I was a video game sceptic, but now I'm a fan

Thu 1 Feb 2018 07.00 EST Last modified on Thu 1 Feb 2018 07.01 EST'Luke, how do I get this power moon? Luke!" I'm playing Super Mario Odyssey while my partner, Luke, is trying to work. "You'll figure it out," he says patiently. Luke has been playing video games since he was a child, but this is my first ever game, and he's thrilled that I'm invested in Mario's quest to save Princess Peach. Considering it's a $100bn (£70bn) industry, gaming is a surprisingly "love it, or just don't get it" kind of activity. I've tried video games a few times over the years, as people seemed to be having so much fun with them. But I never got into it. I kept dying, so I gave up. Last year, though, my curiosity was piqued again as I watched Luke play the newest Mario game with his children. One slow Sunday, I picked up the Nintendo Switch. No one was more surprised than me when I kept coming back to the game, and eventually beat Bowser. My newfound enjoyment of video games prompted me to want to learn more about what people love about them. A straw poll of my gaming friends revealed diverse motivations, but everyone said they found gaming relaxing and satisfying, especially after a stressful day at work. One person even said gaming had been key to recovering from severe burnout. Another told me that playing World of Warcraft with a partner helped them to stay connected while they were living in different cities. "It's mental weightlifting," Luke says, when I ask what he likes about video games. There's puzzles to solve, foes to conquer, things to collect, and maps to navigate: "It feels good to use the brain in this way." Video games often get a bad rep – however unjustified – for being violent, and bad for attention and literacy. But Celia Hodent, a game user-experience consultant with a doctorate in psychology, is not surprised to hear that people feel gaming adds so many positive things to their lives. "A good game can put you into a flow state," says Hodent – that feeling when you're fully immersed in an activity, and time flies because you're enjoying yourself. "When you're watching a film or listening to the radio you may eventually check your phone.