings on online leaderboards, that’s a lot of hours spent!!

[GPX | 1,370]

1 minute ago, PII said:

@GPX

It was this night I was out to meet a friend at a punk show several years ago and I had some time to kill, so I went to this place down the street to spend some time with Beer and Ms. Pac-man which has always been my #1 Arcade game of choice.  As such I was doing well -really killin' it, and this girl and her friend came over to watch and at one point she was like "Tell us about your mother" in a really inquisitive way, and so I said: "She's a hell of a woman!", among other things; she smiled and we bonded.

Good for you!

I’m still finding it funny why a lady would ask about your mother just because you can kick ass in Ms Pacman. 

[Tanooki | 4,934]

Honestly I'd say that anything from the original Tetris or in its realm, but also those Nintendo Brain Training games, and finally good puzzles like Picross (nonogram) are excellent in working your mind either for speed, hand eye, recognition, logic, some level of math, association, and more as it's a mix.

[PII | 1,886]

14 minutes ago, GPX said:

I’m still finding it funny why a lady would ask about your mother just because you can kick ass in Ms Pacman. 

lol.  Yeah, it was basically a jokey sort of way to say: Wow, you're really good!

[Adorabear | 69]

This would easily be 'Splosion Man/Ms. 'Splosion Man for me. I met my wife through playing a random game of the online co-op of the first game, and then we decided that we liked each other enough to play the sequel together as well, where we ended up really bonding. I'm sure my life would look drastically different had I not played that game.

[Ninja Warriors | 86]

When I was a child I loved Number Munchers and Oregon Trail on my Tandy 1000 computer.  These helped craft my love of math and history.

 

In regards to my body, I have enjoyed Ring Fit challenge.  It’s great how they factored in rpg elements to staying in shape.  Definitely gives me a better workout than the Wii Fit.

[DarkTone | 985]

Destiny. 

[DefaultGen | 5,407]

DDR then Pump it Up kept me fit throughout high school and college. I'm fat now so it was the only thing keeping me fit unfortunately.

[RH | 4,907]

I think this is a tough one for me.  I'm sure playing games has changed me and I assume games like Tetris, shape-pusher games that were common on the Game Boy, and games like Professor Layton probably do help your brain become stronger.

But if I had to pick, it'd be Guitar Hero or the series.  My reason is because all though my wife would join in and play some games with me, I think it was GH that we both obsessed over.  She loved it and she was killer on the rhythm streams and I was a killer good lead soloist.  I think the first game we really bonded over was Katamari Damacy but since Guitar Hero spanned many, many games, I'm going to say that's been the best game that's actually strengthened our relationship as a team.

[JamesRobot | 5,803]

Tekken 3.  We used to play Nintendo for cash back in the day and I won a best of the best tournament among my friends. Scooped $120 that day.  

[dvertov | 207]

All versions of SimCity prior to the 2013 disaster (OG, 2000, 3000, 4) helped teach me a ton of skills I still use every day, like budgeting and planning. Once I was old enough to grasp the idea of generative systems, I also got a lot out of learning how the different elements of the game connect. Understanding that one small change early on can have huge impacts far into the future is useful for anyone to know, and these games offer a great way to conceptualize how that happens.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,543]

Some old Risk-ripoff taught me a lot of geography when I was a kid 

[Abelardo | 154]

Magic The Gathering Online by far, basically I found a way to develop simple buy/sell bots when everyone thought it was impossible to do such a thing, got several thousand dollars out of that, must've been over 10k easily maybe even 15k, the money helped pay for collage at the time so definitively got much more out of it.