Skill Transference - Extra Credits - Game Design

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A lot of us have been playing video games since our early childhood. Interacting with our favorite medium for years but, outside the joy games can bring, does our dedication to them bring us any real-life benefits? Or to put it more bluntly, can the virtual skills we develop in video games materialize into real-life skills, and can we answer that question with some research and a jet ski?
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This episode was guest-written by Mariana of "Mariana's Corner". You can check out the rest of her awesome stuff here:
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Also Matt's podcast "The Only* Podcast About Movies" can be found here:
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#ExtraCredits #GameDesign #IndieGames

[@extrahistory]

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[@mind-blowinggames7528]

Thank you for this making video. Although you should mention serious games and emphasize their hybrid with entertaining games. For example, "Dark souls" is great analogy to mental health. And it can be used to represent irl struggle, BUT is very roundabout way how to take these skills and implement irl.

[@thedarkdragon1437]

"keep between us" in youtube video that will get thousands of shares, especially after this..... nice marketing tactic

[@Michael-fd1gx]

I hate Raid ads.

[@Xenareee]

Playing games can also be a huge help in learning English for those who aren't native! Found myself knowing English much better after playing games, as there aren't many in my native language.

[@kaltaron1284]

My first real contact with English was Diablo. I was starting to learn English at school but it was so much fun figuring out the meaning of the texts in the books you found in the game. My first try at Japanese on the other hand was trying to figure out some anime lyrics but a dictionary gets you only so far without knowledge of the grammar so it wasn't until university that I could really dig in.

[@icarue993]

Games pretty much taught me all the english I know!

[@BottleWaterson]

Disco Elysium might be the next potential step since it just lets you toggle between 2 languages on the fly

[@warkiller]

I can concur with that. English is my second language and while I had english classes during high school, my parents watched quite a few english shows at night, and I also played TONS of video games in english. So video games are a huge reason why I'm pretty much bilingual.

[@thewanderer93]

Games and YT essentially gave me an A in english, so for me it really did help!

[@GaryBoyles342]

I found using the term 'tetris'ing for spacing things more efficiently together, traditionally whilst moving larger quantities of items from one location to another.

[@thisbymaster]

Everytime I stack the dishwasher I think of tetris as everything slots into place. But it never just disappears.

[@extrahistory]

If only!

[@PlebNC]

Part of my job in a warehouse is moving boxes from one roll palet to another to organise them by catagory of product while using as little space as possible. I sometimes sing the song from Tetris and make the SFX as I work.

[@nin10doadict]

@@extrahistory But then you'd have to buy more dishes...

[@sempersolus5511]

I'm good at Tetris, but bad at Tetris-ing. (The verb I've been using to describe the spatial reasoning involved in packing a suitcase or stocking a fridge) Nothing IRL is measured in x block lengths where x is an integer.

[@popolekupasupport2246]

Minecraft actually helped me a lot with learning english. It has comprehensive icons, correctly spelt words and perhaps most importantly a huge community of entertainers who help with pronunciation.

[@mariana-vieira]

This was a fun episode to write! Thank you for everything, it was awesome collaborating with you 🙌

[@BadbitStudios]

Video games helped me practice what they call in Zen "beginners mind" ... I threw myself into so many different environments and situations, that I just got used to the feeling of being lost and figuring out what was most effective as I went. In short: video games taught me how to learn more effectively.

[@leakingamps2050]

This is so big and I didn't even realize that they'd helped teach this until you pointed it out.

[@SterbsMcGurbs]

RPGs taught me to grind before going into a boss battle because I'm not witty or quick but I am good at preparing.

[@ZeroGamerGuy7]

that's funny cause i'm the exact opposite, I rarely ever prepare in games so I've gotten really good at quick on the fly decisions, or how to make a horribly unprepared situation into something where you still get through it. Which can be very useful in retail jobs with lots of people, since eventually everything will go wrong at once. Fighting games are also very very good at teaching you how to adapt to any situation.

[@IcecreamMcGuy]

Pooply dooply?

[@stevenn1940]

Proper preparation prevents piss poor performance

[@insaincaldo]

Wait... You have allot of boss battles in your daily life?

[@SterbsMcGurbs]

@@insaincaldo when you are as introverted as me, every conversation is a boss battle.

[@MatthewBofenkamp]

I'd like to see the reverse of this video showing ways IRL experiences can help one get better at games, just to encourage hardcore gamers to leave the house more often

[@ribbitgoesthedoglastnamehe4681]

My cousin, being a real life city planner, rules Sim City. I tend to do good in political and managerial games.

[@LucasTigy2]

there was a mario & sonic winter olympics video game that i played at someone else's house. i had never played the game before, but i had experience with skiing. i was able to nail the slalom course with 0 prior experience in that event because they had done such a good job of translating the motion controls to real skiing

[@ribbitgoesthedoglastnamehe4681]

@@LucasTigy2 I saw a real musician play Rock Hero.

[@kaltaron1284]

@@ribbitgoesthedoglastnamehe4681 Which they often do poorly. At least I remember that someone "complained" that he couldn't play his own song perfectly because a) the controller handles differently from a real guitar and b) real musicians don't always follow their own script perfectly. Don't remember who it was though.

[@LucasTigy2]

@@ribbitgoesthedoglastnamehe4681 that's true, rhythm games can improve your, well, rhythm, and vice versa

[@myyoutubeaccount2780]

Playing persona games helped me to realize that small mundane tasks like chores, studing, hanging with friends or even watching movies can be important things that can improve your life Now when I'm bored at work cleaning dishes I can imagine that my proficiency went up XD

[@Adam-cq2yo]

Playing Persona 5 Royal at the moment. It's a reminder that I can't do everything each day. A hundred messages from characters asking me to hang out, plus everything else going on. It's perhaps a bit of practice in priorities, especially if you get immersed to the point that you consider your own feelings in the priorities. Yeah, I know, it's an opportune day to do that thing, but my friend has asked me to hang out with them today and they _deserve_ it.

[@megabyte01]

I'll second the way the Persona games have reminded me to make the most of every day, to value the time I spend with the people I care about, and to accept that life will not be perfect and I can only do so much. Memento Mori.

[@CoralCopperHead]

@@megabyte01 Damn right I'm Mementoing the Mori. It's the only solid goal in life.

[@Spades20XX]

I play tank classes in MMOs to force myself to assume more responsibility in the turnout of dungeons, and recently got a managerial position where I have a team to lead, so that’s translated in some ways for me

[@CatOnACell]

I do the same as a healer since keeping communication open is essential to heal and damage effectively.

[@OmegaRayblade]

My friend was a raid leader in MMO. He is a team lead in his company and he learned that quite a few raid leaders he knew also ended up on some leading roles.

[@ChesireWaltz]

I've heard of people listing raid experience as leadership experience for applications sometimes. Honestly if someone can keep a raid group or a guild running smoothly, I can totally see it, your skill in that isn't your game play but your interpersonal skills, so I see no reason aside from stigma why it shouldn't count.

[@kevingriffith6011]

I learned a few things from Fighting Games: how to break what seems impossible down into it's component pieces, learn them individually and put them back together... how to manage my learning process and that taking breaks to let your mind process is *super important* to getting the most out of your study/practice sessions. That sometimes when you don't know how to go push yourself further you should take some time to re-examine your past work... and that there is another person on the other side of every interaction, so you should try to understand their situation to better make the sick read and destroy th- I mean... come to an agreement that works best for everyone involved.

[@Vietcongster]

Also they're great to learn second languages! If you're a non-English speaker, the fact that most games are in English gives an amazing opportunity to learn. In high school, my English teacher praised me for my extensive vocabulary, all of which I picked up mostly from games since I was about 10 years old. For English speakers, perhaps you can find the same experience by playing foreign games, or ones with good translations.

[@ribbitgoesthedoglastnamehe4681]

Xin jiao. You had such a nice teacher. My teacher yelled at me for reading a book in english in class. I was reading about war in space, with kinetic railguns and plasmathrusters and deuterium- tritium fusion reactors while others were asking how to get to the railway station. I hated school so much...

[@Nevict]

I am amazing at logic quizzes and English. I believe it was due to all the puzzles I had to solve in games. Also, English helped me connecting with other players and finding guides and strategies online.

[@FioreFire]

When my younger brother was learning how to drive, he told our dad that "driving in real life is just like driving in a video game, but without drifting"

[@CoralCopperHead]

Wait 'til he learns how to drift.

[@ribbitgoesthedoglastnamehe4681]

English as a second language, learning a whole new language with games and reading scifi by age of 13.

[@PathForger_]

The point on feedback loops makes sense... and I can see how single player games from childhood can raise one's self-esteem. Considering that I've always been interested in game design (while somehow remaining rather low in skill depth in enabling skills (like actual coding))... it comes as no surprise that I am currently psychologically gearing up to get above level zero in such pursuits... On a different note - I cannot currently think of any in-game skills I've tricked myself into thinking I'd done before... but that is a very interesting premise.

[@JanbluTheDerg]

Doom Eternal is teaching me how to prioritise better, while improving my hand-eye coordination. Meanwhile, Darkest Dungeon is working on my risk assessment skills, Dead Cells on my quick thinking skills and Shadow of War encouraged me to build a solid infrastructure of progress to achieve larger tasks.

[@althelor]

Doom eternal is a game that surprised me in how it teaches. I've never been good at thinking on the fly in stressful situations, or at quick reaction aiming/movement. But doom eternal (especially ancient gods) has just beaten my brain into submission to the point where I actually am finding myself planing out how to quickly chain moves together while running and jumping around, switching weapons, and getting attacked by 6 different types of enemies at the same time. Normally my brain gets so wrapped up in so many things happening at once that I can't think clearly. But now it's forcing myself to take a step back and relax in stressful situations so I can actually pay attention to my surroundings and abilities and think through my actions while still moving quickly.

[@Tetsuito]

I forgot this was a game design channel. 🤣

[@Crazybark]

same actually. kinda miss it

[@PathForger_]

I blame KZbin for not being equipped to allow established creators to branch out without potentially alienating their existing viewer base(s) - without starting from scratch with a new channel, i.e. It would not be 'that' difficult to add a means to (un)subscribe from channels' playlists - allowing analytics to tell playlist performance apart - and allowing users to tailor their subscription experience, not to mention reducing creators' overheads.

[@atlas4733]

Euro tuck simulator gave me a boost in confidence in driving, and taught me that cheesing the system isn’t worth the two minutes earlier you would’ve gotten to your destination if you actually succeeded circumventing the law.

[@asdfjoe123]

5:30 Here's hoping no one asks our beloved host about anything relevant to having played Surgeon Simulator.

[@IcecreamMcGuy]

If I went to medical school i could play surgeon simulator

[@supson7]

I'd add that IRL companies are turning towards VR and simulation more extensively to train employees. Much better to help prepare the operator of a nuclear reactor or gas pipeline with simulated data, screens, and environments that look and feel real rather than on the job learning where mistakes aren't very acceptable.

[@lyndalepowell1225]

bold of you to assume i have skill in games.

[@joevahle2321]

I really enjoy when you give specific examples of this kind of learning in games. Sometimes its easier to see those effects when I can put a name to them. Thank you.

[@sir_baldrick7266]

Games like Squad or rainbow6 helped me become a better public speaker. Always had a hard time speaking to people but after repeated time coordinating and leading strangers in wargames I have grown far more confident when doing public speaking to strangers or presenting.

[@michaelramon2411]

Another class of skills video games can contribute to are social skills and empathy. Lots of fiction asks you to relate to and understand other people, but video games sometimes ask you to ACT like other people, or to solve problems by understanding what other characters want. Additionally, puzzle games (as well as mystery games and point-and-click adventure games) improve problem-solving. Any cooperative game (even a "mindless" shooter) teaches teamwork, planning and communication. And even the Battle Royale shooters that all the kids are playing these days are fundamentally about rapidly adapting and planning in unpredictable, randomized situations.

[@ninjaofsorts3713]

Im in school to be be a pen tester, and all of this stems from breaking game systems, this incudes board, table top, and videogames. I am an active speedrunner, and I love to break systems. Finding exploits, glitches and other bugs. In the military, I called loading a truck real life testis. It helped so much. Thanks extra credits team. You guys have been the inspiration for a lot.

[@Play_Dreams]

Had a hard time with my reading and reading comprehension as a kid. Pokemon, specifically FireRed and Sapphire versions, really helped strengthened my reading skills.

[@tithund]

Video games have improved my reflexes, taught me most of my English, and greatly increased my skill and knowledge of all kinds of vehicle operation, I wouldn't say it can teach you to drive entirely, but the differences between what to expect with fwd or rwd, and locking diffs in offroad sims, really translate into how you approach different situations. There's probably a lot more I've learned.

[@sonictimm]

All this said, I'm glad there's a channel like this encouraging people to actually use these skills IRL! Many people rack up achievements in challenging games, but don't translate their skills from game to life. "You can give a man water but you can't make him drink", right? Here's one of my many learning experiences: The classic PC game Midtown Madness helped me a lot when it came to real driving. I got used to driving a car carefully around turns so that the car wouldn't be at risk of slipping (even in the rain, since the game had weather conditions), avoiding bumpy areas, understanding of what kinds of places I could fit into with different sized cars, visualizing whether I could fit my current vehicle into a given parking spot, and got very good at looking ahead to avoid any obstacles that appeared in my way. In the game, that was usually other cars, but IRL that is usually deer or people on scooters (depending if I'm in the country or the city). Heck, the game even had a rear view mirror that appeared when you pressed Backspace, very handy for staying aware of your surroundings. HECK AGAIN, you could press Tab to view the map, but the game would not pause for the map! It taught you to keep driving while studying the map without crashing haha, cue GPS and map reading skills. But I couldn't tell my dad about that, because he did not want me driving IRL the same way I drove in a chaotic city racing video game 😂. I never drove the same way, I just used the same skills ;)

[@TheMeithia]

Playing Osrs with the long and tedious grinds has made my brain swift from short term satisfaction mindset to grinding for a better and more fullfiling future experience. Now i can do my must dos easily enough.

[@ebonyblack4563]

For me, a person who was isolated a lot of my growing up, video games (rpgs specifically) actually taught me a lot about how important it is to pay attention to people if you want to get along with them. These single player games gave me a place to develop interpersonal skills without risk of hurting other's feelings or being harshly judged; they even helped greatly in learning facial expressions, though I still struggle with that skill it is much better because of my time in certain games.

[@tylerboyce4081]

I can safely say that games have definitely improved my puzzle- and problem-solving skills. Wish I could say the same for my athleticism. (looks wistfully at Commander Shepard's body...)

[@Phobias124]

When I was studying to get my driver's license my teacher was impressed with how well I handled the car considering I was a complete novice. The only experience I had with cars was from video games and apparently all of that driving around in games like GTA really helped me out with learning how to drive an actual car.

[@StompinPaul]

Something that went unmentioned: video games are nice for providing instant feedback. Like, if you complete a project at school or work, while working on it you don't necessarily know how you're doing, and even at the moment you turn it in it may not be clear. You don't get any certainty in that regard until whoever is receiving it has time to get back to you. On the other hand, video games give you immediate feedback. Your grade shows up the moment you clear the level, and then there's the even more immediate things of like 'I tried this, but the enemy attack just hit me', which simplifies things and at least has potential to emphasize what can be learned.

[@safaiaryu12]

There's a great TED talk about this from Jane McGonagall. She talks about things like learning to work together with others to solve problems and other stuff that y'all didn't touch on here, so it's well worth checking out!

[@arkhadipustaka_]

McGonigal ... McGonagall is Harry Potter's teacher ...

[@safaiaryu12]

@@arkhadipustaka_ I thought it was wrong, but my phone wouldn't accept the other spelling. 😅

[@CoralCopperHead]

"learning to work together with others to solve problems" That's an odd way to say the sentence "learning how to identify when everyone else you're working with is dragging you down and when you need to get rid of them so you can get the fucking task done" (hint, it's always) but okay.

[@natoraishido]

I'm surprised there was no mention of exploitation or breaking of mechanical systems for sake of both understanding how real-world systems parallel game ones, as well as for info-sec or reverse engineering.

[@huwguyver4208]

I remember back in the day when I had only had my driver's licence for a couple of years. One day when the roads were wet I took a turn a bit too quick and started skidding out. Despite never having been in that situation irl before I was able to stay calm, steer into it and bring the car back under control. I'm convinced I have all those years of playing racing games like WRC to thank for that.

[@althelor]

I remember being ahead of my math class in high school because of the amount of time I spent in MMO's. I had gotten really into crunching the numbers on the stats of my gear changes to see how my performance changed and was reading up on how probabilities could stack when dealing with buffs when my classes started learning about things like compound interest and statistics. And I realized that by "wasting time" fantasizing about playing video games, reading all these boards and guides about raiding, and by playing the auction house to try and buy new mounts, I had actually already taught myself almost an entire semester's worth of my classes without even realizing it and from there I could just intuit how to approach any of the problems on our tests by framing them around stat changes in games.

[@intelpntium]

A cool example of this is glassblowing. Once when I was younger I took a one time glassblowing class. The person in charge began asking questions like what is glass made of, what's soda ash, and showing us some techniques for glassblowing. I was able to answer most of the questions, and even knew that you had to constantly spin the glass as you blew it. The teacher asked if I had taken a glassblowing class before. I said no, I had learned those basics from...Runescape. you can do glassblowing in Runescape. In order to do it you need to mix Soda Ash and Sand in a furnace. To get Soda Ash you cook Seaweed. And when you blow the glass, you use a long pipe and constantly spin it.

[@aruretheincomprehensible20]

The main thing I think I've learned from playing games is that puzzle games and roguelikes have both taught me very different problem solving skills: puzzle games have improved my ability to think through the problem I'm presented while roguelikes have taught me to solve problems on the fly. Detective games like Return of the Obra Dinn also taught me the importance of doing your research and how important it is to pay attention to detail. Finally, Unworthy taught me how to persevere through trials and tribulations. It's a game that will kick your butt, but it's also a game that gives you subtle motivation every time it does kick your butt, and succeeding at its many challenges feels unlike anything I've ever played, particularly its boss fights. It's on sale right now for 75% off, it's designed by the lead designer of the upcoming metroidvania Crowsworn, and it's really fun for how relatively unknown it is.

[@SuperJarren]

Similar to the jet ski story, my hours spent playing Euro Truck Simulator 2 actually taught me how to operate vehicles before I ever touched the steering wheel. Not only could I drive on the road almost immediately, but one time my mom (who's a pretty decent driver) was trying to learn how to back up our trailer, and she couldn't quite figure it out. I asked if I could give it a shot. I got it first attempt. She was so mad LOL

[@OwOraTheWitch]

I had the same exact experience you mentioned with the jet ski with driving a car for the first time. Got my permit and went out with my parents for the first time and I just started driving like I'd always been doing it with no explanation whatsoever. Granted it did help that I was already intimately familiar with traffic laws because I'd been a cyclist for years at that point.

[@LillyP-xs5qe]

my skills from playing euro track simulator 2 helped a lot when I worked in a warehouse and had to drive a LLOP cause they have similar turning styles, with very sharp front wheel turn and long base behind you, so you need to learn to turn hard in the last moment otherwise the rear just crash into anything near by, so very different style than cars

[@adamehrke4216]

I've also seen several studies that, while not strictly video games, VR simulators have been shown to more effectively raise practical skills for careers such as welders and even surgeons

[@leakingamps2050]

VR games are way more convincing to the brain than I would have thought before trying them. I used one of the original Oculus Dev Kits way back when (2016?), and was like, "Cool, but not even remotely convincing". I played on a Quest? The other day and... about a minute in, tried to set the controller on the virtual table, fully expecting it to work. I had to keep reminding my brain that the table I was about to run into wasn't real.

[@CoralCopperHead]

@@leakingamps2050 Okay I Believe You.

[@nickjoffe8433]

For me, playing the Persona games started my burning curiosity for learning about mythology and religions, from seeing and learning about all the demons, angels and other mythological characters in the game.

[@mattbsblogsandtheorys8609]

And people say stuff like “video games don’t teach” or “all video games teach violence” Also, did they just forget that educational games exist?

[@ruolbu]

Games can teach a lot. LambHoot is a YT channel with a couple great videos on VR games, their use as a training tool for all sorts of jobs, including combat training. Violence is one thing he talks about in there as well. It should not be disregarded.

[@SuperFlamethrower]

What popular game is educational?

[@mattbsblogsandtheorys8609]

@@SuperFlamethrower I just mean games that teach lessons that you would in school, something like that in general.

[@CoralCopperHead]

@@SuperFlamethrower Literally every game that requires you to read information, for a start.

[@Upload098765432]

Resource management: hoarding all of my items in case I need them and ending up never using them.

[@Pommezul]

Playing games especially driving sims has helped me a lot to learn the psychics and the mechanics of an automobile. Not to mention all the social interactions online that has also helped me to develop and improve my social skills

[@icarue993]

I know how to drive... but few games teach/show you how to park...

[@lucaskitamura614]

In Brazil, many driving schools offer driving simulators, which are, essentially, games. This way, once the students have learned the basics (steering, shifting, etc) they can test their skills on a safe environment before going for "the real thing"

[@ThatFanBoyGuy]

That's how you know you have a good game - when the in-game mechanics teach you how to do the same thing in real life

[@DaikoruArtwin]

I've definitely learned a lot from playing video games: - I've learned more English from games than from my English classes. And I've also learned Japanese through games. - I've learned to think logically for almost anything. Finding patterns, tricks, or anything to solve problems or just understand new concepts. - I've learned to learn. Just like I can get used to new gameplays super quickly, I also learn new stuff quickly. - I've learned a lot of creativity, from seeing all kinds of ideas being used in games. - I've learned to socialize through MMORPGs and other online games. Unfortunately, I haven't learned all the skills from this video. Resource management, well more like hoarding because I never know when I'll want something expensive, so I always try to never spend and manage everything with whatever I find on the way. Multi-tasking, unfortunately my brain is still using only one processor. Also, I've learned to be super safe with everything because *some games are very unforgiving with mistakes*.

[@leakingamps2050]

> Resource management, well more like hoarding because I never know when I'll want something expensive, so I always try to never spend and manage everything with whatever I find on the way. This is not a bad way to resource manage in real life, because of your third point. > Also, I've learned to be super safe with everything because *some games are very unforgiving with mistakes*. Life is one of those games. Very much, one of those games.

[@CoralCopperHead]

@@leakingamps2050 If you die with the resources on hand to save you, that's a bad thing. Also, greentext doesn't work outside of the 'Chans, I think you missed your bus stop.

[@ukulele3458]

I normally play support or strategy games which allows me to learn how and why people work and when is a good time to help them and for my time playing strategy it allowed me to reduce tress and showed me how to manage time effectively.

[@YondaMoegi]

I love to play Choice of Games interactive fiction. They don't have any saving slots, and every time I had to choose something drastic, I was an anxious mess. So, I had to just, grit my teeth, make a choice, and face the consequences. At some point, my anxiety reduced and it became easier to make hard choices, and it translated to the real life, where I had decision-making anxiety too.

[@audiblearcavr9982]

Video games have done so many things to help me in life. For starters it helped me with pronunciation of English words as I had a hard time with speaking growing up. Games also helped me build confidence and how to keep moving foward even when faced with failure. The most important lesson it taught me though is everything and everyone can change you or the world so don't squander the moments you have here or with others.

[@ljotrmacleod566]

I went pistol shooting at a gun range a few years ago with some friends. I'd never even seen a gun IRL short of those carried by police and occasional military, because I don't live in a country that's obsessed with guns like the US. Anyway, we did the short training course, and when it was time to learn to handle them I managed to pick it up and hold it perfectly without any coaching. Then it came time to shoot, and I won't say I was 100% bullseye, but I did pretty well on the first clip, and better on the second. The guy watching us asked me if I was sure I'd never held a gun before and said I had a natural attribute for it, but my only experience was video games. The same happened again when I did archery with some friends - I was able to hold and fire the bow with good beginner's technique, even though I'd never shot a bow before, and managed to score well. My only experience with a show was my inevitable stealth archer in Skyrim.

[@DarkBloodbane]

I love this video, so many good things we could get from playing video games. I learned perseverance, efficiency and quick decision from playing video games.

[@manolismarinakis8444]

One thing you learn from team games is that if you want to continue having fun with friends everyone must be having fun even in the detriment of playing the game perfectly, or you having even more fun. If my friend feels sad because he had to give all his resources to me so we could win, sometimes it is not worth it

[@PrimordialNightmare]

About the jetski experience, somewhere should be a study that has shown something similar but with cars or Buggies. They had a bunch go in with no training, and a bunch playing a videogame/simulation before and the people with the game were much better. But it's a loooong while since I've read about that.

[@daysleeper7209]

I picked up new vocabulary in World of Warcraft. I'd come across words in item names, like "rime", & wonder what they meant, so then I looked up the definition.

[@ribbitgoesthedoglastnamehe4681]

I remember Fetters of Rime back in the day.

[@CoralCopperHead]

Eh. Runescape taught me that Steel and Copper were alloys.

[@hipunpun]

HUGE LOVE for bringing attention to Coffee Talk

[@fal_pal_]

Wait a sec, cats can't drink wine! What else is red that cats can drink... blood? Uh oh...

[@rochenmanta838]

I actively trained driving in a game called Foxhole where I basically played a logistic driver for Frontlines manned by players and actually improved my parking and driving skills

[@sikfaka1]

Games changed my life and empowered me so much, I would never have learned how to out maneuver a superior army without total war!!!

[@marinamoraes6174]

Zoey looks the same since Matt was a kid.... Zoey is immortal

[@extrahistory]

We asked her how she stays so young but she wont tell us the details...

[@matthewmann8969]

Atari, Sega, Nintendo, Sony, And Microsoft all have splendid start offs yeah

[@zeedar412]

For my honors project at the end of my game design degree I studied if playing games can improve your moral reasoning skills. Although i had a small sample size, i had results indicating that indeed you can. Not surprising, but it's cool to see that the numbers seem to support it.

[@penname8441]

Co-op games also teach communication and leadership

[@mattkuhn6634]

Hey guys, small quibble here: at 3:54, you refer to the University of Texas at Austin as Texas University. Those are not interchangeable terms for the same place. It's like calling UC Berkeley California University.

[@legio1]

I just assumed someone went to A&M

[@SubwayToSchiff]

Confidence is another big one in my opinion. Playing competitive games like League of Legends teach you to be confident, take calculated risks, and quickly decide to use opportunities that open themselves (i.e. by mistakes that your enemies make).

[@erikn.7540]

When I was a baby I needed surgeries on my feet and was in casts - I was unable to crawl, and had to go straight into walking. I had extremely poor hand-eye coordination for much of my childhood. Because of ongoing feet/leg issues, playing sports to help that wasn't happeneing. Playing video games did help me with hand eye coordination - its not the best, but its enough.

[@kilikus822]

Video Games: Now go use those skills in the real world! Me: No.

[@sonictimm]

Me, a serious games developer: 😢

[@faeriexylily]

My experience with Video Games, paired with some particularly interesting educators in my school career, have made me feel confident in my ability to pilot an airplane in an emergency situation. I also plan on taking some short classes and tests for my actual pilot's license, something I don't think I could do without those game experiences.

[@lucaskitamura614]

When I was a kid, Pokémon games were a huge help in improving my English, both directly as a tool and as a driving factor - I wanted to understand what the characters were saying, after all. Later on, Total War and other strategy games really spiked my interest on history. A couple years ago, I was playing EU4 with a friend, and we stopped mid session to discuss how did the IRL version of one event played out compared to the game. One thing led to another and there we were, 3am discussing history and geography

[@ChesireWaltz]

Neopets taught me supply and demand. Looking back it's wild how I actually tracked market trends. I would see which Neggs were popular/needed but not too expensive, but not too plentiful either. Basically I would cross ref them and then buy the other sellers out and then flood them so I was the only one selling, buying under cutters out so I could fix the price. I tried to flip paintbrushes but I was too broke to break into the market 😅 In an mmo I helped my guild track what items were popular for daily quests, how many people were selling (old game so no market place, you had to visit each player run shop individually which took a lot of man power) and for how much and then the guild elders would crunch the numbers on what we should sell that day!

[@CoralCopperHead]

I just stuck with the standard beginner's trading in Neopets: Dubloons and Stones.

[@thattagen]

Edutainment games might not fall under this topic, but lately I realized the Super Solvers and Zoombinis games taught me early on to conceptualize math elements as movable puzzle pieces. This made learning math a breeze for me all the way through earning my Bachelor's degree in engineering!

[@N0t_Alex]

I ended up going to college for music because of a sequence of events starting with getting into DDR. I got super into rhythm and ended up wanting to learn to play an instrument just from that.

[@shawnheatherly]

Games have made me better at thinking out potential consequences, how to emphasize and plan ahead. Also, great to see Coffee Talk get referenced here.

[@juliegolick]

Roleplaying games have taught me that if someone says "This is super important and you must do it RIGHT NOW!", then I should absolutely do that thing last. Because if I do it *first*, then I progress past the level and don't get to do all the side-quests. Somehow I feel like this works out less well in real life. 😆

[@Charizard100000357]

I always loved the persona day by day system. It fundamentally says two things, you only have so many options but you only get so many choices, and that time the time is not wasted.

[@jamesrobsonza7752]

One thing I know games have taught me is the importance of just getting up and trying again. Im not a smart guy, I fail way way more often than I succeed at anything, and I am a damn slow learner sometimes, but my god when I set my sights on something I will not stop pursuing it come hell or high water. Where did I learn this skill? Getting mercilessly smashed by bosses in Fromsoft games like Dark Souls, Losing for hours and hours on Halo Legendary difficulty, struggling on city builders/managers and chasing countless pointless achievements on games I dont even remember playing.

[@AubriGryphon]

KSP needs to be the standard tool for teaching orbital mechanics. It makes so much more sense when you can watch the ellipses change in real time.

[@chrisklein2924]

I'd just put this out here for any designers out there. If you can't find a satisfying loop for your game feature you can always fall back to simulating a real life skill/process and have the enjoyment of learning a new skill be the draw.

[@frozeneevee]

I think all the Pokemon games I've played over the years has taught me how to plan for things in advance sense I often replayed the games after beating them and knew what obstacles I'd have to overcome. Pokemon also taught me about Japanese yokai thanks to pokemon like Ninetales and Froslass.

[@kevmvrro1725]

The single most important thing videogames taught me is to embrace challenge.

[@janakaedirisinghe5454]

i always love the songs at the end of the video

[@waqiwasli6794]

video games taught me the importance of emotional control, learned this the hard way

[@evanmarcus5975]

Literally the same thing happened to me with a jet ski this summer, but from Wii Sports Resort!

[@Funsoms]

Interesting enough, we just tackled this subject in my course in connection to flow.

[@Extrastagecomic]

Good video! Games, like most forms of entertainment, can also be a double edge sword - Dopamine de-regulation from continuously getting highs due to objective completion can lower instances of wanting to achieve bigger goals requiring more effort, continuous visual stimulus can render the brain a bit lazy when it comes to creating its own imageries for personal life achievements and different kinds of problem solving, and last, the perpetuation of the simplistic-nuanceless-contextless assuming type language keeps a repetition of a dull mindset which reflects back in a person's inner and outer talk. But The complex reaction and hand eye coordination can do fking wonders when it comes to inner insight-type of meditation, the acquired visuals from your favorite games can become an amaaaaaazing boost for personal mindscape exploration and creative endevor when mindfullness has rebalanced the brain. We'll be creating some amazing practices in the future.

[@nathancarter8239]

I learned how to manage paperwork and tasks under a time limit by getting really good at Papers, Please. I think that's about the only transferrable skill I've found, though.

[@robertserban2422]

Some games made me curious about science,i wanted to know all the complex science talk in starcraft II. One thing led to another and i started getting really invested in physics and science. I am no longer that invested tho,since school sucked a lot of curiosity and passion from me,but this just goes to show that games may make us want to learn about subjects outside our confort zone

[@checkmatedino9543]

HI all! thanks for the great vid!!

[@MystLunarabne]

Also, although complete isolation through games can have a negative impact on social skills a lot of narrative driven RPGs and any other games with aheavy focuson interaction and dialogue can be really good at helping to improve social skills, as much like with other aspectsof learning games can help with they provide a safe enviroment to test various things and can help a lot with phrasing and tone, along with not only showing a player what happens after they make their choice but also generally giving them as much time as they need to try to figure out what result/impact their choice will have.

[@CoralCopperHead]

Also, I'm surprised you didn't mention Marine Doom, the map that the U.S. military made for Doom in order to teach fire control, room clearing and squad tactics to trainees before doing live-fire exercises.

[@simonashtear2739]

It would be neat to see a curated list (or a few) of user submitted stories citing precisely that: "IRL skills video games taught me." Cruising around retro adventure game forums, it's not uncommon to hear the, "I learned English as a second language" tale.

[@Inogat]

Fully animated cheers are the best!

[@JosiahIronclad]

More parents need to watch this video, WAY more parents.

[@Coop838]

I wonder if there's a resource that has a list of real world skills / topics to learn with the corresponding games that might teach you them. Every time I play Mass Effect, I would go around the galaxy map and read all the data on each planet. I went to school for astronomy, and it was great to see data like orbital period and gravity for each planet.

[@igggyjedfh8785]

The hitman games helped me realize how to plan ahead, and how to use a minimum amount of objects to accomplish my goal.

[@SkyboxMonster]

Yes: being a gamer i had to quickly adapt to very different control schemes on very different controller styles. This translated into the skill to learn how to operate new piece of heavy equipment in record time.

[@clayton_games]

Simulations are legit learning tools and so some video games have better/more transferable skills than others.