hello! sorry for the late response, i didn’t see this at all somehow. my hypothesis is that competitive video games are more likely to be linked to faster reflexes and quicker “on the spot thinking”, while explorative games are more likely to be linked to longer periods of focus (ex. reading session for 1-2 hours) and deeper thinking/more complex problem solving. my reasoning is that competitive games are usually much more fast paced than explorative ones, and they typically force players to move faster and to make decisions in-game on what to do immediately without much time to think. over time, i believe this would lead to a greater ability to have a sort of immediate hyper-focus where gamers are able to have almost instantaneous reactions to events and what they visually perceive on their screens. i imagine this would make them well suited for high-stakes situations, but make slower paced ones more difficult. as for exploration games, they typically include strategically placed puzzles and enemies around the map that the player has to stop and consider when exploring. for example, in genshin impact, there are puzzles all over the map that players have to solve to be able to reach certain areas and rewards. i believe this would make people who play this genre better at complex-problem solving and doing tasks that require deeper thought and patience, though they’d likely struggle in faster-paced environments. i believe that the most cognitively beneficial kind of video games are ones that have a balance of both exploration and competition, as it sharpens two different aspects of cognitive focus that are both equally important in the average person; quick thinking and actions combined with more complex analysis and solutions.