5 Life Lessons from Gaming

Games are often a nice break from reality, but there’s a fair few tips and tricks that are transferable into the realm of the real.

1: The best things in life are worth saving for.

All the best things in games are, of course, the most expensive. Most of them take a very, very long time to save up for. You slog away doing those mundane tasks, to save up those pennies and finally that thing you wanted for so long is yours and it’s sooo much better than you could have imagined; mainly because you worked so damn hard for it. Everything about this is worth remembering in reality. Sometimes things you want are tough to get, but once you’ve worked your ass off to get them, it makes it that much sweeter.

2: Choose your words carefully.

One of the biggest and most complex parts of any RPG worth its salt is having your words and choices affect the world around you. The way you treat people, the actions you take, both positive and negative will have an impact on not only your future, but the future of others. If we put as much time and consideration into our choices in reality then the world would probably be a much better place. Don’t forget that what you say to others might have the potential to change their lives, either for better or worse.

3: Be prepared.

Picture this. You’re having an explore, not sure what’s around the next corner when BOOM, you’re suddenly in a fight. This thing hits hard and as you realise the reason your quick heal isn’t working is because you forgot to pick up some health potions, it’s too late and you’re dead already. Like totally dead and your durability is screwed. Then you go to reload and you find out that the last autosave was three hours ago and you lost that entire quest line. Excellent. Well, this happens in real life too. Always be prepared in advance, maybe don’t run into things head first unless you happen to like backtracking and always have some food handy, because you never know when hunger might strike.

4: Explore!

Exploring is one of the most rewarding parts of games, especially those with open worlds. Finding a beautiful oasis in the midst of an apocalyptic waste, or a quirky pop culture reference on some island off shore that tickles you for days, or just admiring the way the sky and stars look at night as you sit atop a snowy mountain, all of these things and so much more are waiting out there for you in intricately crafted game worlds. And you know what? The real world is just as good. Take some time to go off the well-trodden path, appreciate some of the beauty around you, go looking for it! There are so many incredible things out there to see, sometimes you just got to go out and find them.

5: Get rid of your junk.

I’m a bit of a hoarder, I won’t lie, both in game and out. But if there’s anything that I’ve learned from countless over-full inventories, and hours of scrolling through items I’ve never used (and never will) it’s that there is such a thing as too much stuff. There’s nothing more freeing than going through all that trash and getting rid of the things you have no use for. All that extra space and maybe even a bit of extra coin in your pocket too is certainly a liberating feeling. Having blitzed my own life of unnecessary crap, I can definitely say it’s worth trying if you’re feeling a bit bogged down. Also, with all the new space, you’ll have to buy some new shinies to fill it with!