Video games have long been associated with entertainment, leisure, and sometimes even controversy. But over the past two decades, scientists, educators, and developers have been exploring a different question: can video games actually train your brain?
Far from being mindless distractions, many games challenge memory, attention, decision-making, and problem-solving. This article dives into the growing body of research suggesting that video games can, in fact, act as powerful tools for cognitive training—and explores what kinds of games have the greatest effect.
Before looking at video games specifically, let’s understand what “brain training” means. Cognitive training involves exercises or tasks designed to improve mental abilities like:
Working memory
Attention and concentration
Processing speed
Problem-solving and reasoning
Spatial awareness
These skills don’t just help us perform better in games—they’re crucial in daily life, from studying and work to navigating traffic or remembering appointments.
Brain training aims to strengthen these skills through repetition, feedback, and increasing difficulty—features that are also core to many video games.
Video games are, by design, interactive, engaging, and often progressively challenging. These elements align perfectly with principles of effective brain training.
Action games, like first-person shooters or fast-paced platformers, require players to track multiple objects, react quickly, and ignore distractions. Studies have shown that regular gaming can:
Enhance selective attention (focusing on important details)
Improve sustained attention (staying focused over time)
Increase the speed at which players shift focus between tasks
These skills translate to real-world scenarios, such as driving or studying in noisy environments.
Strategy and puzzle games, such as “Portal” or “Civilization,” challenge players to hold information in mind, manipulate it, and use it to plan moves. This strengthens working memory—the ability to store and process information temporarily.
Better working memory can improve academic performance, help in learning new skills, and support complex problem-solving in everyday life.
Many games place players in situations where they must figure out how to overcome obstacles, often with limited resources. Role-playing games (RPGs), simulations, and sandbox games encourage:
Critical thinking
Resource management
Logical reasoning
Games teach players to experiment, fail, and adapt strategies—a mindset known as growth mindset, valuable in education and career contexts.
Games like “Minecraft,” “Tetris,” or racing simulators challenge spatial reasoning—understanding and manipulating objects in space.
Enhanced spatial skills can support success in fields like engineering, architecture, or surgery, and even improve daily tasks such as reading maps or assembling furniture.
Over the last decade, neuroscientists and psychologists have conducted numerous studies on gaming’s impact on the brain.
A study published in Nature found that participants who played a specially designed 3D driving game improved multitasking abilities and working memory.
Research in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience reported that experienced gamers had larger brain volumes in areas related to attention and spatial navigation.
Other studies suggest that action games can speed up visual processing and decision-making without reducing accuracy.
While more research is needed to understand long-term effects, the evidence so far supports the idea that gaming can sharpen cognitive abilities.
Not all games have the same cognitive benefits. Games that act as effective brain training tools often share key characteristics:
Require constant attention and quick reactions
Increase in difficulty as players improve
Offer immediate feedback and rewards
Encourage problem-solving and strategy
By contrast, games that rely heavily on repetition without challenge, or games where players mostly watch instead of interact, are less likely to provide cognitive training benefits.
Examples: “Call of Duty,” “Overwatch,” “Fortnite”
Benefits: Attention, visual processing speed, hand-eye coordination
Examples: “Sudoku,” “Portal,” “StarCraft”
Benefits: Working memory, planning, logical reasoning
Examples: “The Sims,” “Minecraft,” “Cities: Skylines”
Benefits: Creativity, resource management, spatial reasoning
Examples: “Guitar Hero,” “Beat Saber”
Benefits: Timing, coordination, reaction time
Gaming’s brain benefits aren’t limited to logic and memory. Many games also support emotional regulation and social skills.
Multiplayer games teach cooperation, leadership, and communication.
Story-driven games can enhance empathy by putting players in different perspectives.
Games can help relieve stress and provide a sense of achievement, which supports mental health.
These “soft skills” are just as valuable in daily life as raw cognitive power.
Games can support learning by improving attention and motivation. Educational games specifically designed for math, language, or science can make studying more engaging.
Gaming can be a productive break from work, boosting mental agility and creativity.
Some research shows that gaming can help slow cognitive decline, improve memory, and even reduce loneliness when playing social games.
Brain training through gaming can benefit almost any age, as long as it’s balanced with other activities.
Recognizing the potential, developers have created games explicitly designed as brain training tools, such as:
Lumosity
Peak
Elevate
These apps focus on short daily exercises targeting memory, attention, and reasoning. While fun, they are structured more like workouts than entertainment games.
Some scientists argue that commercial brain-training apps are less effective than traditional video games because they lack depth and sustained engagement. Playing complex, commercially successful games might actually train the brain more effectively due to richer and more varied challenges.
While gaming can train the brain, it’s important to balance it with:
Physical exercise, which also benefits cognitive health
Adequate sleep to consolidate learning
Social interaction offline
Time away from screens to protect eyesight
Excessive gaming without breaks can cause fatigue, stress, and even harm concentration in the long term.
Choose challenging games: Games that require strategy, planning, and quick reactions.
Play mindfully: Focus on the game’s problem-solving elements rather than just playing on autopilot.
Try new genres: Switching between action, puzzle, and strategy games challenges the brain in different ways.
Limit passive gaming: Avoid spending too much time on games that offer little challenge.
Combine with real-world learning: Use games as a way to spark curiosity about history, science, or other topics.
The line between gaming and brain training is blurring. Future trends may include:
Virtual reality (VR) games targeting specific brain skills.
AI-driven games that adapt to each player's cognitive strengths and weaknesses.
Educational games used in schools to teach critical thinking and creativity.
As research advances, gaming might become a recognized tool in education, therapy, and even professional training.
Video games have come a long way from simple pixelated fun. Today, research increasingly supports the idea that gaming can train the brain—improving attention, memory, reasoning, and creativity.
The key isn’t to play mindlessly, but to see games as interactive mental workouts, full of opportunities to challenge the mind while having fun. So the next time someone asks if gaming is a waste of time, you can answer confidently: “I’m training my brain.”
In moderation and with mindful choices, video games can indeed be much more than entertainment—they can be a smart way to keep your mind sharp, agile, and ready for life’s challenges.
Read also: Gamen en welzijn: Zijn videogames goed voor onze gezondheid?
