Do Video Games Make You Smarter?

Do Video Games Make You Smarter? Let’s Talk Strategy, Dopamine, and the Secret Training of Your Brain

If you grew up being told that video games would rot your brain, congratulations, you were lied to.

But not entirely. Like bourbon, video games are a tool. Used right, they’re brilliant.

Abused? You’ll wake up in your boxers, surrounded by empty chip bags, wondering why your fingers smell like regret.

Here’s one surprising benefit: the connection between strategy games and executive function.

Ever played StarCraft, Age of Empires, or even XCOM?

Congratulations again; you’ve participated in a cognitive training boot camp without even realizing it.

These games don’t just require button-mashing or quick reflexes. They train your executive function, a set of high-level brain skills responsible for:

• Planning

• Problem solving

• Task switching

• Working memory

• Decision-making under pressure

Researchers at the University of Geneva studied adults playing strategy games.

They found improvements in cognitive flexibility, which is the brain’s ability to switch between tasks and perspectives quickly and accurately.

Translation: your brain gets better at changing lanes in traffic, juggling work projects, and not crying during group texts.

And it’s not just academic studies saying this.

The U.S. Army has used video game simulations to improve battlefield decision-making. They call it "asymmetric thinking": responding to unpredictable challenges using logic, timing, and spatial reasoning (IGDA.com, 2024).

Think of it as Call of Duty with real consequences.

But why do strategy games help where others don't?

It's all about dopamine regulation.

In ADHD brains (yep, we're looping back here), dopamine doesn’t flow consistently.

Games that give small, constant rewards, like leveling up, unlocking a new unit, or getting the high ground in Halo, scratch that dopamine itch just enough to keep the brain engaged.

Strategy games do something sneakier. They delay gratification.

You don’t win in the first five minutes.

You scout, build, plan, adapt, sacrifice units, and execute long-term strategies, teaching your brain how to do real-world stuff: delay rewards, manage risk, and recalibrate when life throws flaming arrows at your city walls.

Here’s how different game types affect your brain:

What’s the downside?

Excessive gaming, especially the kind that prioritizes rewards over strategy (loot box games, we’re looking at you), can overload the brain’s reward center. This can lead to:

• Impulse control issues

• Poor sleep

• Real-world attention span collapses”

• “Gaming-induced apathy” (yes, it’s a thing)

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, more than 2 hours a day of screen-based gameplay starts tipping the scales from helpful to harmful (AAP, 2023).

But the right kind of games, played in moderation, they’re legit brain training.

In short

Video games can make you smarter.

But they can also turn you into a zombie with Cheeto dust fingerprints.

It all depends on why you’re playing… and why.

Now, iyou'llll excuse meI'm’m off t” “train my executive functi”n” by staying up until 3 a.m. trying to beat a 9-year-old in Age of Empires IV. For my brain health, of course.