What video game has given you a real life skill?

1. I'm gonna argue that all video games have given me the real life skill in form of English. If I wanted to understand the game I had to learn the language. Gradually more and more words started to make sense, and my English classes became easier
   — pumpkinrum


2. I designed my current bedroom and living room in Sims 2 before I put them together irl, if that counts.
   — wendigoaway


3. Runescape has taught me a lot about economy and money management.
   — strawsinburger






4. When I was a kid (around 4) my dad would play _The Secret of Monkey Island_ a lot. I would play with him sometimes, and I would try on my own sometimes too, but I couldn't read the dialogue because it was all text, there was no voice acting back then. So in combination with what I was learning in school and what my parents would teach me, I used the game to learn to read. I ended up learning to read well before anyone else in my class, and could read better than most people in grades above me. So I can credit videogames with introducing me to a love of reading. Thanks Tim Schafer.
   — TwitsMcgee


5. Tropico has a lot of fun facts about dictatorships in the loading screens, it's made me look smart a few times now. Also the mechanics in the game have made some parts of society more readily understandable - having trouble staffing places like colleges for lack of educated citizens, having trouble upgrading/automating for fear of high unemployment among uneducated citizens, basically everything you do will piss off somebody so you just have to please the major demographics in your country (but there are... tactics you can use to shape those demographics). Fun game by the way, definitely recommend.
   — staciarain


6. "If videogames have taught me anything; it's that if you encounter enemies, you're going the right way" - Ali G
   — JasonJasper






7. RPGs in particular have taught me to save my money for later. Early levels have things that are useful for only the early stages of the game. Once you get past the middle of the game, the really useful and necessary items come into play and the good stuff isn't cheap.
   — AIDSinyourbutt


8. Rockband taught me how to play drums. I'm not amazing at it but I can now hold a beat, keep time and even do some fills on a real drumkit
   — ReeG


9. Kerbal Space Program taught me orbital mechanics. The concepts were always hard for me to grasp in theory but the practical way the game visualises them made it make immediate sense after just a few hours. I don’t use those skills really but I thoroughly enjoy my improved understanding of space flight and rocket engineering.
   — R-110






10. Madden taught me to never punt on 4th down.
    — billbapapa


11. Racing games have taught me racing lines. Only useful on track days I do but still.
    — FlorissVDV


12. I learned how to rebuild the economy of a kingdom from Civilization IV. Wait, no, that's No Game No Life.
    — Ignate