Tetris Mania
Today entertainment of all kinds can be found throughout the world from games, outdoor activities, and arts, etc. However, nothing beats entertainment like the classics. Those youthful days of playing Donkey Kong on your Gameboy, or Tetris on your computer. Tetris is still everywhere, and the iconic colored blocks are still just as easily recognizable. Available on virtually all handheld devices, Apple and Android products alike, and most gaming consoles. Tetris will always be a fun game, but could playing Tetris end harmful addictive behavior for good?
How Tetris and Science collide
In recent news, a press release from Plymouth University on the 13th of August, describes how Tetris may help overcome cravings. The cravings can be drugs, food, or sex, and such. The research was published in Addictive Behaviors. There it highlighted that playing Tetris when one had a craving for one of the aforementioned things above, or similar negative habits, Tetris helps to weaken the craving in a natural setting. Furthermore, the effect lasted for over a week’s time. It was also noted that the effect was more influential when intoxicated or under the influence of alcohol.
Other interesting Things About Tetris
In the same press release on the research of how Tetris can help manage cravings, Professor Jackie Andrade said that that playing Tetris decreased craving strength from 70% to 56%. The effect the gameplay is having may be due to the mental process being kept busy and indulged in the gaming experience. Thereby, taking one’s mind off the craving or reducing it in the process. Another professor also mentioned that the effect did not wear off even as the gameplay increased and the effect remaining consistent. This may be important to note because as one becomes familiar with a particular intervention, one acclimates to it and the effect starts to diminish as a tolerance builds up to it. However, with this the effect doesn’t seem to be diminishing as one would expect, but instead has remained consistent as previously mentioned. So, playing Tetris could potentially help in further intervention studies, but also help those with cravings manage their cravings in everyday life.
