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Keeping your cool

Calm hands when it all goes wrong.

Last life, last boss, screen full of bullets. Players who tense up die. Players who breathe and keep their thumbs loose get through. Old shooters and fighting games are pressure cookers built to teach exactly this.

The trick is that calm is a skill, not a mood. You can practise it.

Train it on purpose

  1. When you feel the grip tighten on the pad, notice it. Loosen your hands on purpose. That is the whole drill.
  2. After a big death, wait five seconds before you hit continue. Do not rage-restart.
  3. Play the hardest bit on purpose, over and over, until it stops making your heart race.

Off the couch

Job interviews, arguments, a first date where the conversation stalls, the moment your mate's car breaks down on the highway. The person who stays level gets to think while everyone else reacts. And here is one for free: nobody fancies the bloke who throws the controller. Calm is attractive.

Sources

  1. Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.

Games that train it

ActRaiser 2 coverActRaiser 2
Spells only fire after you hold the button to charge, and on the higher settings the charge takes longer while monsters keep coming. Panic and let go early, and you've wasted a scroll.Air Fortress coverAir Fortress
Once the core goes up, the fortress explodes soon after and you only have a short window to find your ship.Aladdin coverAladdin
The Cave of Wonders has lava closing in behind you while you dodge obstacles. Panic gets you cooked.Art of Fighting coverArt of Fighting
Desperation Moves only unlock when your health is low and the bar is flashing, so panic is the thing to avoid.Axelay coverAxelay
Take a hit and your current weapon breaks, so you limp on with the weak default. A second hit kills you. Panic after the first hit and you'll take the second.Batman: The Video Game coverBatman: The Video Game
Getting knocked back into a pit right at the top of a shaft is the moment most people throw the pad.Battletoads coverBattletoads
The walls come faster and faster in the Turbo Tunnel. Tense up and you're done.Bust-a-Move coverBust-a-Move
The ceiling drops and the music speeds up exactly when the pile gets close to your line. That is when most people start firing wild.Castlevania: Dracula X coverCastlevania: Dracula X
The difficulty's real and the level layouts own some of the blame. The game asks for patience, not anger.Clock Tower coverClock Tower
When Scissorman finds you, the game flips into panic mode. No weapon, just a hiding spot, a trap, or mashing a button to wrench free.Contra III: The Alien Wars coverContra III: The Alien Wars
The action is dense and loud from the first screen, the bosses are huge, and the difficulty is brutal above normal. Every death is your fault, which is the point.Cool Spot coverCool Spot
Every level has a time limit, and taking damage bends your health face a little further each hit.Dig Dug coverDig Dug
By the last enemy the monsters are at their fastest, and the one left is bolting for the surface. You've got to cut it off without blundering into fire or a rock.Donkey Kong Jr. coverDonkey Kong Jr.
A bonus timer counts down the whole time, and every loop runs faster. Rush it and you fall.Doom coverDoom
Demons and possessed soldiers come in crowds and charge the moment they see or hear you. Panic and you spray the shells you need for the next room.Double Dragon coverDouble Dragon
The Mission 3 cavern, with its jumps and traps, stops being a brawler and becomes a test of your jumping. The platforming can be cruel.EarthBound coverEarthBound
Hit points roll down like an odometer, so a mortal blow gives you a few seconds to heal before the number hits zero. Panic and you waste them.Earthworm Jim 2 coverEarthworm Jim 2
In Inflated Head, one sharp object sends Jim back to the start while Evil the Cat attacks. Panic and you lose the climb.Earthworm Jim coverEarthworm Jim
In one level you whip Peter Puppy over pits, and if anything hurts him he turns on Jim. Funny once, tense every time after.F1 Race coverF1 Race
The clock runs down, and panic drives you into the next car.Faxanadu coverFaxanadu
Movement is stiff, the jump is short and knockback can push you off a ledge. Rush a ladder with an enemy nearby and you lose a screen of progress.Final Fantasy IV coverFinal Fantasy IV
Active Time Battle means enemies act when their gauge fills, whether you've chosen a move or not. Hesitate and you take the hit.Final Fight Guy coverFinal Fight Guy
It's one player only, so there's no partner to bail Guy out when the street fills up. Get swarmed and you need a calm head to get clear.Friday the 13th coverFriday the 13th
An alarm sounds, Jason's attacking someone and a clock starts. Panic and you sprint the wrong way through the woods.Gradius III coverGradius III
When the screen fills, the game halves its speed. Treat it as time to think, not a reason to panic.Gradius coverGradius
Losing a ship stings, because a well-built Vic Viper is worth far more than a fresh one. The next life is where most runs fall apart.Hogan's Alley coverHogan's Alley
The hesitation before you fire on a cut-out you aren't sure about is the whole game. Ten mistakes and it's over.Ice Hockey coverIce Hockey
Let two players tussle long enough and their teammates pile in, and the loser of the scrap goes to the penalty box. The crowd gets louder as a close game ticks under two minutes.Ken Griffey Jr.'s Winning Run coverKen Griffey Jr.'s Winning Run
Late innings, tied game, the throw coming in. The controls are quick, so a panicky press costs you the run.Killer Instinct coverKiller Instinct
An Ultra Combo is coming and you're stuck in a 20-hit string. Mash and you eat all 20. Stay calm, waits for the gap and lands the combo breaker.Kirby's Avalanche coverKirby's Avalanche
Grey rocks start raining onto your side and the middle columns climb. Against a friend it becomes a race of nerve.Mario Bros. coverMario Bros.
Icicles form and Slipice freeze platforms in later rounds, so panic costs a life.Metal Gear coverMetal Gear
Snake starts with nothing, guards patrol every screen, and the game wants you to slip past rather than shoot.Mighty Final Fight coverMighty Final Fight
Mad Gear thugs pile in from both sides of the street. Mash and you get surrounded; the one who stays calm picks them off one at a time.Mortal Kombat coverMortal Kombat
Goro has four arms and hits like a truck. Players who panic and jump in get flattened.Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom coverNinja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom
Small mistakes turn into deaths fast. The players who get through stay steady instead of flinching.Operation Wolf coverOperation Wolf
Enemies come from every direction and your damage bar fills as you take hits, so panic costs hostages.Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures coverPac-Man 2: The New Adventures
When you know exactly where he needs to go and he won't go there, it's maddening.Pilotwings coverPilotwings
Anti-aircraft guns kill in one hit on the helicopter mission, and the later licences ask for more precision under the same pressure.Pocky & Rocky coverPocky & Rocky
Danger comes from every direction you can move in, and kappa don't wait for you to settle. The player who panics slides into trouble; the calm one dances through the crowd.Power Blade coverPower Blade
Fall off the screen and you're gone. Time can run out, too. You have to keep moving without panicking at the edges.Prince of Persia coverPrince of Persia
Your shadow self steals a potion and throws you into a dungeon, and at the end you learn every hit on it hurts you too. Swinging harder is not the answer.Rad Racer coverRad Racer
Traffic thickens from Beetles to Testarossas and the clock's always ticking. When time runs out you coast, and the calm driver can still roll over the line on fumes.Silver Surfer coverSilver Surfer
Enemies and their shots fill the screen, and reviewers at the time called it frustrating. Tense up and you clip a bullet.SimCity 2000 coverSimCity 2000
A deficit, a disaster or a stalled grid can sink the city you've nursed for hours. The scenarios throw a mess at you on purpose.SimCity coverSimCity
Bowser stomps through a city you've nursed for hours, or a fire jumps three blocks, and you've got to rebuild, not throw the controller.Smash TV coverSmash TV
Enemies pour in through doors on all four walls in waves. The room gets loud and you've got to keep thinking.Snake's Revenge coverSnake's Revenge
One exclamation mark means a guard has seen you, and two means the alert phase starts. Freezing on the first is how it turns into the second.Solomon's Key coverSolomon's Key
A timer runs and demons keep spawning while you're still working out the room. Think too long and you're dead.Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting coverStreet Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting
At high speed, whoever panics mashes buttons. The calm one waits for the opening.Sunset Riders coverSunset Riders
One hit costs a life and every power-up you were carrying, and lit dynamite has to be thrown back before it goes off.Super Bomberman 3 coverSuper Bomberman 3
Five players at once means every corridor is somebody's trap, and the last two standing often survive on luck.Super Bomberman coverSuper Bomberman
After ninety seconds the game shouts Hurry Up and seals the arena from the edges in. Most players panic. The calm one finds the last safe square.Super Castlevania IV coverSuper Castlevania IV
Difficulty climbs steeply in the final stages, where a knockback into a pit costs a long stretch. Rush and you fall.Super Mario Bros. 2 coverSuper Mario Bros. 2
Poison mushrooms, invisible blocks and wind gusts mid-jump. It feels mean, and the angry player keeps dying in the same spot.Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island coverSuper Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Get hit and baby Mario floats off in a bubble, wailing, while a countdown ticks. The shrill crying is the perfect setup for a second mistake.Super Punch-Out!! coverSuper Punch-Out!!
No points decision, no draw: if three minutes run out, you lose. The later circuits become a race against the clock as much as the boxer.Super R-Type coverSuper R-Type
When the screen fills with bullets, the game slows almost to a standstill. Panic wastes that gift; calm players thread straight through.Tecmo Bowl coverTecmo Bowl
The play call is a tense little bluffing contest, a game takes minutes, and once you pick you can't take it back.Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles coverTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The second mission, defusing timed bombs underwater, is the bit everyone remembers. The ticking clock is built to rattle you.Tetris & Dr. Mario coverTetris & Dr. Mario
Mixed Match flips between Tetris and Dr. Mario mid-match, so your plan keeps getting yanked.Top Gun coverTop Gun
Three planes, no continues. The dogfights are fun; the pressure lands when you're lining up the carrier.Toy Story coverToy Story
Racing the R.C. car with batteries draining, or hunting aliens in the claw machine against the clock, rewards a steady hand.Urban Strike coverUrban Strike
On-foot missions drop you into tight interiors with a rifle, and panic-firing gets you killed.Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety coverVenom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety
The fights keep landing hits you can't dodge, against the same enemies again and again. Mashing in a temper only makes it worse.Volleyball coverVolleyball
Most rallies end in a guess about where the ball is, which tests your temper more than your hands.Wario's Woods coverWario's Woods
A Thwomp comes down disguised as the ceiling, and the field fills until Toad is trapped.Wild Gunman coverWild Gunman
Fire too soon and the duel is lost before it starts. The wait before the flash is pure tension.Yoshi's Cookie coverYoshi's Cookie
In the single-player VS Mode, the grid keeps filling from the top and right while you race the computer. One panicked slide wrecks the next line.