MPK Bahasa Inggris

Hana Nurul I K
1806208384

How Playing Tetris has Benefits for Our Life

Tetris is one of the most famous puzzle video games in the world. It was originally designed and
programmed by Alexey Pajitnov, a Russian game designer, on 1984. He designed the game in his spare time
and it was born out of his love for puzzle games. The name of the game comes from a combination of tetra, a
Greek word which means four, which refers to four square cells each shape in Tetris has, and tennis, his
favorite sport. Now being available in various game consoles and computer operating systems, what made
Tetris boom was when the handheld version for the Game Boy was launched on 1989. Being a video game,
people may think Tetris only have bad effects to people, but that’s wrong. Playing Tetris has benefits for our
life, such as it can increase brain efficiency, decreases drug and other cravings, and reduce symptoms of PTSD
(Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

Playing Tetris can increase brain efficiency. This is proven by a research by Haier et al (2009).
Research shows that adolescent girls who play Tetris 30 minutes a day for three months have greater brain
efficiency and thicker brain cortex in some parts compared to the girls who didn’t play. The area of the brain
that thickens has a function in planning of complex and coordinated movement. The areas of the brain that
have greater efficiency are associated with critical thinking, reasoning, and language and processing. So,
playing Tetris can increase brain efficiency.

Playing Tetris can also decrease drug and other cravings. “Playing Tetris for three minutes decreased
craving strength for addictive substances by approximately one-fifth” (Brown et al, 2015). When a person
craves to consume something, their mind imagines the experience of them already consuming it. To stop that
imagination, a person needs a distraction. Researchers think that playing Tetris will be able to distract them
because it requires the brain’s visual and spatial systems to be used. Those brain parts are also used in
imagination. Playing Tetris will distract the brain from that imagination long enough for the cravings to die
down (Brown et al, 2015). This means playing Tetris can decrease cravings.

Another benefit of playing Tetris is it can reduce one of the symptoms of PTSD which is intrusive
memories. A study shows that people who played Tetris after an accident have less intrusive memories than
those who didn’t play. Tetris needs a high amount of visual attention. So, it can lessen the recurring flashbacks
of the accident by focusing on the game instead of the memories. “In feedback, people said they found playing
Tetris very easy, very helpful, and not distressing or burdensome.” (Iyadurai, L. et al, 2017)

In conclusion, playing Tetris can help develop greater brain efficiency and distract your brain from
disruptive thoughts such as cravings and intrusive thoughts after a traumatic event. As a very popular game,
Tetris is now easily accessible, you can even play on online websites. It is recommended to try it out, but in
moderation.

Reference

BioMed Central Limited. (2009). Is Tetris Good For The Brain? [online]. Available at:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090901082851.htm (Accessed: 20 October 2018)

Skorka-Brown, J. et al. (2015). ‘Playing Tetris decreases drug and other cravings in real world settings’,
Addictive Behavior, 51, p165-180
Iyadurai, L. et al. (2017). ‘Preventing intrusive memories after trauma via a brief intervention involving Tetris
computer game play in the emergency department: a proof-of-concept randomized controlled trial’, Molecular
Psychiatry, 23, p674-682