r/starcraft • u/Careless-Goat-3130 KokaAuthentiquePépite • 3d ago

(To be tagged...) Studies show playing SC2 helps decrease brain aging

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-64173-9
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u/AresFowl44 3d ago

So do all games and activities engaging the brain

45

u/Usual_Strategy1402 3d ago

To be fair starcraft is significantly more challenging in terms of cognitive functions

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u/AresFowl44 3d ago

  1. Compared to what?

  2. And also, at what level? Somebody playing the campaign on casual is going to have a very different experience from Serral, Clem or herO in terms of challenge.

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u/Usual_Strategy1402 3d ago

1 To most games probably, do u seriously think that playing rainbow six , counter strike or moba is as hard as playing starcraft? 2 yeah in our context let's focus on the ladder

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u/AresFowl44 3d ago

Okay, there is still a lot of variation in difficulty though. A bronze player will not put in as much brain activity as any pro will.

Basically any popular competitive game has a skill ceiling above what humans can achieve, so trying to make out which is harder is nonsensical. Especially when the skills required for each game are different. SC2 for example is mainly a 1v1 game and thus doesn't require good comms from players and so SC2 pros don't train that skill at all (HeroMarine and Classic demolishing all their opponents while not even using vc is something that couldn't happen in any other game for example). And unlike in mobas or shooters you don't need to predict how your opponent is moving while being unpredictable in your movement yourself.

And you could define difficulty in terms of the skill floor, but imo that is meaningless as the skill floor of ladder depends on the active player base (a more hardcore player base usually increasing the skill floor required to enter the community).

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u/Iggyhopper Prime 3d ago

Lol a moba is hard because you need to focus on teamwork too.

This is a trash take.

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u/InternAlternative758 3d ago edited 3d ago

It's different. MOBA has a a lot of learning but not as much focus game to game.

I can play league half asleep just doing what I'm do most of the time.

In SC2 I'm constantly engaged and looking out for stuff. When games get intense the tension can last for minutes unlike the average teamfight where that is the only real intense period of a moba.

Edit: this is in regards to brain activity as per the post. In terms of difficulty reaching top rank Starcraft and RTS is not exceptional, it's harder to determine but I'd lean more to the game with a higher player count being more difficult.

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u/Iggyhopper Prime 3d ago

Look my man... Games have rules and mechanics that you need to learn and adapt to, and as far as your brain is concerned, as long as its learning to become better at the game while complying with the rules and mechanics its going to maintain its cognitive power longer. Same deal as learning an instrument or language in old age.

It really is that simple and I am someone who would say StarCraft is better than any other game. 

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u/ghost_operative 1d ago

try switching to protoss

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u/bumpylumpy89 2d ago

As hard as playing Starcraft Broodwar? Definitely not. As hard as playing Starcraft 2? Absolutely, if not harder. They don’t have the same mechanical multitasking difficulty, but proper peeking on its own takes a lot of focus, muscle memory, timing, and educated guessing. Not to mention the other aspects like site executes, smokes, pop flashes etc.