Video games have been around ever since you could program a computer and play ping pong on it. Human nature has always had an aspect that is drawn to games and humor, which also happens to tickle our need for creativity and self-expression.
It has often been debated whether video games make younger minds violent, but that isn’t the case. Instead of violence and aggression, what if video games made you more creative and stimulated your problem-solving skills?
The answer to that question is that they do those things and also prove how having video games as one of your hobby examples might just mean you’re one of the sharper tools in the metaphorical tool shed.
Let’s look at what games can boost your creative confidence and help you have robust problem-solving skills. These games may seem like unusual tools to use to solve or enhance these things, but the psychology behind them simply works.
Minecraft
This game has been on the top charts ever since it came out thanks to the amazing sandbox platform it offers everyone. The game is a fully open world with obvious programmed rules for different gameplay modes, which would be survival, creative, hardcore, spectator, and adventure. The ones that are worth mentioning here are survival, creative, and adventure modes.
In survival, as the name suggests, you are trying to survive as best as possible. This can easily be done by living in a dirt hole, but that is not the aim the game has. Playing in survival means mobs can attack and kill you and you have a hunger and health bar to help you monitor yourself.
Whilst surviving, most players also build beautiful structures to live in while advancing through the game by defeating bosses and discovering new areas. This game mode is for those who like a balanced competition between action and creation.
Creative mode offers you the entirety of a seed you spawn in as your sandbox, meaning you can fly, you’re untouchable, and you can build anything your heart desires without having to scrounge for resources.
Adventure mode sets you in maps made by other players, allowing their creativity to tell you a story they wish to tell.
Another pleasant addition to Minecraft is the ability to make or add skins to your character, altering the way your character looks within the game to anything you choose.
Portal games
Coming from the Half-Life franchise, Portal has a first and a second game all continuing the same story that is parallel to the original stories of Half-Life and Black Mesa. These games receive lots of love from those that know them since they truly are masterpieces that were initially birthed by small developers and creators.
They are older games from the 2000s, but that doesn’t mean they feel aged. The storyline, gameplay, and plot twists you experience while trying to break free from Aperture Science’s forced prison all lead to a mind-boggling, touching story of survival.
This game involves levels or rooms that you have to solve problems in using the portal gun you are given, with which you can only make two portals. It is based on the laws of physics (but also surpasses them cause… portals) and enforces the innovative ways to continue that you have to figure out using the tools you are given.
Not only does this tickle your brain, but it also holds lots of dark humor and hidden imagery to further make the gameplay experience even more enjoyable than it already is.
The Sims 4
The Sims 4 is similar to a virtual life simulator. You play god by making homes within a town, designing them, and creating characters to live in them. In a sense, you are creating life, since those characters are fully modified by you, from their personalities to their bodies, and what they wear.
You have to help your Sims survive by making them pursue careers, making them have families, and do their human duties such as go to the bathroom and eat.
The reason this game is so popular is not only due to its colorful nature but also the amount of creativity that can be brought into it, especially when regarding the fact that you are creating lives and maintaining them. The design and expressive aspects of this game make it popular enough to still be appreciated eight years later.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
This game took people by storm when the game came out and it proved handy during the lockdowns we experienced globally. The game is made by Nintendo for their Nintendo Switches, but a simplified mobile version can also be downloaded for free.
The game starts you off by making a digital avatar to represent you and puts that avatar on an untouched island that is inhabited by raccoons. Thanks to your avatar being there, your job now is to survive and to make a home out of this bizarre yet cute place, which can be furthered by trading within this raccoon economy that is present on the island.
The reason this game is so creative is that you start building up the areas in your island to your liking, meaning you can do anything you set your mind to using the resources you can find within the game. Things such as onsens, haunted houses, and restaurants are all examples of things you can make.
The game bases its gameplay on trade and designing, so get ready to spend hours trying to make it perfect.
Conclusion
These games are all great options to satisfy that itch for creativity and logic-based games. No matter which one you choose you are guaranteed to be engulfed in the stories they lend you, so try them out.