Who needs school when video games can teach life’s greatest lessons? Take a look at 5 things I learned from video games.
1. How to Pick Locks
You never know just how useful lockpicking is until you lose your key, are forced call a locksmith, and end up wasting hours of your precious time and large sums of cash. A multitude of video games incorporate lockpicking into the gameplay aesthetic, usually to rob or steal, but very few reflect how it’s really done. I’d like to thank games like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for providing a relatively accurate portrayal of what cracking a lock really looks like, except without the auto attempt button. And no I have not utilized my now real life skill for criminal activity, jail seems like a very terrible place.
2. How to Play Darts
Darts is a parlor game that is familiar to practically everyone. It’s simple, take a pointy mini-stick, and throw it at a circular board on the wall. Super easy right? Who would have thought that there are actually rules? I always assumed that aiming for the center was the only goal but Grand Theft Auto IV illuminated my understanding of the game. Thanks GTA4, I’ll no longer look like an idiot when I’m hanging out at the bar.
3. How to cook a 5-star meal
Play video games is truly a hands-on pastime. While it typically involves shooting guns and saving the planet, there is room for the more subtle art forms as well. Take Cooking Mama: Cook Off for example. This game entices players into the culinary world with the aid of motion controls and minigame style simulation. I won’t say that I’m the next Bobby Flay but I can make an amazing lasagna dish and TV dinners are way in my past.
4. Military Lingo
The military is awesome. They not only protect our country and keep us safe, but they have their own special language to make us regular folk feel lame and severely “uncool”. Good thing games like Call of Duty exist to even the playing field. I now know the meaning behind “Watch your six” “Stay frosty” and “Hooah”. I don’t know exactly how useful my newfound skills will be, but if there is ever a zombie outbreak, an alien attack, or a foreign invasion, I’ll be ready.
5. How to play Horseshoes
You’re telling me the game Horseshoes doesn’t involve the use of a horse? Preposterous! All joking aside, my notion of the summer-time classic was chucking curved metal objects at a stick in the ground for no apparent reason. I now know the goal is to achieve a ringer, the point values associated with each move, and that the chucking of the horseshoe should instead be more of a tossing. Thanks Red Dead Redemption!
Whoever said video games rot your brain is undoubtedly wrong. Have you ever learned any useful or humorous skills from playing games?
ABOUT Taylor
Taylor Stein is a recent college graduate and freelance games writer. You can find her work on Destructoid, G4, Bitmob, 1UP, Pure Nintendo, Honest Gamers, and more. Beyond the arena of geekdom. she is a fitness freak and lover of sushi. Don't judge this book by its cover, let's talk games! Google
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