The Most Addictive Types of Video Games
By Aaron Shaw
All drugs are not created equal. Some can give a momentary buzz, while others will provide a euphoric high of which one can hardly ever get enough. The latter is usually the more addictive substance.
In the same manner, it can be said that not all video games are equally addictive, either.
With the advent of new and better technologies, videogame companies have become endowed with greater abilities to create deeper, more epic, more socially interactive, and thus more addicting games. Whereas the first-generation games previously consisted of little more than one block bouncing back and forth between two other blocks, modern videogames have become massive productions on the visual scale of most action movies. Many video games that are released today have better box office openings than even the biggest Hollywood blockbusters. Videogames are surely a new media force, and may pose a threat to the healthy development of at-risk teenagers.
Unfortunately, videogames seem to get almost entirely negative media coverage. Most articles or news stories that are speaking of videogames are telling another woeful tale of a child having bought a videogame with a hidden sex scene, or a teenager having shot someone after playing a violent game. More recently, videogames have been getting attention as another "addictive" substance to entangle our children.
However, this addictive nature of videogames does not hold true for every type of game.
Very rarely will a teenager who enters treatment for excessive videogame use be there because he just can't get enough of a puzzle videogame. He may have spent an above average amount of time on a puzzle game, but rarely will he have reached the level of "addiction" usage. This is because puzzle games do not lend themselves to those types of gaming habits.
Thus, it becomes necessary for parents to become familiar with the different types of games that are available to their children, and most importantly, to identify which types of games have the highest potential for addiction.
The following is a list of the current types of videogames available to children today. The game types are listed in order from least addictive to most addictive:
1) Educational – This category includes games that are found only on systems built specifically for learning, such as Leapster and Pixter. Unfortunately, these systems are currently designed exclusively for younger children.
2) Party Games – These are games that have been designed to get people together by playing lots of fast-paced mini-games one after another. Each party game can contain up to 150 mini-games – each of which lasts about two minutes. With party games, everyone in the room has a controller and plays the mini-game at the same time. Examples include Mario Party and Shrek Party Blast.
3) Physical – The latest addition to videogames are ones in which the player's physical movements move the character on the screen. For example, in a baseball game, the player swings the remote, which results in the on-screen character swinging a bat. Many experts believe that these games point toward greater physical health of gamers in the long run. Games in this category include Wii Sports and The Bigs.
4) Puzzle – These games are typically abstract games of logic with no theme or characters. They can be games in which you must line up blocks or solve math problems. These games are simple to learn and play, and usually attract the broadest age demographic. Examples of puzzle games include Tetris, Brain Age, and Bejeweled.
5) Racing – These are simply games in which one player races one or more competitors. Racing games feature a variety of race types and courses, but in general it is always a race to the finish. The attraction of these types of games is that every time you win, you can make your vehicle better or unlock new cars and tracks. Examples of this type of game are Need for Speed and Mario Kart.
6) Sports games – This category includes games that are based on real-life sports such as football, basketball, and soccer. There are even professional (NBA) and college (NCAA) level games of some of the major American sports. Some people play one-time fun games, while others opt to create a player or team and take them through an entire season, improving their player along the way.
7) Fighting – The vast majority of these games are one fighter versus another fighter. The draw here is the brutality of the fighting, and the learning of fighting moves. These games often take a considerable amount of playing in order to master all of the moves of a given fighter. Yet again, an argument could be made for saying that it takes strategy and planning to know which moves to use – and when to use them.
8) Platformer – These games are action-oriented logic games with a main character. They usually involve a simple story line in which the hero of the story must complete each level by jumping from platform to platform, and jumping on or shooting the bad guy. These games are rarely violent or gory. Most of the time, the main character and levels have a cartoonish look and feel. Some levels are tricky and take some trial and error to complete, thus bringing logic into play. Examples of these types of games are Super Mario and Crash Bandicoot.
9) Third person action – These games are similar to the platformer in almost every way, except they have a more mature theme. While platformers feature cartoonish heroes, in the third-person action game, the hero is a realistic-looking action star. These games also incorporate realistic settings, with more realistic violence, and much harder logic puzzles. Examples of this type of game include Splinter Cell and Tomb Raider.
10) Role-Playing Games (RPGs) – These games are very similar to the MMORPG's listed below, except RPGs games are usually designed for only one player, and they have an ending. The more you play, the deeper you get into the story, and the more powers your character gains. Examples of this type of game are Final Fantasy and Knights of the Old Republic.
11) Real-time strategy – These games are akin to fast-paced chess games without the turn-taking component. In these games, you are responsible for controlling and commanding an army you have built from scratch. You must face off against your opponent, with the winner being the last person who remains standing. Examples of these games include Starcraft and Command and Conquer.
12) First Person Shooters (FPS) – These are games where the player is the hero. On the screen, you see your gun directly in front of you. Bad guys attack you, and you must shoot them. These games are all about the guns. Throughout the games, you get bigger and better guns, and must kill bigger and "badder" enemies, adding am addicting macho (power) factor to the games. Recently, a lot of these games have taken historical spins, allowing you to be a soldier in Vietnam or World War II. Examples of these games include Halo and Call of Duty.
13) Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPG) – These are epic games with an everlasting storyline. These games do not have an ending – they are designed to be played forever. MMORPG's are usually played with thousands of other players online at the same time, adding a highly addictive social component to the game. Also, these games are designed so that the more you play, the more powerful and well respected you become. Examples of this type of game are Everquest and the infamous World of Warcraft.
Aaron Shaw started his professional career as an adoptions counselor for the Department of Children and Families in Tampa, Florida. While working as an adoptions counselor, he earned a masters degree in Mental Health and Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of South Florida. After completing his M.A., he and his family moved to Utah where he worked for three years as a therapist with teens. Also during this time he completed the coursework for his Ph.D. in marriage and family therapy from Brigham Young University.
