This article defines human flourishing as living a life of optimal functioning based on positive productivity. What productivity is, in this sense, is not defined; leading me to glimpse from personal experience what society expects it to be. Common responses involve actions, such as work and social interaction. Self-centered hobbies, such as video games, are often overlooked, seen as not promoting productivity and its supposed benefits. This produces tension through what is commonly considered positively productive towards prosperity and a means of growth, especially with children, that offers enjoyment through technological solitude. From this, I wonder if optimal functioning is only achievable through traditional methods of productivity versus the passivity that gaming is believed to promote. This article aims to closely examine these statements in adolescents, since if a large majority turn to video games as an extracurricular activity, I write it can be concluded that there is an aspect that increases their happiness. The truth of this will be evaluated in this article, paying attention to the broader topic of what promotes psychological happiness and optimal human functioning. Knowledge of the effects of video games leads to an agreement that games do not always hinder, providing benefits in the child's developmental growth in some cases. points. Shelley L. Gable and Jonathan Haidt assert the need to focus on the psychological aspects that benefit mental health rather than what detract from it (105-107), which I link to the popular view of most games as an unhealthy medium. Cheryl K. Olson fills this need, drawing on research to examine what drives children to play video games and its positive effects, such as creating self-development... middle of paper ......d Consequences. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2006. 363-378. Network. March 10, 2014. Fredrickson, Barbara L. and Michael F. Losada. “Positive affect and the complex dynamics of human flourishing.” American Psychologist 60.7 (2005): 678-686. Network. January 10, 2014. Gable, Shelley L. and Jonathan Haidt. “What (and why) is positive psychology?” General Psychology Review 9.2 (2006): 103-110. Network. January 10, 2014.Li, DongDong, Albert Liau and Angeline Khoo. “Examining the influence of ideal self-self discrepancies, depression, and escapism, on pathological gaming among adolescent massively multiplayer online gamers.” Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking 14.9 (2011): 535-539. Network. February 13, 2014. Olson, Cheryl K. “Children's Motivations for Video Game Play in the Context of Normal Development.” General Psychology Review 14.2 (2010): 180-187. March 10 2014.