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Happy Brain With Dopamine
Games

You can aid the happiness of your brain by taking on activities that generate key experiences and chemicals:

  • Dopamine for motivation, learning and pleasure.
  • Oxytocin for trust and building relationships.
  • Serotonin for significance and importance.
  • Endorphins for euphoria and elation.

Without dopamine, you can be subject to procrastination, low self-esteem, inability to focus and feelings of hopelessness. It's the chemical that can give you the determination to accomplish goals, desires and needs.

Along with getting outside for exercise, eating well and nurturing conversations, video games can also help. Games that generate dopamine are those where you can complete repeating tasks, like Fortnite or Rocket League, which have a lot of chances to win or excel. Other games, like Animal Crossing or Adopt Me, offer the feeling of a job well done. This is increased in games where you are doing this not only for yourself but for the group you are a part of, like playing in a team in Sea of Thieves, Apex Legends or Sky Children of the Light, where new players also need help and kindness.

This list includes 15 games from the last 17 years, with 862 likes. They come from a range of different genres and play-styles and are all good games if you want to generate dopamine.

DetailsList Details

PEGI Ratings: PEGI 3 to PEGI 12
ESRB Ratings: ESRB EVERYONE to ESRB TEEN
Australian Ratings: G to PG
Genres: Action, Adventure, Battle, Brain Game, Collecting, Creative, Fighting, Narrative, Physically Active, Platform, Puzzle, Race, Role-Play, Sequencing, Shooting, Simulation, Sports, Strategy and Traversal
Total Likes: 862
 

Minecraft

Release Date: 23/11/2017, updated in 2019

Out Now: 3DS and 2DS, Amazon Fire, Android, Mac, PC, PS Vita, PS3, PS4, Switch, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One and iOS

Skill Rating: 6+ year-olds

Components: 3D First-Person, 3D Third-Person, Blocks, Day and Night, Open World and Weather

Minecraft is an open-world adventure where you collect, craft and construct structures and items. Play involves exploring the world to find resources and good locations to build. Some of the best aspects of the game are less well known; along with the...

Forza Horizon 5

Release Date: 05/11/2021

Out Now: PC, Xbox One and Xbox X|S

Skill Rating: 7+ year-olds

Components: 3D Third-Person, Day and Night, Open World and Weather

Forza Horizon 5 is a fast-paced racing game where you drive all manner of different vehicles in races and across the vast open landscape. Building on Forza Horizon 4, this fifth entry to the series is set in Mexico,...

Adopt Me! (Roblox)

Release Date: 14/07/2017

Out Now: Android, Mac, PC, PS4, Xbox One and iOS

Skill Rating: 6+ year-olds

Components: 3D Third-Person, Cartoon, Day and Night and Open World

Adopt Me! is one of the most popular Roblox games. In a rudimentary way, it simulates daily life. You can build a home, look after pets and make friends. Like many Roblox games, it's the combination of an avid community of players...

Bomberman (Series)

Release Date: 15/03/2018

Out Now: 3DS and 2DS, Android, DS, Mac, PC, PS2, PS3, PS4, Stadia, Switch, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One and iOS

Skill Rating: 6+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead and Grid

Bomberman is the spiritual ancestor to last-player-standing battles like Fortnite and Apex Legends, but here you all play on the same screen and have the same bomb weapon. There are lots of versions, but in all of them you battle with up to eight...

Tetris 99 (Series)

Release Date: 20/09/2019

Out Now: Switch

Skill Rating: 6+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On

Tetris is a longstanding puzzle game where you make horizontal lines by placing differently shaped tiles in a well. It's simple and fun, but as the pieces speed up it gets increasingly difficult.

Splitter Critters

Release Date: 15/05/2018, updated in 2021

Out Now: Android, PC, Switch and iOS

Skill Rating: 5+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On and Cartoon

Splitter Critters is a puzzle game where you cut up the world to connect platforms and get to the exit. You split and rearrange each level so you can avoid deadly lasers and create floating swimming pools to guide alien critters back to their spaceship.

Astro Aqua Kitty

Release Date: 04/06/2021, updated in 2022

Out Now: PC, PS Vita, PS4, PS5, Switch and Xbox One

Skill Rating: 7+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On and Pixels

Astro Aqua Kitty is a space adventure where an intrepid crew of cats launch into space to harvest milk from far off planets. You play by moving and shooting your way through levels to meet inhabitants and upgrade your abilities. It stands out for this...

Paper Animal RPG

Release Date: Coming soon

Coming Soon: PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One and Xbox X|S

Skill Rating: 6+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead and Grid

Paper Animal RPG is a simple adventure game in a colourful world. You create a band of animal heroes to fight enemies and collect equipment and power-ups.

Survivor.io

Release Date: 05/09/2020, updated in 2022

Out Now: Android and iOS

Skill Rating: 7+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead and Pixels

Survivor.io is a shooting game where you survive hoards of zombies. You play by controlling the direction of your character and nothing else. Unlike the web game of a similar name, Surviv.io Battle Royale, this is a single-player game that stands out...

Wii Play (Series)

Release Date: 02/12/2006, updated in 2011

Out Now: Wii

Skill Rating: 6+ year-olds

Components: 3D Third-Person and Cartoon

Wii Play is a collection of multi-player party games originally designed for the Nintendo Wii and its motion controller.

Pureya

Release Date: 26/03/2021

Out Now: Android, PC and iOS

Skill Rating: 5+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead and Cartoon

Pureya is an action game about collecting marbles. However, the type of game you are playing changes every 10 seconds so the challenge is as much about quickly adjusting to the new format as much as pressing buttons really quickly. It's a game that...

Summer Trip Cruise

Release Date: 25/05/2023

Out Now: PC

Skill Rating: 7+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead and Cartoon

Summer Trip Cruise is a traversal game where you guide a cruise ship on sightseeing missions. Play is like a fairground boat game where you steer left or right with the wheel/rudder and throttle. It stands out for the simple controls and forward...

Blade Ball (Roblox)

Release Date: 17/06/2023, updated in 2023

Out Now: Android, Mac, PC, PS4, Xbox One and iOS

Skill Rating: 7+ year-olds

Components: 3D Third-Person and Cartoon

Blade Ball is a dodgeball-style sports game where players use their sword-like weapons to deflect the ball at each other to be the last man standing. Like dodgeball, you mustn't get hit by the ball or you are out, here you can move around freely and use...

EA Sports FC 24

Release Date: 28/09/2023

Out Now: PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One and Xbox X|S

Skill Rating: 7+ year-olds

Components: 3D Third-Person

EA Sports FC 24 is a sports game designed to simulate the players, tactics and crescendo moments of top-flight football. Play involves picking players and setting tactics before controlling each of your team in turn on the pitch. Its simulation is...

RunMan Turbo

Release Date: Coming soon

Coming Soon: PC

Skill Rating: 4+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On and Hand-Made

RunMan Turbo is a traversal game where you race through a brightly coloured world. You play by bouncing, sliding, jumping, tumbling and running as fast as you can over obstacles and towards a finishing line. It is a game of instinct, where you must...

Taming Gaming Book Written by parents for parents, the database complements the in-depth discussion about video game addiction, violence, spending and online safety in the Taming Gaming book. We are an editorially independent, free resource without adverts that is supported by partnerships.

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