Why do people like playing games?

Have you ever wondered why people enjoy playing games? You might think it’s because they’re fun or entertaining, but the truth is, people play games because of loneliness.

A story

Let me tell you a story to illustrate this point. In a corner of the world was a monkey who was the only one within a few miles. It had to pick fruit and eat ants daily as a monkey. Fortunately for the monkey, there were many fruit trees in the area, so it didn’t have to travel far to get enough food. After eating, the monkey would take a nap. When it woke up, it wasn’t hungry but bored. So, it would use a stick to draw pictures of monkeys on the ground to entertain itself and pass the time.

Why do we like playing games?

This story shows that the monkey’s drawing activity is a game behavior. The definition of a game is an activity that is voluntary and motivated by the participant’s needs or by the request of others. The monkey was alone in the story, so it played the game to fulfill its needs. It needed to pass the time, so it played the game. This demonstrates that playing games can meet psychological needs. Therefore, we like playing games because we need to pass the time or adjust our emotions.

Loneliness

Games are a manifestation of everyday life, and this expression may symbolize daily life in some sense, but it is not daily life itself. The monkey in the story drew monkeys on the ground, and the drawn monkeys played around, but the real world’s monkey was alone. Therefore, we can say that games symbolize life and can contain our yearning for life. Therefore, we like playing games because we can experience a different life that we can’t usually experience.

Games include the experience of happiness, and pleasure is the essential function of the game. In the game “Who Teases Whom,” at least one of the teasing parties and the teased party has a pleasurable experience. The monkey in the story played with itself, and the teasing and teased parties were both themselves, indicating that it can get pleasure from playing games. This is also the joyful experience that games bring us. Therefore, we like playing games because we can get happiness from them.

Games are also an activity with rules. The monkey drew a monkey, and the monkey that was removed did not have its own consciousness, and the monkey entirely controlled its behavior. Drawing monkey could set the drawn monkey as an unlucky or lucky monkey, and it could fall off the tree when climbing or eating delicious fruit… and who decides all of this? The monkey was drawing the picture. Therefore, we like playing games because we control the characters in the game. We can make the game characters do whatever we want, like puppets entirely at our disposal. In real life, we may be surrounded by various commands from elders, teachers, or superiors. However, in the game, we become the person who gives orders, and we are no longer commanded by others, but we command others.

Final words

The above reasons can be summed up in one word: loneliness. Why do we want to pass the time? Because during this time, we have nothing to do, which means we are lonely. Why do we want to experience a different life? Because this kind of life is not interesting enough for us, every day is the same, which means we are lonely. Why do we want to experience happiness in the game? Because real life is not happy, nothing can make us happy, which means loneliness. Why can’t we experience the happiness of giving orders in real life? Because no one listens to us, which means we are lonely. Therefore, why do we like playing games? Because we are lonely.

Let’s download and experience various games from Panda Helper together!