The Importance of Playing with Friends

Human interaction is a great thing, and that’s something we miss out on or forget about sometimes when we get absorbed in video games.

The interaction you have with strangers online doesn't count.

Yes, sometimes it can be a good exchange when you meet someone online who is actually a decent person, but for the most part the anonymous people you interact with online are not very friendly. I will address this issue and how to deal with these people in another post.

It's fun to help each other out in tight spots. 

It’s healthy for you to interact with people you know in real life while playing games. Playing games online can be lots of fun, and in my experience this fun is doubly so when you are playing with people you actually know.

There are a number of ways you should try playing with friends. You’ll have to find out which work the best for you; which make you the happiest.

I’m sure mostly all of us have played with a friend online in some form, be it co-op or some form of multiplayer. But have you ever given any thought as to how playing with someone you know changes that experience?

Playing with friends can greatly reduce your frustration levels with a game because you have someone with whom to share your frustration, or to distract you from it.

Something I started doing a while ago, and something I encourage you to try, is this: If you repeatedly find yourself getting angry or frustrated at a game online, choose not to play it unless there is someone else online who will play it with you.  Games are always less frustrating if you have someone to play with.

Your gaming experience is generally always a more positive one when you play with people you know and have fun with. When you're playing with someone online there's someone there for you to share things with immediately. So when you pull off an amazing shot or move, you can tell your friend right away, and thats a satisfying thing.

Same goes for cooperative games. When you play cooperatively with a friend, you share those experiences, and shared experiences, whether in real life or in-game can help strengthen friendships and relationships.

Try this: If you generally tend to play games without anyone you actually know, or only online wtith people you know, invite someone over to your place to play together.

Actually share a screen together.

It doesn't matter what you play, whether you're offline or online, split-screen or passing a controller back and forth.

Just play something together.

Actually having another human in the room with you can have a very positive impact on your gaming experiences, your relationships, and your happiness, all of which I believe are very important parts of life.