Playing Tetris Curbs Drugs, Food, Cigarettes, Alcohol & Sex Cravings

Tetris has been entertaining individuals for over 25 years and since 2005 it's been downloaded about 100 million times on mobile. What's more, it looks like there is another reason for gamers to download this game as scientists have discovered that playing Tetris can actually help curb desires for food, cigarettes, drugs and even sex.

Medical Daily writes that according to a study done at the Plymouth University and at Queensland University of Technology in Australia, playing the game has interfered with an individual's cravings.

The seven-day study monitored 31 participants between the ages of 18 to 27 through a natural setting. Researchers asked the participants to play the classic game and randomly sent a text message throughout the day to check if they are experiencing any cravings. Some have been asked to play the game for at least three minutes before reporting back any cravings.

About 30 percent of the participants have reported craving for food or drinks, 21 percent said they have been craving for substances that enhances alertness, and 16 percent have experienced craving for other activities such as sex or video games.

This findings have led Professor Jackie Andrade, lead author of the study, to conclude that playing Tetris has decreased the strong cravings of individuals because desires involve thinking. As it turns out, it becomes visually hard to imagine something you like while playing the game at the same time, notes International Business Times. Playing Tetris, which is a visually entertaining game, can take up all the mental capability of the brain to the point that is has no more room for imagining other things.

Furthermore, Professor Andrade states that the Tetris effect was able to decrease strong cravings from 70 percent to 50 percent, demonstrating a significant intervention possibility.

She later explains that the study is first to demonstrate how cognitive and mental interference can be used to reduce cravings that have nothing to do with food. Tetris can be a support tool to help individuals avoid addiction and manage their cravings on a daily basis.

Western Morning News UK adds that Jon May, co-author and professor at Plymouth University, states the Tetris effect has been consistent for the whole duration of the experiment, in which the participants have played the game approximately 40 times and yet the effect did not wear off.

The study has been published in the journal Addictive Behaviours.