Has a video game ever helped you explain something IRL?

[StaceyPowers]

Has a video game ever helped you explain something IRL? For example, I saw someone on Reddit explain how it was easier for them to tell others about what it is like to be bipolar when they used the Shivering Isles from Elder Scrolls: Oblivion as a kind of metaphor (amazing DLC, btw—just finished it, and my mind was blown).

I’m not sure a specific game has helped me explains something about how I think/experience the world, but gaming in general does. I can explain exactly what I dislike about adulthood via a gaming metaphor: it is immersion-breaking. Instead of being fully immersed in the world I’m in, it’s like I’m always trying to fix the metaphorical equivalent of a buggy game or broken controller.

 

[Kane99]

I can't say I have ever really used video games to explain things in real life. Well scratch that, maybe with the Madden games. I think at one point I argued with a friend about how in the game when you kick a field goal on any down aside from 4th, that you get the ball back and lose a down. But I don't think that's the case in real football. Or maybe I'm thinking of another game, idk. But I swear there was something like this in earlier madden games. 

[Shortie]

I can't say that playing a game has ever helped me explain things in real life to be honest or not that I can think of anyway. I have played games that have helped me understand things in real life a little more due to seeing or hearing about it in the game and being that I played the game and games tend to stick in your mind it was something that stuck in my mind and when something comes up I can refer to what I heard or saw in a game to understand it better. It is interesting though to know that people can take games and use them to allow others to understand a condition they have so that people better understand them.

[Empire]

To be 100% honest with myself, games never helped/teached me anything that would help me in IRL situations.

It's like thinking "playing a romance game will help you, on the long run, to emphatize better with people of the other gender".

Or "i finally learned how to feel confident while taking on an immense threat like the Dragon in dark souls"... it just wouldn't work with a real flee/fight threat response, even with a "regular" human opponent.

[Scorpion]

Absolutely! Gaming metaphors enhance understanding. I often use "Dark Souls" to explain resilience—facing challenges, learning from failure, and persistence.

[killamch89]

Totally get what you mean about adulthood feeling "immersion-breaking". For me, life can feel like a poorly balanced RPG - constantly grinding away with a few overpowered tasks that overshadow the enjoyable quests. It’s like the real world doesn’t come with a good difficulty slider.