I’ve got a theory about gamers. Just like with Erikson’s eight stages of psychological development, I think all gamers go through stages of assessing why they play games. When you first start gaming, learning about various genres and engaging in a little escapism might be enough. When we get older, it seems that gamers need to find a way to make gaming about more than just having fun, or else they end up either dropping the hobby, or worse, hating themselves for still loving it.
If my theory holds true, it looks as though Ashly Burch (star and co-creator of Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin’) won’t be falling into guilt, stagnation, or despair anytime soon. Her new blog, How Games Saved My Life, is an altruistic and noble attempt to show gamers, and the world, that videogames can be an important and enriching aspect of a person’s life. Each submission on the site shows a different side of gaming’s potential worth. Topics include coming to grips with gender identity (Perfect Dark), understanding love and grief (Passage), dealing with a dysfunctional family (Tailspin), and coping with divorce (The Sims).
You can submit to How Games Saved My Life here. I’ve already started on my submission. How about you?
