Want to curb your cravings for sex and food? Play Tetris

I’m a compulsive being. My brain tells me I want something, and I listen to it. Often, my brain does not act on my best interest, and that’s when I should turn to video games.

Playing the classic block-falling puzzle game Tetris for as little as three minutes can reduce cravings for food, drugs, or sex by as much as 70 percent, according to a Plymouth University study that was recently published in the scientific journal Addictive Behaviors (via ScienceDirect). The research suggests that Tetris — and potentially other graphically intense video games (although the study did not try anything but Tetris) — take up so much of your mental focus that it leaves little room in your mind for other desires.