Why Exploring New Game Genres Can Make You a Better Gamer
As a gamer, it's easy to get into a rut. You find a genre you like and tend to play it all the time, rarely exploring titles outside of your area of interest. If RPGs are your thing, you might put hours into working on character builds in a game like The Elder Scrolls or Final Fantasy series. In contrast, someone who prefers strategy games might spend their time working towards mastery of resource management and tactics in games like Civilization or Starcraft. As interesting as it can be to spend time playing the games that interest us most, if we never check out other genres, we won't be able to develop skills that aren't often used in the games we play.
When you step out of your comfort zone and try new games, you can improve areas you may not even know you're lacking. For example, first-person shooters are great for improving reflexes, while strategy games will help you sharpen your critical thinking. These are crossover skills that can help you in almost any game you play and make you a more well-rounded gamer. In this article, we look at how diverse gaming experiences can help players develop the skills they need to be successful gamers.
Broadening Your Skill Set
You might not realize it while you're playing your favourite game, but every gaming genre has its own set of mechanics and challenges. While the differences may be subtle from game to game, different genres force you to think and act differently based on what you're trying to achieve. We can look to casino games for an example of how this works. With online casinos quickly becoming the go-to destination for those who want to spin the reels or play table games, many gamers are learning how their past gaming experiences can help them on the virtual casino floor.
You can see this when a person plays a game of roulette. From afar, roulette looks like a simple game: a spinning wheel and a bouncing ball. Players watch as the ball skips around unpredictably until finally settling into a pocket, determining the game's outcome. While there's certainly a lot of tension and excitement before the end of the game, beyond that, there doesn't seem to be much to it. However, there's much more to it than meets the eye, and someone well-versed in strategy games might find that their skills translate well to placing bets on numbers or sections of the roulette wheel. In the same way that they've learned to anticipate an enemy's movements in a strategy game based on a combination of intuition and probability, they can do the same in roulette.
On the other hand, puzzle games can teach players to think creatively and help them develop problem-solving skills as they try to overcome obstacles blocking their path. When gamers pick up a new game and learn new mechanics, it improves their strategic thinking and adaptability, something that will serve them well, whatever game they choose to play.
Gaining New Perspectives
Taking on the challenge of playing games in a new genre can give you a new perspective on the games you usually play. When you pick up a game from a genre you haven't spent much time playing, everything is new: the controls, control scheme, and objectives. What that means for you as a gamer is that you must adapt and become more versatile. Let's say you're picking up an RPG like The Witcher for the first time. In this type of RPG, the narrative has a big role in pushing the game along, and this will encourage you to engage emotionally with the game as you make decisions that could change its outcome.
When it's time to return to your preferred genre, you might find that you've become more thoughtful about the choices you make in a game and pay closer attention to the storyline than you would have otherwise. Playing sandbox and exploration games like Minecraft may help you unlock creative instincts you didn't even know you had as you learn to think outside the box, a skill that will be useful in any game you play.