2 Ways Player Choice Games Can Impact Your Life

Is there always a right choice?

I can imagine there are people out there who might laugh at the idea of a video game bringing someone to tears, but it happened to me. A grown man.

Player choice games grant users the ability to make decisions that might impact the past, present and future of the game’s plot. Sometimes, this could lead to the death of a character or even a total change to an ending of a game.

Little did I know that when I started playing these games that it would have an impact on how I live my everyday life. I’m not saying these games have profoundly transformed me as a person, but rather that there two distinct lessons I’ve learned to ingrain more in my life.

At the end of the day, you never know exactly what someone else is going through in their lives. When I first started playing these games, I tended to think about myself first. I would make decisions based on how they’d impact my life first before anyone else's.

With most player choice games, you’ll quickly realize that your actions impact more than just you and are likely to trickle down to even the smallest of plot-lines or characters.

I mention this is because these games have influenced me to think just a little bit harder when making bigger life decisions. I seem to want to take a second more to evaluate what I’m about to do because I know that there are those around me who can be impacted.

It seems like we as humans navigate the world through our own desires first, and then those around us next. I don’t disagree with this approach to living life because I know that fending for ourselves might matter first, but I feel as though I have a deeper appreciation and care for my friends and family around me.

Especially, if my decisions will impact them too.

This is important to truly comprehend. Some might learn this life motto just by going through life naturally, but it turns out it can also be learned in a video game.

Sometimes when a decision is made, it’s not made for the benefit of all or simply can’t make everyone happy.

There are times in life where we are forced to suddenly make a choice that is so polarizing that we want to stop time completely just to think or even re-wind.

What I’ve learned is that sometimes, there isn’t always going to be a choice that is going to make me and everyone around me benefit. Sometimes, you just need to make a decision that feels right at the moment and hope for the best afterward.

It would be disingenuous to blame yourself for making a choice that felt right at the time, it just wouldn’t be fair and only hurts you in the end.

I take this lesson into my own life because I’ve always been one to be indecisive. As a sad example, even when I’m starving in a mall food-court, I could stand there for 20–25 minutes just trying to figure out what I want to eat.

At a more macro scale, what I’ve learned by playing player choice games is that I just need to go for what I want in life at the time and trust that I’m making the best decision.

My takeaway is that if art is ultimately made with the intention of sparking emotion within someone, video games, especially player choice ones, do just that for me.

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