It's not easy to avoid Azeroth while playing World of Warcraft, a venerable MMORPG developed by Blizzard Entertainment. In reality, the orc and elf-filled game has long been known (and only half-jokingly) as "World of Warcrack" in the gaming world.

I can attest to the attraction of wordle 2 of Warcraft's continuous new dungeons, raids, and battlegrounds as someone who has logged more than 600 days of gameplay over the previous 14 years. My level-60 rogue is the first thing that pops to mind when I'm stuck for ideas. And if I don't play for a while, I'll actually dream about World of Warcraft. I find that I can't completely get away, both consciously and unconsciously.

But video gaming "addiction" isn't just limited to World of Warcraft; it's cross-genre and cross-platform. The neurological and psychological side effects of video games extend beyond addiction. So how do video games—from shooters and RPGs to MMORPGs—affect our brains from a scientific perspective? And may playing video games help the brain, despite its drawbacks?