How to Get Better at Video Games

Video games have risen in popularity in recent years especially since the pandemic where most were at home looking for something to occupy their time. Those that have enjoyed gaming and have picked it up as a regular pastime may be looking to improve their skills as they navigate online multiplayer or just enjoying single player games. There are many ways one can improve their skills. Some may seem like common sense while others are things you many never think would help you improve.

Adjust the Settings

When in the game, some simple setting tweaks can make all the difference in improving your skills as a gamer. They won’t make you a professional, but they will help.

Customize the Controls to Suit You

Many games now allow you to adjust the sensitivities and layout of the controls within the settings of the game. Adjusting the controls to fit your personal preferences can make your gaming flow easier and provide a better experience that suits you.

Turn Down the Music

When you turn down the music it provides more concentration and focus on the areas of the game you may be struggling with. Music, like background noise can be a distraction for the brain as it’s trying to split its focus between the music, visual perspective, and hand-eye coordination. The less your brain has to focus on, the easier it will be to regain the focus necessary to defeat that level you’ve been stuck on for days.

Raise the Volume

This doesn’t mean increasing the overall TV level, this means increasing the volume of everything that isn’t music. With the ability to hear sound affects better, you are able to increase reflexes and reaction time. This allows you to gauge action from the game better, providing with better reaction time when facing enemies or within other action scenes.

Brighten the Screen

To gain an edge over hard to spot enemies and items, adjust the brightness of your screen to make them more noticeable. Don’t over adjust or you could lose the gaming experience you’re looking for that makes the game fun and enjoyable. This can be touchy, but keep adjusting until you are comfortable with the results.

Comfort

When playing video games, you generally don’t play for a short period of time. It’s usually for an hour or more. Some missions themselves take more than an hour to complete so comfort is a priority when you sit down to play.

Headphones

Headphones aren’t completely necessary, but if you are going to use them, you want a set that is comfortable and durable. You’ll be wearing them for long periods of time so be sure they fit right and their comfort is comparable to pillows.

The use of headphones beyond comfort provide a reduction of outside noise to keep you focused and immersed in the game world without distractions.

Chair

As with the headphones, you could be sitting in this chair for hours on end while playing your games. The last thing you want to do is get up from gaming and feel stiff, achy, and in need of a massage to get your limbs moving right again. So, invest in a gaming chair that will keep you comfortable even when you’ve been sitting in it for long periods of time.

Mouse/Controller

Whether you use a controller or a mouse, you also want to make sure they are as comfortable as you can get them. There are third-party options that can provide better comfort while playing. Do a search to find the best one(s) for you.

When you are comfortable, you play better, so be sure to find those items that will provide the best comfort and you could improve your gaming just by providing yourself a bit of comfort.

Blue Light Glasses

I don’t know about those of you reading this, but I cannot stare at a screen for long periods of time without wearing blue light glasses. These things have saved me from so many headaches due to eye strain from looking at screens for long periods of time.

Invest in a pair if you have any discomfort with your eyes or headaches while playing!

Learn From Others

There are many ways you can learn from others as you progress to become a better gamer. Here are a few for you to check out.

Gaming Websites and Forums

You’re not alone when playing and improving your skills. Others are in the same position or have been in the same position as you are right now. Gaming sites and forums can provide you with advice and assistance when stuck and looking for guidance.

Tips and tricks are posted regularly as games become available, so finding ideas for the game you’re playing is almost always guaranteed to provide you with the information you seek.

Watch Experts

Whether on Steam, Youtube, or Twitch, experts as well as aspiring gamers are posting their gameplay, tips, tricks and more on the net. Watching others play can provide an outside perspective to the level that isn’t there when you are immersed in the world you are playing.

As you watch them play, you can see how they react to threats and how they deal with certain situations. You can discover new strategies when facing opponents, anticipating moves before they strike. Ask “What are they doing differently?”

Play With Others

Don’t be afraid to play online with other people, even if they are better than you. Often people will play with others with similar skill levels to protect themselves from embarrassment. That’s fine if you aren’t looking to improve, and you can always learn something from those at the same level as you, but you can learn so much more when you play with those that are at higher levels.

Most of those that play with those of lower levels are usually very polite and are willing to teach you a thing or two in order to improve your skills and strategies, which will in turn allow you to level up and provide an ally when multi-player gaming.

Physical and Emotional

As with most things we do regularly, you want to make sure you are taking care of yourself while gaming. You sit for long periods of time, staring at a screen trying to get to the next level or defeat a difficult enemy and that’s great that you are so dedicated.

The thing you want to keep in mind is that we, as humans, were not meant to sit for long periods of time so here are some things to think about when playing your games for long periods of time.

Getting in ”The Zone”

Before starting a game, be sure to get in the right state of mind. Relax, release the negativity even if that negativity may seem as though it would help in certain situations. Nothing like being angry at an enemy and using that anger to defeat said enemy. That anger will can reduce your reaction time and cause even more anxiety and stress when having to try multiple time to defeat that enemy. Learning to handle that negativity will help you to improve your skills and how to handle tense situations as you move forward.

Pay Attention to Your Body

Listening to your bodies needs will keep you energized and ready to take on the next challenge. If you ignore your body, you could be splitting your focus between your needs and the needs of your character or comrades within the game, which could then cause you to second guess or perform the wrong action.

Exercise

As a gamer, you sit for long periods of time without getting up to stretch your legs or gaining exercise of any kind. Be sure to keep your body and mind well tuned so you can keep doing what you love. Doing a little bit of exercise is better than doing no exercise at all. Go for a walk before, do a few pushups or squats. What you do is up to you, but keeping healthy and fit is a great way to keep your energy up for those intense battles and bosses.

Food and Drink Choices

Your food and drink choices could also affect the way we play. You may think all that junk food and caffeine will keep you going, but as with anything else loaded with sugar, you have a spike of energy and then you crash, needing more to continue the spike. Get a continued energy spike without all the sugar by drinking water and replacing the junk food with healthy options.

Now, I’m not lecturing, I’m totally with you as far as snacks go. I love dark chocolate and chips, so those are my usual go toos, but I know that if I want to get better an anything, I need to cut down and make better choices. So, its something for a lot of us to work on.

Sleep

Glorious sleep. We all have those days were you feel like you got the smallest amount of sleep and you’re walking around like a zombie ready to collapse. Getting enough sleep could make all the difference in your gameplay. You may feel that staying up late to continue playing will get you further in the game and of course you will. But if you went to sleep, got enough, and then came back to the game the next day you may find that you’ll pass levels easier and have a clear mind to defeat those enemies that last night took you twice as long to defeat.

As hard as it is to pull yourself away from the game, go get some sleep and you’ll be thankful come morning that you took this advice.

Breaks

As with any type of activity, you need to take breaks to stretch your legs, perhaps replenish your energy supply and go to the bathroom. It will benefit you as well as those you’re playing with. Not only will they likely take a much need break, but you’re not sitting there holding it just to keep playing; thus dividing your attention between the game and keeping it in.

Don’t Play While Stressed or Depressed

I have to admit that I do this ALOT. When I’ve had a rough day or I’m irritated by something, I’ll go pay a game. Besides sometimes defeating enemies does make you feel better.

People tend to escape into games when they feel down or stressed. Playing in this state of mind will cause you to play differently than when you’re in a positive state. This could affect your multi-gaming experience as that frustration may come across in the way you play and attitude you present to the other gamers.

A way to combat this is to keep a single player game handy to release the stress then move to online multi-player. No sense causing unnecessary conflict between you and your comrades because you’re upset with something completely unrelated to them.

Don’t Destroy Your Things

It’s not easy to keep your emotions under control when play a particular game, certain levels, or a difficult boss. Sometimes playing a level over and over again will raise your frustration when you can’t get through it. To prevent you from damaging anything like your controller, systems, or anything else within your reach, here are somethings you can do.

Understand that it’s only a game, it shouldn’t be frustrating you enough to cause damage to anything. Yes, I’ve been frustrated and angry at games, but I’ve never taken it out on anything. I’ll scream and growl, move around, but never damage anything or harm anyone who happens to be close while playing.

Take a break, move around, grab water, or try an easier level/mission if you are really having trouble with the level you’re on. In some cases, you’re stuck in that level and can’t leave until completing it, in that case, switch games and come back to it later. Sometimes you need an even longer break and coming back the next day will prove better. This is something I’ve had to do a few time.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Yep, the whole ”Practice makes perfect” works here. Or at least “practice makes you better”. The more you practice the better you will become, so keep playing those games.

Don’t Focus on One Game

Though you may think it would be beneficial to concentrate on one game at a time, you may want to think again. If you are playing an open world game with lots of missions, items to collect, places to go and people to meet and defeat; playing other games within that same genre could provide you with tricks, strategies and more to use within the other games.

Finding Time to Practice

You’ll have to do some work for this one. In order to find time to play so you can get better, you need to know how you’re spending your time. Create a timetable of the things you do each day. Once complete, see where you can batch items and plan ahead. Such as doing the dishes while there is a load of laundry in the washer, or while you’re traveling home, make your phone calls. If someone is driving you, work on your emails. Plan ahead by making meals ahead of time for quick access and eating.

Find those extra time slots where you can fit in some game time in order to practice your skills.

Build Skills Away From Video Games

There are ways to build your skills without actually playing a video game. Here are some ways to do just that. Brain teasers are a great way to get your mind thinking differently, analyzing the puzzles to provide the right outcome.

Mobile games, yes they are a type of video game, but they offer a way to provide reflexive practice in games like Tetris. Try keeping those blocks going before building the tower to the top and losing. You’ll get quicker just by trying to adjust and keep the blocks from reaching the top.

There are also programs such as Aim Trainer for games specifically geared toward first person shooters that will work on your aim to take down your enemies.

Game Specific

There are some ways to improve as a gamer when looking at a specific game, itself. Let’s take a look at how the game can help you improve.

Record Your Own Gameplay

When recording your own gameplay, you can review it as a way to learn from your own mistakes and frustration. Playing in the moment doesn’t allow you to see all aspects you need to achieve your game specific goals, looking back will help you do that.

Read About the Game

Do a search on the specific game, you might be surprised by what you discover. Read any and all written material you can find pertaining to the game. Books, magazines, graphic novels and more. You never know what you could learn from reading about the game you’re playing.

Read Patch Notes

If game is updated frequently, read the patch notes to get an overview of revisions and new features with the current and past updates. These can come in handy if there was something you wouldn’t have noticed otherwise.

I’ve played games multiple times, only to find a new way of defeating an enemy, a new area, a new weapon and more from an update I didn’t catch. Keep you eye open for those patch notes and updates to see what you can learn from the information.

One Last Thing

Have patience. What you are trying to do won’t happen overnight. Keep at it and you’ll find your skills improving as you go. Trust me, I barely have patience when playing a game. I’m the kind that wants to go in attack and kill things quickly to get to the next level. Unfortunately (or should I say fortunately, since it would be a quick game otherwise) I have to slow down, think things through and find another way that may take longer in order to defeat the area, enemy, or boss.

Keep at it, don’t rush it and learn all you can. You’ll gain your personal player level sooner than you think! Good luck and have fun gaming!

Click the image below to download the infographic!