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Real-time strategy (RTS) games, such as StarCraft, Command & Conquer, or WarCraft, have a positive effect on the development of intellectual abilities. A group of psychologists from the USA and the UK found that gamers who prefer RTS games show improved physical and mental coordination, as well as skills related to planning and strategic thinking.
The scientists came to this conclusion by observing two groups of people over a period of 1.5–2 months (a total of 40 hours per person). One group played the first and second parts of StarCraft, and the other played the "life simulator" The Sims. Only women participated in the study "due to the small number of men who do not play games."
At the end of the experiment, those who played the strategy game from Blizzard showed improved cognitive abilities. Playing StarCraft, according to an article published in the journal PLOS ONE, affected the cognitive flexibility of the people due to the need to quickly assess the situation and simultaneously cope with different tasks. In contrast, no changes were observed in the players of The Sims.