Question

t to my engineering team. Say I have a delicious chocolate cake. If I give you the entire cake, you might eat the whole thing in one go because it’s the best cake you ever had. But you likely will “overdose” and may not want to touch chocolate cake again. What if, instead, I give you a tiny slice each day? Gradually, you develop a daily habit, and you might end up buying 10 cakes from me.

That’s the ultimate goal: to build habit-forming games that have players coming back every day. In other words, it takes away the decision-making. We wanted people to reach for their phones first thing in the morning and jump right into our games, just as they check their social media and emails.

For a long time, I didn’t see a problem. I saw our mission as bringing joy and entertainment to players. This changed when my two toddlers became old enough to take an interest in playing the very games I had built. Thinking about my games in my daughters’ hands, I had to confront what these products really were and what they could do. Knowing all the techniques with which we tried to bring about addiction, I realized I didn’t want my children exposed to that risk. My daughters are now 3 and 4 years old and I have yet to show them any of the games I have designed.

There is some debate among researchers and health care practitioners that gaming can become a true addiction, but according to the World Health Organization, “gaming disorder” can “result in significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational or other important areas of functioning.”

The over-the-top experiences and rewards built into video games can stimulate our brains to release dopamine. Dopamine, the powerful “feel good” neurotransmitter, motivates us to seek more of these pleasurable activities. This is what can lead to addictive behavior.



One recent study followed adolescent video game players for six years. Most were able to enjoy playing without any harmful consequences. But a significant minority, 10 percent, developed pathological tendencies related to video games, including having difficulty stopping play. Compared with the other group in the study, these players displayed higher levels of depression, aggression, shyness, problematic phone use, and anxiety by the time they were emerging into adulthood.

I’m not proud that I had a hand in furthering these problems. As a matter of fact, I tell my daughters that I make board games like the ones they play at school. Whenever I encourage my daughters to strive to make a positive difference in the world, I question whether I have done the same.

Here are three ways that we should think about addressing this issue:

• Start with parent training. Parents need to be made aware of the negative impact of the video games they may be letting their children play. I get that sometimes we need to occupy our kids, and it’s very tempting to hand them a phone. But we need to be better gatekeepers.

• It’s hard to change a behavior if you can’t first measure it. Use tools, such as Apple’s Screen Time or Google’s Digital Wellbeing, to create awareness of just how much time you are spending on games you’ll be surprised.

• Finally, strike a balance. Games can be fun, of course; we just need to find moderation. When I was growing up, my parents pushed me to eat more vegetables and fruits. With technology so integral to our lives, we need to treat digital wellness like physical wellness and make sure we encourage behavior that’s good for us.

I have realized that I have a role to play, too, beyond keeping my daughters safe. Going forward, I’ve decided to use my knowledge about video game design for good, to try to design educational games that are more engaging.

Recently I had a chance to participate in a math program for young children at Stanford’s Haas Center for Public Services. I worked with two kindergartners and saw how technology and games could help them learn. I asked them what they were interested in and created math games with themes that they liked.

The children were excited to play the games, and in two months, they went from skipping numbers when counting to accurately counting from 1 to 100 and even doing simple addition. Even so, I believe there is a lot more waiting for kids beyond that screen.

According to the First Source, “I Make Video Games. I Won’t Let My Daughters Play Them.”, why might some adults become concerned about the effects of gaming?



A.
Because all children who play video games eventually develop addiction.

B.
Because gaming companies discourage families from monitoring playtime.

C.
Because video games are no longer popular among young people.

D.
Because the author reveals how games are intentionally designed to encourage habit-forming behaviors.

Answer 1

D

The passage explains the author’s concern stems from how games are intentionally designed to form habits and stimulate dopamine-driven addictive behavior, which can harm some players.