Escape from reality or practicing life in the virtual world

The modern technology contributes to the development of more complex video games, in which the participant can be completely immersed in the game and have the experience of his own presence in the virtual world through his avatar, which assumes the characteristics of the player. A wide range of motives can mediate pleasure in the virtual world. The virtual world provides the illusion of reality. It makes possible to bypass the need for mental processing of connections and transformations that forms a bridge between the inner world of fantasy and objective reality. It is considered that video games shift the focus to control and narcissistic gratification and that communication in virtual reality implies a greater cathexis of skills and performance than emotions and thoughts. Can we understand video games as a type of projective technique? Strategic video games are often among the one of most popular video games. The authors collected data and materials on the mentioned topics from their daily clinical work, and present a case report. Observing video games through virtual spaces and the ways in which young players use them, we can conclude, that they have the capacity to be useful for various aspects of young people's development, but they can also interfere with it.