Aside from entertainment reasons, what things (physical, mental, social etc) do you learn from gaming?
It depends on the game, but I've learned teamwork, communication with other types of people, how to read people.
In creative games, we weave stories together to provide a satisfying narrative.
Physical games can improve physical abilities and overall health.
Also, what kind of games do you enjoy playing the most and WHY?
I'm not really sure which games I enjoy most. I like a variety of game, and so if I do one type for too long, I get bored with it and meanwhile feel a need to do other things. I also often don't have others to play games with, locally, so many games are individual computer games.
I do typically like games that engage my mind and provide choices about how to meet goals. I also enjoy games where my choices impact character development and storyline.
But... if I'm in a mood where I want to stop thinking and just respond to things, I really enjoy driving games or shooting games.
When other people are around, I like playing interactive games. Hearts, Spoons, Uno, Apples to Apples, Rummy Q, Quiddler, Pictionary, Clue, Dutch Blitz. (My kids and I always have had a lot of fun with those games.) On occasions when I wanted to invest brain power, I'd play Risk or chess or bridge.
For physical games, I'll play trampoline games, or frisbee/Ultimate, or spud, or throw a ball. On occasion, I'll play soccer or freezetag/capture the flag.
How many hours per week do you estimate you spend playing?
I probably play games on Facebooks 5-6 hours a week.
When I was playing Rift (a new popular MMO), I played probably 20-25 hours a week, but right now maybe only five hours a week.
I'm on a pen-and-paper gaming schedule where, if we stick to schedule, we play probably five hours a week.