There are some people out there who just can’t stand video games. People say that video games are a huge waste of time, but are they really? Why would so many people dedicate so much of their time to video games if they are such a waste of time? That doesn’t seem logical.

The fact is that as humans, if we don’t receive any benefits from an activity, we wouldn’t do it anymore. The fact is that video games can help people in many ways.

Video games are a fantastic way to relieve stress. Imagine this, it’s the end of finals week, you are not at all prepared for that last test which was worth forty percent of your final grade. You get home and can’t stop worrying about the test and/or whatever other drama that is going on in your life at that moment, because lets face it everyone has things to worry about in life, You just want to unwind and relax for a few hours.

Can you honestly say that grabbing a bag of Doritos and your favorite sugary drink, then spending all night shooting zombies, saving princesses, and raiding catacombs won’t make you feel any better? Try not to lie to yourself too much.

Also if you want to get scientific with facts and whatnot, the fact that video games satisfy many of our psychological needs. Three of these needs are the need of competence, the feeling of having mastered something, autonomy, the need to have some control over our situation, and relatedness, the need to feel like we matter. This is why when we level up, or save the princess, or even simply get to choose what our character feels like, it makes us happier.

Doesn’t that alone make video games worthwhile? They give us something to make us feel better when we are having a bad day or just want to relax.