The Power of Play: How We Kept Playing in a Year of Isolation

As a girl, I loved to play games. I was always ready to organize game night for my family. When I realized I could work on games for a living, the die was cast. Fast forward 25 years, and I have spent my career thinking about games -- about play -- every single day.

Play is essential to a healthy society and to the relationships we build with each other -- even more so following this year of self-isolation. Psychiatrist Stuart Brown has said that the opposite of play isn’t work, it’s depression. Now more than ever, children need to play, not only to connect socially, but to heal. It’s true for youth soccer, for the Friday night poker game, and for Battlefield. Nothing lights up your brain like play, and this does include gaming. (Even the FDA has taken notice, with its approval last year of “EndeavorRX” as a game that can be prescribed to improve attention function in children.)

As I’ve written before, gaming is a megatrend that has only grown in this time of social distancing due to the global pandemic -- according to a report from SuperData, over half of Americans started playing video games during the pandemic. And while I fully embrace the notion that gaming represents the future of entertainment because it is interactive, this also is a way to describe play: dynamic, immersive, interactive entertainment. And so I think it’s important, when we talk about gaming, to look past the consoles, the mobile devices, and all of the other platforms to remember that what we’re actually talking about is play.

We have seen the power of play permeate throughout gaming in other ways as well. We have observed that younger generations develop skills in three key areas when they play games: 1) critical thinking and problem-solving, 2) collaboration, and 3) self-empowerment.

Critical thinking and problem-solving. Games simulate real-world challenges that require quick judgement and decision-making. We’ve had high school, collegiate and even professional football coaches assign their athletes to play Madden NFL to learn intricate offensive and defensive play calls and game strategies. Playing games is proven to enhance critical thinking, judgment and the ability to creatively solve problems.

Collaboration. In games like Apex Legends, you are fighting for survival on a map in a timed setting. You need to gather resources, team up with other legends, plot, strategize, and win together. Studies show that people who play collaborative games with two or more players are more likely to collaborate outside of games than not.

Self-empowerment. Players of the Sims have complete control and creative expression to create their own worlds. We have seen players create the environments they need to be their true selves -- in some cases, coming out to their families and friends for the first time in the scenarios they have created in the game. Our studies show that gamers in general are more confident in their ability to change the world around them because they do it every day in their games.

Of course these are all newer forms of play, but the dynamics and the benefits are the same as the things we typically attribute to more traditional games. If the past year has shown us anything, it is that we are resilient and will find ways to keep playing. So, whether you play indoors or out, IRL or on your phone, it’s all good. Because it’s all play.