How To Reduce Motion Sickness In Games

Some people just cannot play first-person video games, no thing how much they similar them. It's non a question of talent, either—the games make them physically ill. Nosotros're talking motion sickness and the troubles that come with it: dizziness, nausea, sweating, headaches, and even vomiting.

If you lot suffer from gaming sickness and are looking for some motility sickness medicine, there's unfortunately no scientific evidence you'll ever free yourself from its grasp. But just like with regular motion sickness, at that place are things yous tin can exercise to filibuster your symptoms, subtract their intensity, and even railroad train your brain to cease triggering them.

And as much equally you lot may want to play through the pain—don't. It won't work.

What causes gaming sickness?

The brusk answer is: nosotros don't really know. The most popular theory, though, names sensory disharmonize equally the culprit—this is when your brain receives information that doesn't friction match its expectations for how the world should piece of work.

For example, when you lot walk down the street, your eyes see buildings and the movement of the people effectually you lot. Meanwhile, your inner ear—the organ in charge of your balance and sense of motion—corroborates this information by telling your encephalon that yes, y'all're moving. There's no conflict. Everything is peachy.

But if you're request are video games bad for you, they can affect certain people in different means. When some people play certain types of video games—especially titles from first-person series such equally Phone call of Duty, Dishonored, and Borderlands—there may be a disconnect betwixt what their eyes see and what their inner ear detects. On one hand, they see realistic movement on the screen designed to make them experience immersed in the game. On the other, their inner ear tells their encephalon in that location'southward no movement at all—that they're only sitting on their burrow. Those mixed messages make the encephalon freak out, and that'due south when gaming sickness occurs.

Keep it short

If yous're concerned about the negative effects of video games, the most reliable counter to gaming sickness is to start playing challenging games slowly, over a series of brief sessions, says Séamas Weech, a postdoctoral enquiry fellow at McGill University, whose work focuses on understanding cybersickness in virtual reality. This allows the encephalon and torso to build up a tolerance—a process those in Weech'south field telephone call "getting your legs."

"Training users to become allowed to movement sickness is an intensely active area of research. Although we have no Holy Grail, nosotros have learned a lot," Weech says. "The best safeguard is to avoid challenging the sensory systems in the first place."

That's why struggling through the discomfort won't help you—it overloads your senses. Instead, have a interruption every bit before long as you start feeling sick, wait until your symptoms accept subsided, and only then try over again.

Your previous experience with video games, and the particular title you're playing are primal to whether this method volition work for you, and how well, says Weech. These variables are why there'southward no saying how fast you lot'll exist able to increment your play time or how long it volition take you to get fully used to the game you're playing—if ever.

Avoid the big screens—and the modest ones, also

We similar huge displays considering they permit united states of america to see pictures in more than detail, but too because they make it easier for united states to immerse ourselves into what nosotros're watching, be it a movie or a video game. Only this is exactly why you lot should not use one if you endure from gaming sickness.

Smaller screens are better: they won't take up your entire field of vision, constantly reminding your brain that you're really in a room and the movement y'all run into is but an image on a screen. "The room provides a stable visual reference that keeps the player grounded in the existent world, which will reduce sensory conflicts," says Weech.

If y'all already have a big flat-screen TV that is now making you nauseous, you don't need to throw information technology away—sitting farther from it volition have the aforementioned effect.

But don't go too small and confine your gaming to your smartphone. Tiny screens require you to strain your eyes to brand out fine details, and so you'll most likely cease upward with a headache, another common and annoying symptom of gaming sickness.

Continue it lit

Person playing video games in the dark with a pink neon light — Sure, this looks absurd, but if you don't desire to deal with a huge headache, you'd meliorate turn on the lights. *Alexander Jawfox / Unsplash*

You tin can take this as general life advice, but here we're specifically talking about the room yous're playing in. Ditch those neon strips you saw on TikTok, or those fairy lights that accept been hanging effectually your window for years, and turn on a proper lamp to light up your space.

This has a double upshot. Kickoff, playing games in a well-lit room will prevent you lot from exerting your eyes, which will help you avoid a headache. 2d, illuminating your environs will help your eyes understand that you lot're in a room, not fighting zombies on the Titanic.

Control the elements

Because gaming sickness is a form of motion sickness, nigh things that alleviate the symptoms of one, work for the other—including getting some fresh air on your face and drinking cool h2o.

You can enjoy the breeze while you walk or sit down outside on one of your breaks, or you tin can indicate a fan at yourself while yous play. Weech says the latter tin can actually help generate the sense of concrete move that is usually absent-minded when gaming, which will pb to less sensory disharmonize. Meanwhile, cool h2o volition help settle your tum when you start feeling sweaty or nauseous.

Become some backup

In the gaming community, some see gaming sickness every bit a weakness, just there's admittedly no shame in getting some help if information technology means reducing discomfort and playing for a piffling while longer.

Some studies bear witness that ginger can have a therapeutic effect on nausea, though whether it brings significant or balmy relief varies from person to person. Y'all tin try ginger tea, ginger beer, or even ginger processed. If you adopt to try ingesting it every bit a supplement, be sure to consult your dr. before you do so.

Another method that was designed to fight regular motion sickness but is too used by gamers is wearing acupressure wristbands. These bracelets expect a lot like something John McEnroe might have worn on a tennis court in the '70s, but they have a plastic insert that applies pressure to a indicate on the underside of your forearm, merely below the wrist. Known equally the P6, this acupressure point is three fingers (near i to 2 inches) beneath the base of operations of your hand, and pressing it constantly can help salve nausea and dizziness. If you don't have these bands, you can achieve the same issue with your thumb.

If all else fails, change the game

Some games are worse than others when it comes to gaming sickness. First-person shooting games are the No. 1 culprit, while anything with super-realistic graphics tin brand some people's world spin round and circular in a second. Sorry, simply if nothing's working, you might have to stop playing that title entirely.

Before you surrender your favorite game, though, see if it's possible to change the sensitivity settings or the player's betoken of view. Going from only seeing your graphic symbol's easily to seeing their entire back can assist a lot, while reducing the speed of the camera movements and the bobbing of the head and guns can likewise make a huge departure. Don't forget to check your screen'south settings, too—high refresh-charge per unit displays can be nauseogenic, so bump those frames-per-second down a chip or alter your display to something slower.

If you're even so looking into motion sickness pills, you may desire to try another kind of game—tertiary-person narrative, puzzle games, a vintage 2D championship, or pre-Nintendo 64 Mario Bros., to name a few. It might be disappointing, just you may have to build up your tolerance so you can finally play titles like Halo or Apex Legends. Getting your trunk used to less-complex games first is a great segue into highly realistic graphics and fast photographic camera movements.

Remember: torturing yourself by enduring your symptoms won't help them go away any faster. Have it slow and bask your playtime. Games should be fun, after all.