How Team-Based Video Games
Can Help Your Communication Skills
See also: Social Skills
Video games have been shown to improve a number of brain functions, including hand-eye coordination, reflexes, and problem-solving skills. Different games help players in different ways depending on the nature of the game.
Since the dawn of the internet, game developers have been obsessed with creating multiplayer games in ways that the players can help each other to get the most out of the game. Team-based games have been around for ages now and almost every other game released in the past few years has a voice chat function that lets the players communicate one another.
But the question here is, do, and if so, how, can team-based video games help you to improve your communication skills?
The rise of in-game communication
Communication in games has been a major part of gameplay for some time now. Previously, most in-game communication used in-game chat functions, and these proved popular as they gave players a way of communicating with each other to devise strategies to defeat their enemies or complete their goals.
But in-game chat was not a very convenient way to deliver a message as it required players to stop whatever they were doing in the game to deliver a message to their teammate. This would often result in players getting disturbed or not being able to communicate properly when dealing with a tough situation.
So, when voice chat came along, it became an essential part of a modern multiplayer gaming. Voice chat allows players to communicate with ease without interrupting their gameplay experience. The modern Battle Royale games are the best examples of how voice chat changed the world of in-game communication.
This game allowed the players to create strategies and plans in real-time while getting feedback from their teammates and, even if things went south, they could just as easily compensate for it. They could now share enemy locations, loot and items, and even help out any teammates in need.
How can games improve communication skills?
Playing single-player games require strategies and skill to overcome the problem in hand but team-based games require much more than that. Team-based games encourage you to work together to outwit enemies, especially if you are playing multiplayer PvP games because nothing is ever the same and you have to constantly assess the situation and create new plans accordingly.
If you have played the squad matches in PUBG, you would know just how important it is to communicate with your teammates because if you try to play as a lone ranger, you are likely to end up dead. You have to stick close to your teammates so that, if anything goes wrong, you can always get help from your team.
The more you play with your team and the more you communicate with them to come up with new strategies, the easier it becomes for you to communicate with strangers. Since most of the people you play with on the internet are unpredictable, you will start to develop subconscious behavior that helps you figure out how to tackle different situations and express your ideas to the players playing with you. For example, the best Mac games enable you to connect with a worldwide player community, meaning that you can find friends to play your favorite games with, chat with other users online, and share your achievements. Forming part of an online community helps players feel like they're part of something bigger than themselves, and since they're part of a team, being able to properly express themselves becomes a priority.
Games have always been a great way for people who are not very social in real life to communicate with others. In games, they don’t feel judged, they create their own unique personality where they are not defined by their age or the color of their skin, and everyone is equal. This makes it easy for them to speak their mind without having to worry about the usual social anxieties.
Adaptability, reading, and decision making
Multiplayer team-based games such as World of Warcraft allow players to form groups called guilds, where they team up to carry out difficult tasks such as fighting colossal bosses. Such tasks require players to work together as a single unit to complete the quests and be rewarded.
Games like Minecraft let the players unleash their creativity and imagination to create a beautiful world, including everything from huts to large castles. Players come together in this blocky realm and help each other create some magnificent structures. There’s also an educational version of the game that allows teachers to conduct experiments, and even art classes, with groups of students by giving them tasks that require proper team planning. A good way to acquire games like Minecraft is by grabbing cd keys that are available for sale at a discounted price.
The game Among Us is yet another great example of a game that allows players to work together to find the imposters, while the imposters have to hide in a way such that other players can’t figure out that they are the imposters. Games such as this require teamwork and great communication and this is why it is considered to be one of the best games that reward players with good communication skills.
These games help players to read the situation in a better way and come up with a solution on the spot. Puzzles games like It Takes Two are great examples of a team-based games where you must communicate constantly with your partner to come up with a solution to some of the most mind-boggling puzzles. While these games do help with puzzle-solving skills, they also immensely enhance your decision-making skills as well.
Such games make you more confident in your approach by rewarding you for trying hard to solve a problem and being creative in your ideas. There are some games that solely follow your decisions to shape the world around you, which makes you feel in control of the environment, gives you the power to make an important decision, and which also makes you put more thought into your decision-making and get better at finding solutions.
Further Reading from Skills You Need
Our Communication Skills eBooks
Learn more about the key communication skills you need to be a more effective communicator.
Our eBooks are ideal for anyone who wants to learn about or develop their interpersonal skills and are full of easy-to-follow, practical information.
Do games actually help you communicate better?
Of course, they do. Every time you play a team-based game, you are making decisions, you are giving orders, you are putting your ideas on the table, you are constantly working with your friends and teammates to come up with a better plan, and you are expressing your creativity and ideas to people from different backgrounds.
Over time, all these little things become a part of your life and you start to use them in your real-life to solve real-world problems, express your ideas and connect with people around you. Games help you make friends from all around the world, and you start learning new things to talk about. This will make you more confident in your approach any time you communicate with someone new.
About the Author
Rimvydas Vainius is a video game enthusiast who loves researching how games can help in your self-development. Rimvydas also is a big technology fan, always up to date on everything that is coming up in the world.