Is Gaming Worth it? [Worth Your Time & Money?]

Is gaming worth it? Is it worth your time and hard earned money playing?

If you are extremely addicted to playing video games all day.

How do you pull yourself out of that rut and do something productive?

Well in this post, we’ll be answering those questions in detail.

At the end of the post, you’ll understand our perspective.

And our honest opinion even though we’re a website geared towards gaming.

But you’ll need to read the entire post to understand our perspective.

So stick around…

Table of Contents

Time

The most valuable resource you have is your time.

The poorest person has the same hours in a day as the richest man on the planet.

What we do with that time decides who we are, our happiness, and how lives will play out.

So are video games a good use of our time?

Well, it depends…

On what?

It depends on how much of our time is spent gaming.

For us normal people who don’t game for a living, allocating too much time to it can be toxic.

We tend to lose touch with reality. If we’re gaming 5 hours a day or more, we don’t have time to do much of anything else.

We need approximately 8 hours of sleep, time to consume food, and use the bathroom.

This all adds ups. And chances are, if you’re gaming, you’re probably spending time doing similar things like watching TV, Netflix, etc.

You don’t have any time to socialize or learn something.

Why do I need to socialize? What’s the point?

I asked the very same question. You see, humans are social creatures, your social life will affect you massively.

Now, this doesn’t mean you have to always go out with friends.

In fact, constantly going out can be far more toxic than video games.

We need to socialize because much of what we do depends on it.

This includes earning money and feeling fulfilled. Data has shown that people with healthy relationships live happier lives.

Now, this doesn’t mean you socialize with just anyone. You don’t want to hang around with shady people doing shady things.

Or go out drinking and partying. Again, this type of stuff is much more toxic than gaming.

At least when you’re gaming, you’re inside and can’t harm others.

Am I not socializing when I’m talking to my friends online?

Technically, yes. However, it’s not the same. You don’t get the same communication.

For example, body language makes up the majority of communication.

You can learn from people’s body language and become a better communicator.

A person who’s better at reading people. When you understand this skill, a lot of doors open up to you.

You’ll know how to approach people, understand how they feel deep inside, and even get what you want from people.

It’s a skill that I’m still learning to master.

There’s nothing wrong with spending time playing video games. The question is, how much time do you spend on it?

If you play video games for a living and it’s even your business.

There’s nothing wrong with spending a lot of hours on it. In fact, you need to.

But if you want a career and a social life, you should think of how much of a priority gaming is VS other aspects of your life.

Is fitness a goal of yours, then it makes much more sense spending more time working and eating right than gaming.

If gaming makes you happy as it does with me and the rest of us, then you should definitely game.

What’s the point of life if you’re not happy?

So spend SOME of your time gaming. It’s a way to unplug and relax, something that we all need to do.

Just don’t get carried away. You can even use video games as a reward mechanism.

If you accomplish a task, you can spend some time gaming.

If you’ve spent the day completing your work, exercising, and reading.

There’s nothing wrong with spending the rest of your day gaming. It’s all about prioritizing.

Money

Gaming is a massive industry. It’s bigger than the music and movie industry.

So you can bet there’s a lot of things you can spend your money on.

A new video game has come out on the PC, you’ve been wanting to play it so much.

But you want to run it at max settings. So you’re going to upgrade your graphics card. Well, that can be a hefty purchase.

Is it worth it?

Well, it depends…

On what?

On the investments, you’ve made in yourself. What skills have you learned?

Does it take money to invest in that course to increase your skills? Are you going to the gym? Are you reading?

Have you treated your loved one?

All of the above take money but the question is, which one is a priority?

Is playing that new game more important than looking after your health?

Is that new graphics card worth the money more than leveling-up your skills in real life?

You need to decide which one’s more of a priority. That game and new PC/console will always be there.

But your resources are limited, allocate them appropriately.

Unfortunately, most people have no self control and just go on their impulse.

It’s better for you to sit down and figure out what you want to do.

Your goals may look something like this:

Go to the gym
Eat good
Build a side hustle (probably needs some money)
Learn a new skill to help your side hustle (may be worth getting a course)
Learn how to play the piano

All of the above goals need some money to be put in there.

Are these more important than gaming? You see, happiness is not the same as being happy/

WHAT?!

OK, just give me a second to explain…

…you see, we get hits of dopamine (the feel good chemical in your brain).

And highs when doing stuff like eating sugary foods and gaming all day. But with a high, you need to come back down.

You can carry on what you’re doing but you’re still going to come down and it’s an even harder crash.

Happiness is a temporary state by most definitions. But you can keep a consistent amount of happiness when doing harder things.

After you’ve finished the task, you feel better about yourself and happier. This is a long term approach to happiness.

There’s nothing wrong with spending on gaming stuff. But first, ask yourself, do my goals need this money?

Have I already spent some money on the goals and now it’s time for some games?

It’s all about priority.

What do I do if I’m addicted to gaming?

If you’re like me, you’ve been incredibly addicted to gaming and want to stop but just feel an urge to get back in.

What I’m about to reveal changed my life…

…it’s called the dopamine detox.

What’s that?

Dopamine is the feel good chemical that goes off in your brain. It’s what makes you feel happy.

The more dopamine you get, the better you feel. When we play video games or watch TV, there’s a giant spike in dopamine.

Why?

Because there’s so much going on.

So much action, beautiful visuals, immersive music, etc.

This is a major way to stimulate our brains. It arouses and sparks our brain.

Now, when we go and sit down to try and read a book, it’s very uncomfortable to do.

Why?

Because we’re not getting that same hit of dopamine.

We may be getting some but it’s nowhere near the same amount as looking at your screen.

And the issue is, we’re OVER stimulated. Our brains have been aroused and sparked too much.

That’s why it’s hard for us to do low dopamine activities.

So the answer is to flip it on its head.

You need to take a break on doing activities that are currently giving you a massive hit of dopamine.

So the low level ones feel like they’re giving you a lot of dopamine.

This means taking a break from strong stimulations such as gaming, watching TV, and going on your phone.

This is going to be difficult but it works. Do it for at least 24 hours and see how you feel.

In order to make this easier, go out for a day. Not to a movie theater, something like a park.

Something peaceful. Take some walks, go to a library, and eat basic foods.

Not things with all the seasoning and sugary stuff.

Depriving yourself of food for the day except water would be a better option.

After this, see how you feel.

Then you can start taking baby steps towards your goal. For example, just read one page of that book you’ve been wanting to read.

As time goes on, you need to distance yourself from high stimulants like gaming, movies, your phone, and unhealthy foods.

This is when doing low dopamine tasks start giving you a high and you feel motivated and excited to do them.

Productivity and learning new skills

Now that you’ve managed to free up some time and money pulling out of video games.

What do you do with the rest of your resources?

First of all, identify your goals, what do you want to do?

Want to learn how to play the piano? Get a piano, watch some videos on how to play, and spend some time.

Do you feel like you need to get fit and healthy?

There are lots of fitness channels out there, check them out.

Go ahead and get a gym membership and start training. You can even go to a cooking class to level up in the kitchen.

After a year, you probably would have gathered lots of XP points to make yourself look like a newbie in a particular subject when you were first starting out.

What skills would you recommend?

I would recommend getting your health and finances in order first.

There’s a fantastic book called Rich Dad Poor Dad which helps you get into the right mindset for your finances.

You may want to improve your relationships and people skills.

A great way to do so is by reading How to Win Friends and Influence by Dale Carnegie.

Another great book on relationships is 21 Great Ways to Stay in Love Forever by Brian Tracy.

These 3 books will massively boost your XP points in life and allow you to level up.

At what age should you stop playing video games?

You shouldn’t feel guilty about playing video games because of your age.

Is it wrong for a 60 year old to stop watching TV because of their age?

They’re both forms of entertainment. Guilt shouldn’t have anything to do with the age of someone playing video games.

In fact, thanks to older gamers, videos have been able to keep progressing.

After all, they help introduce new people to the industry, and keeping themselves in helps it grow.

It’s not childish or an immature activity.

Sure, there are certain immature games (especially in Japan) but that’s not all games.

Personally, I’ve learned a few games from video games such as philosophy.

Games like Bioshock are great when it comes to philosophical stuff. In fact, most adults wouldn’t be able to understand that game.

Just don’t let video games hog all your time as you age.

There’s plenty of stuff out there beyond video games. It should just be one of many aspects of your rich life.

Summary

There’s nothing wrong with playing video games, in fact, we’d highly recommend it.

It’s a great way to enjoy yourself, do something with other people, lower stress, and overall, a great way to look after your wellbeing.

HOWEVER…

…just like everything, you have to take in the right amount.

Even too much of a really healthy thing can become toxic.

For example, too much fruit can damage your teeth because of the acid in there.

Just take in the right amount and you’ll feel good about it.