Are Defence Strategy Games Good for Brain?

“By playing games, you can artificially speed up your learning curve to develop the right kind of thought processes.” – Nate Silver

We’ve all grown up with constant nagging from our parents for spending more time playing video games. Being hooked to our computer systems or smartphones won’t be beneficial for our future was what they said. In fact, we were made fearful of getting braindead because of staring at the screen for a long time.

But the evolution of science and psychology suggests otherwise. Experts suggest that video games today are a big part of fostering problem-solving skills in young children. Little did the parents knew that playing video games can help in preparing young lads for the real life, just like other, more acceptable forms of play then. After all, how many of us have gained an insight into the on-road working of car because of our favourite driving games?

Of course, all types of video games are a lot of fun, but the popularity of tower defence games around the world has been distinctly evident. Especially since the introduction of a new breed of 3D games, tower defence mechanics have accentuated to suit the taste of avid video game players out there. Today, let’s discuss in detail about tower defence games and their universally claimed role in our brain development.

What are Tower Defence (TD) Games?

Tower defence games are a type of strategy video games, where the players are supposed to safeguard their territory by obstructing enemy attacks. To block their enemies along the path of possible attacks, the players usually have to build defensive structures. The players have to carefully choose and position the defensive elements as a part of their strategy to win the game.

Here are the basic TD gameplay elements:

• The players need to defend a particular territory, possession, base, domicile or loved one.
• Obstruction of waves of several enemies making their way towards the target they need to defend.
• Placement of obstructive elements like towers along the path of the base to be safeguarded.

People often confuse TD games with other base defending games like Space Invaders. But unlike the conventional base defending games, the main character in tower defence games is usually invincible. Tower defence games are designed to challenge a player’s ability to strategically construct obstructions against his enemies. The modern tower defence games have taken their popularity several notches up with the addition of exceptional player abilities to repair or upgrade obstructions. Some modern TD games also involve a special type of digital currency to purchase these repairs and upgrades. Plus, the enemies are able to traverse more than one paths at once, which doubles up the tension and gets your brain cells functioning superfast.

How Tower Defence Games Exercise Our Minds?

According to Ryan Clements from IGN (a renowned American video game and entertainment media website), all humans have a basic need to have some “ownership over things”, and “personal space”. Clements further says that tower defense “plays off of our need for security, ownership, and a desire to protect the people closest to us”. So, we basically try to “repel our fears and insecurities” with the help of TD gaming.

A big reason why these games have been so popular since their launch is that they directly appeal to the human psychology and vulnerability. Maybe this is the reason why the military in several countries is trialling the use of TD games as a part of their training and strategy exercises. Many science and defence training institutions suggest that a wide series of military and historical games like Battle Academy and Field of Glory can prove to be a milestone in teaching the soldiers to operate and strategize better.

Wrapping Up

Robert Wilson Lynd rightly said that “it is in games that many men discover their paradise”.

Today, exploring the paradise of video games is not just about receiving rewards for our accomplishments, but mainly about building up our skills to deal with challenges, and maintain high levels of concentration, brick-by-brick. The above-mentioned information has proved that thought-provoking defense strategy games are simple, food for your brain. So, rather than nagging your children for playing video games, try to fix them up with some mindful strategy games and notice their aptitude, problem-solving and cognitive abilities heighten.