by Nikki Starr

Created on: December 04, 2008   Last Updated: October 24, 2011

Roleplaying games are fun, whether you play them online or around a table. If I had to pick one version to stick with for the rest of my life, though, it would be tabletop-hands down. Not only is tabletop roleplaying more fun, it's better for you. Here's why:

1) Tabletop roleplaying games help prevent age-related mental deterioration. Experts believe regular mental stimulation can help keep your brain healthy. Online games are fun, but they don't give your mind much of a workout; once you've learned how to complete the quests and kill the monsters, it all becomes repetitive. There's usually one "right" way to solve every puzzle, and it's often the only way the program will allow. Tabletop roleplaying, on the other hand, rewards ingenuity. Just because it's not written that way in the adventure doesn't mean you can't try something creative and, if you're lucky, it might work. Once you've solve that puzzle, you move on to something new which is a lot more interesting than solving the same puzzle again.

2) Tabletop roleplaying games help prevent wrinkles. Ok, it sounds like a stretch, but getting enough sleep is one of the healthiest things you can do for your skin. Online games are just TOO convenient-whenever you feel like playing, you can fire up the game and adventure away, and there's rarely a shortage of people to group with. That can lead to some pretty late nights, even when you have to get ready for work within a few hours. When you're playing on a regularly scheduled game night with real people living in the same time zone, there's always a chance someone will start yawning and the group will call it a night. That's more sleep for you, and less wrinkles for your skin.

3) Laughter is good medicine. I've met some funny people online, but they don't hold a candle to the characters I've gamed with around a table. Maybe it's being able to see their facial expressions, but people are just funnier in person. "Emotes" are no substitute for the real look of shock when a trap goes off, or when a trusted NPC double-crosses the party. Watching real people roleplay characters they in no way resemble can be another source of healthy, stress-releasing laughter that just keeps giving every time you relive it in your memory. Call me an oddball, but something about a heavy-set, 6-foot-plus guy roleplaying a fetching young damsel in distress just never fails to make me smile.

4) Tabletop roleplaying games keep you young. Yes, this one's true. A sense of wonder can help us stay young-not on the outside, where time eventually wins the battle, but inside, where it really counts. I like not knowing what's around the next corner, or what attacks a monster has in its arsenal. I enjoy being amazed when a group member thinks of something totally out of the box to get the party out of a tight spot. It's more like the games of make-believe we played as children; the rules can be bent, and you collectively make the story up as you go. I can't think of a better way to keep in touch with my inner child than by playing make-believe with my fellow taxpaying adults. Long live imagination!

So, you know, play what you want. It's only your health at stake!

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