Losing Stinks

 Losing stinks. Quite frankly, I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who likes to lose. 

And, I’m pretty sure that I have never met anyone who sets out to lose. To lose on purpose, you do nothing and just sit there. Where’s the fun in that? Boring. 🥱 Go take a nap - you’ll get more out of it.

But losing can be good.

Wait. How can losing be good? 🤔

Losing in a game and returning to play again, both in a video game and physical sports, provides the opportunity for players to develop key skills such as perseverance, adaptability, and learning from failure. 

These are valuable life lessons that can be learned when playing Rocket League or soccer and returning to play, even though the victory was elusive, gives players the foundation to persevere in tough times.

Losing also allows players to reflect on what went wrong and to adapt their strategies for the next time they play. Knowing what doesn’t work will guide players to new ways of doing things in order to become successful. Learning from failure, sometimes called failing forward, is a key trait for success in life and can be learned by playing video games. Yes. From video games.

But losing isn’t the only thing that builds transferable skills. Just like a good infomercial: Wait, there’s more.

Games that involve strategy, like Fortnite, League of Legends, and Rocket League, push players to analyze situations, anticipate moves, and make quick decisions. Yup, this sounds a lot like physical sports, too. Even survival games like Minecraft and Return to Moria demand players to think critically about how to play. They have to - their lives depend on it.

And then there’s competitive gaming. Collegiate esports athletes and pro players utilize both practice schedules and strategic planning, all of which are teaching discipline and time management. These, too, are skills that translate to academics and future careers.

While your player may or may not be headed to become a professional esports athlete, learning to play within dedicated time frames at home can also be where they learn both discipline and time management.

Providing a dedicated space where your players can develop resilience and adaptability, hone critical thinking skills, and practice time management is important to us. And because of that, we open up the Gaming Center on the first and third Tuesday of the month to anyone. No entry fee. No program. Just show up to our RAIDs and enjoy the opportunity to develop transferable skills. And since we’re open from 6:30p-8:30p, we’ll help with time management, too. Aren’t we kind? 😀

Make the connection:

What are some ways we can use gaming to help our players develop transferable skills?

We are #ForTheGamer and help players play with purpose and win for good.