minecraft's psychological benefits

Notes

• Agency - Freedom, control, independence. Minecraft has the balance of relaxing control and rewarding challenge (flow). Agency makes this game a customisable experience unique to every player.
• Mood management - The customisable experience, mood boost, stress reduction. Players can focus on building, enjoying the peaceful natural surroundings and the simple things to help to recover psychological resources used up in stressors from life. Or the player can focus on strategy, problem solving and adventure.
• Social connection - Collaboration, prosocial behaviour, social support. Sharing experiences like others that make people feel more connected to one another and improve social skills.
  Sometimes we seek out things missing from our daily lives in games such as Minecraft. Lots of hours on a game can be that those particular psychological resources really needed attention. Games also help to cope with difficult feelings.
• Mindful gaming - Purposeful play, self-knowledge, emotional self-mentoring. Recognising the connections between what we want to gain from a game and that connection to what is happening with our mood and wellness in real life in that moment.
  Purposeful play: 1. Set your intentions. 2. Pre-assess your emotional state. 3. Self-mentor yourself while playing. (I'm going to try this out. Personally, I recognise how games effect me because of subconcious self-knowledge and knowing what works for me. But going into something aware of this purposeful play might even amplify the effectiveness of video games in wellbeing.) You naturally may feel ready to stop playing when you've reached the emotional goals you had in mind.
• Creativity - Self expression, self-discovery, self-knowledge. Minecraft is a highly adaptable game that can conform to the player's intentions. There is the freedom of control in being able to interact with and change almost everything.
  Expressing ourselves in video games is having a conversation with our inner-selves: who are are, our interests and priorities, what we do when there are no boundaries, rules, expectations or pressures to perform. Minecraft encourages this self-discovery through creativity. Animal Crossing and The Sims provide self-expressive creative opportunities for the same foundation of self-discovery. It's important for emotional well-being.

Minecraft can be recommended to anyone. It is adaptable to most people's preferred playstyles and can provide them almost anything they may need from play.