RANDY PERSAUD
Staff Writer

As long as you’re not too behind on your studies, why not take a break and play some video games? Fallout 4 was just released. If that’s not your cup of tea, why not Need for Speed, Black Ops III, Halo or Metal Gear Solid? If you’re not in the mood for triple A titles, play some classics. Down to smash? I’m talking about Super Smash Bros. If you’re a broke college student like me, you can play Tetris online for free. Some people stick to traditional games like minesweeper, solitaire or even Clash of Clans if that’s your thing. 

For those gamers out there, casual or 1337, I’m sure you already know some benefits of squeezing in a little bit of gaming here or there in your busy life.

When I sit back at the end of the day, video games help me relax. Most nights, they help me fall asleep. 

As a scientist, playing fast-paced, first-person shooters, like Call of Duty, improves my hand-eye coordination. This is especially beneficial when working in the lab, such as pipetting samples as accurately and efficiently as I can. 

Playing rhythm-based games like Stepmania and Dance Dance Revolution, or DDR, helps me with both hand-eye coordination and reflexes. A video game like DDR is geared towards the player being physically active. This ultimately provides an alternative, and fun, way to work out.  

Playing Tetris leads me to having faster decision making, which is beneficial to being in a leadership role or dealing with unexpected circumstances.  

Playing Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing games or any other multi-player game has helped me develop teamwork skills and meet some interesting people. For example, Runescape helped me start an in-game business where my friends and I would exploit the price cycles in the grand exchange, sort of like a pseudo stock market. 

 A game like FoldIt, whereby the object of this puzzle game is to fold the most optimal protein, taught me basic structures of amino acids and how their functional groups interact with each other. 

In short, I can go on and on about video games; however, game responsibly. Too much of a good thing is a bad thing. Do not let video games tax heavily on your social life or your studies. Every once in a while it is good to indulge, but, like everything in life, play in moderation.