It's not exactly a chemical addiction like a lot of drugs, but yeah you can get addicted to anything that gives you a dopamine kick. It all depends on the person in question. Some people have addictive personalities that get them hooked on certain things. People already mentioned lootboxes, the mechanics of which are the same ones used with casino slot machines. More of a gambling addiction than a gaming one, but the point's still there.
It's not common. You take two people and have them smoke cigarettes and they'll both become addicted due to the nicotine. Take those same people and have them play games and it's not a guarantee that either will become addicted.
Likely depends on the personality of the player. Some folks are more prone to addition than others..... (like, the guy in korea that played for several days straight, and subsequently died......)
Lee Seung Seop, 2005, Starcraft, I remember how my friends parents went around talking about it... no Diablo or Warcraft for a couple of summers...
I personally believe that an addiction to anything appears when life becomes boring and nothing happens, or the reality that exists does not bring you pleasure. That is why a person escapes in this way into another world. If you have become addicted to games, drugs, alcohol, food, you need to look at your life from the outside and ask yourself "what am I doing wrong? "what's bothering me right now?"
Well over half a century ago, it was believed that reading science fiction was addictive and damaging to the minds of young people. Adolescents who walked around with books by Heinlein or Herbert or Clarke or Asimov, or Verne under their arms were somehow abnormal and were the subject of scientific inquiry. These young people were using escapist fiction to avoid human interaction and were ruining their lives by reading about spaceships and ray guns and distant planets, and alien species. A host of parents panicked and banned these books and their authors from the lives of young people.
The few, more tolerant, parents who allowed their children to keep reading raised sons and daughters who became the scientists behind NASA, Apollo, the ISS, the Space Shuttle, and the host of medical advancements brought about by space flight. These young people became the scientists behind the worlds nuclear submarines. They became the scientists who were the driving force behind the modern computer age.
Further, these young people grew to have a wider view of the world, were more tolerant of the superficial differences in people and were more open to new ideas and new approaches to solving problems. These people became part of the fastest growing scientific advancements in human history. These were the people who changed the world from wine, women and song to sex, drugs and rock and roll. These were the people who brought the world Woodstock and stopped a war.
So, let the kids play. Who knows what exposing children to new and different species might spawn in the way of tolerance. Who knows what exposing children to new ideas and thinking might produce in advancements needed to accommodate the worlds burgeoning population. Who knows what allowing children to employ strategic thinking and problem solving might yield in means to solve as yet unknown problems. Who knows what the next generation will do with the imaginings sparked by a video game.
What follows is editorial in nature, and will offend some people. Read with caution.
Spoiler
What do science fiction and video games really do. They introduce young, impressionable minds to new concepts and ideas. Not by pounding on a pulpit or lectern, but by introducing these different concepts as a normal course of events. And THAT is what made science fiction, and makes video games, dangerous. Young people may actually start to question their status quo, to look at the world differently, to break from the mold their parents try to stuff them into. These concepts can cause adolescents to start the lifelong process of unlearning the falsehoods fed them by their parents, and we can't have that. Spoken with my most sarcastic and condescending voice, "God Forbid".
Yes. Civ is one of the worst. You are always a few turns away from saving or conquering a city, or getting your settler to a wanted spot before someone else. You just don't come to a stopping point.
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