There are many positive health effects of video games. Playing video games is fun and makes us feel happy. But it’s more than mashing buttons that bring us joy. What does science say about our gaming and happiness? And can we use these elements in other aspects of our lives to bring us greater happiness overall?

From superheroes to fantasy heroes, we are inspired to become something more. But how to be a hero in real life, and what makes someone a hero? The truth is that without gaining magical abilities or finding superpowers, the path to heroism may be easier than you think. We all have the ability to become our best selves and embrace our inner hero.

Who is your favorite hero? From movies, to books, to gaming, we are surrounded by heroic figures in our lives. What is a modern hero? These figures that motivate, encourage and inspire us. Each of us has one that stands above the rest as our personal favorite. What do your heroes say about you?

There are many benefits to playing games. When we put down the controller or pack up our dice, the values we learned in playing games stay with us. From video games to tabletop roleplaying games, playing games teaches us about life. Here are the ten most important life lessons that I learned from gaming.

Marvel’s Squirrel Girl may have started as one of the weirdest superheroes, but her quirky nature led her to become a beloved character. Why is Squirrel Girl so powerful? Beyond her superhuman strength, it’s her personality of positivity and acceptance. Her ability to accept herself and others helped transform her from a joke character to one of real power.

Many games let players personalize their character’s development through a game skill tree. Different combinations allow for a great variety in gameplay and player engagement. What are different player types on RPG skill trees? What about real-life skill trees? How to manage our goals through levels of experience and how we can create our own skill tree for real life?

Have you ever enjoyed huge RPGs like Skyrim, Fallout 4, or The Witcher 3 with numerous side quests? Side quests can be a great addition but they can also distract from the main story. What about in real life? The side quests in life often distract from our real-life main quest too. How can you find a balance between working on your dreams and completing those real-life side quests?

We have big ideas and dreams. We imagine how much better our lives will be. But for all our daydreaming, many of us never get started. What are the reasons we don’t follow our dreams? We need to understand what’s behind the excuses we tell ourselves. It takes courage to follow your dreams and we must face some difficult truths. But knowing how to overcome fear and pursue your dreams, you can finally live the life you imagine.

“Life is a game.” Gamification is a powerful tool to motivate us by making tasks more fun and enjoyable. Companies have used it for over 100 years to encourage us to buy their products and schools have found great success gamifying education. But what is the science behind gamification and how does it work?

Most tabletop role players would tell you of the camaraderie and self-confidence they gain through playing games like D&D.  But researchers have taken notice as well.  Beyond the entertainment value, TTRPGs are a healthy habit to form, granting many benefits for improved mental health and encouraging our personal development.

Superheroes are, by their very nature, special. They exhibit incredible powers and hold themselves to incomparable moral standards. They exist to show us the best possible versions of ourselves. But the X-Men in particular serve to remind us that sometimes we all struggle with self-acceptance and feeling different. But that it is our own uniqueness that makes us special.

Quests in games provide goals, help us progress our story, and develop our character. What if we could do earn experience points and complete quests in real life? There are plenty of real quests that we can take to improve our stats and have some fun along the way.

Here is a list of 25 real-life quests for nerds, geeks, gamers, and would-be adventurers to get you started on your adventure.

Whether video games or tabletop games, we enjoy the immersion, interesting questlines, and magical creatures of role-playing games. But next to it, our reality may feel anything but an adventure. Boring responsibilities, difficult challenges, and some days life is anything but fun. 

But what if we thought about real life as an RPG?   While it may seem like a novel idea, changing our mindset and thinking about life as a game can produce real benefits to our lives. 

When you live authentically, you're acknowledging who you are and the things that make you unique. It can provide an inner peace that can never be achieved otherwise. But the pressure to conform when we live in a world of social pressures and expectations. Here are ways to find your own path and pursue your authentic self with conviction.

We strive towards big dreams and exciting ideas. But sometimes, it feels that we aren’t getting any closer to our goals. Each step is met with someone telling us our victory is in another castle. How do we find the motivation to keep going despite the frustration? Here are some of the best ways to keep you in the game and ready to level up.

We spend our lives wishing for adventure. But those wishes are in sharp contrast to our everyday lives of routine and often full of mundane tasks. But what if real-life adventures are possible and available to you right now? What's your ideal life of adventure and what's holding you back?

I’ve fallen in love with bigger RPG projects, and I think you should to. They’re very rewarding and much easier to achieve than you might think.

Everywhere you look, sites are promoting the power of positivity. We hear about all the great benefits from lower stress to better physical immunity. But sometimes, that positivity just feels wrong. Why is it is that sometimes being around positive people can make us unhappy?

Superman and Captain America – powerful symbols that represent the same ideals. Two characters with such different origins and abilities that, at their core, represent divinity and the humanity. And inspire us to be heroes ourselves.

Whether it's playing a role-playing game or living our lives, we seek a motive and a purpose for our actions. We are driven by the why. What is the importance of why and how can you find yours?