When I volunteered to craft an article capturing "why you should play Magic," I knew I was biting off more than I could chew. How could I document every positive influence this beloved game has had on my life and the lives of millions of other players over its 31-year history? Truly, such a topic could be converted into a full-blown non-fiction book detailing the game's many profound benefits.

Alas, I'm confined to this modest space for this week's topic, so I will need to take some creative license to give it adequate justice. Therefore, I will strike a balance between reasons to play Magic that appeal to broader audiences and reasons that resonated strongly with me on a personal level. Hopefully, at least a couple of these reasons will also resonate with you.

Reason #1: A Fun, Challenging, Ever-Changing Game

Do you enjoy playing a fun, challenging game occasionally? A game that is simultaneously closed (there are a finite number of possibilities) yet so open-ended and immense in scope that no two games are ever identical? This is Magic in a nutshell.

There really is nothing like Magic in existence when it comes to gaming experience. Dungeons and Dragons is extremely open-ended, but because there's an improvisational component (a game can be as divergent as its players are creative), it doesn't exist in a truly enclosed system like Magic does. On the other hand, a game like chess is extremely complex and also finite, but over time, games start to look awfully similar. There are entire books written about chess openings because these openings are so common. When you start a game with the same 16 pieces in the same spots every time, you start to see repeat patterns.

Magic manages to remain finite while also providing immense complexity and variation. What's more, by crafting your own decks, you can choose how variable you want your games to be! With over 27,000 unique Magic: The Gathering cards, it's no wonder MIT Technology Review cites this game as the most complex of all time.

Reason #2: A Brain Workout

I couldn't find journal articles that cited Magic: The Gathering as an intelligence or memory booster. Such a claim may be a little strong, so I'll refrain from making such unbased claims here.

What I will say, however, is that Magic does a fantastic job of exercising your brain, and that has to be a net positive for your mental acuity. Playing Magic on an ongoing basis teaches many valuable skills, including reading/comprehension, communication skills, strategic thinking, mental math, and planning ahead. While most anyone can learn to play Magic on a basic level, I'm convinced that players who gravitate toward this game tend to be brainier than the average person.

Consider this: Mensa (you know, that institute of geniuses) awarded Magic: The Gathering its "Mensa Select" classification back in 1994 for being an original, challenging, and well-designed game. In fact, Higher End Geek goes so far as to say that Mensa considers Magic "the single best game to play for [brain-training exercise]." They go on to say that this game "involves a lot of interacting rules which take some real intellect to figure out, and it really is a workout at the best of times."

Reason #3: A Game That Pays You Back

Magic is considered a collectible card game, meaning you play with a bunch of cards that have varying power levels and rarity. When you introduce variable rarity and power levels in a game, you immediately create some form of a secondary market. And boy, does Magic have a robust, healthy secondary market!

Going back to the game's inception from 1993-1994, you have a large selection of high-dollar cards that relentlessly appreciate in value. For example, consider the popular dual land Underground Sea from Revised Edition - below is its price chart courtesy of MTGStocks, dating back to 2013.

The chart is a little bumpy, but the general direction is up! This was a $130 card eleven years ago, and today, nice copies readily sell for over $700. In fact, I happen to remember a much earlier time, circa 1997, when this card would have been around $12. From $12 to $700, you have a 5,733% gain, or roughly 212% a year when annualized. Try finding that kind of return on investment consistently in the stock market!

Granted, not every card in Magic offers this kind of stellar return. Even newer cards have at least some value, and a few savvy decisions around timing and prioritization can help you at least reduce the cost to play this game. Other hobbies (e.g., golf) require a significant up-front investment - you enjoy the pastime for a while, but if you ultimately decide to sell your equipment and move on to something else, you're likely to incur a hefty loss on your initial investment. It's not too often used golf clubs and golf carts sell for the same amount or more than what you paid after you used them for a few years.

Not so with Magic. There are countless instances where you purchase popular cards for play, enjoy them for a few years, and then discover that they're actually worth more than what you initially paid! This isn't always the case, but in general, I've found the secondary market on Magic cards to be far less merciless and punishing than most other hobbies. And if you're really clever, you can even make a bit of money along the way!

Reason #4: Premier Play

Do you have what it takes to be a professional competitor in the world of Magic? I sure don't, but there are plenty who reach the upper echelons of the game's competitions!

While being a professional Magic player isn't nearly as feasible as it used to be (you'll likely need to supplement with additional content creation and sponsorship), that doesn't mean you can't make a hefty payday by playing this game!

I'll come right out and admit now that Magic does not offer a best-in-class tournament scene. I suspect that the top chess players and top video game players of the world can earn a better prize than someone who wins a Magic Pro Tour. That being said, the winner of Pro Tour Modern Horizons 3, which just recently took place in Amsterdam, took home a cool $50,000!

That's nothing to sneeze at! If you're not qualified for the Pro Tour, that doesn't mean you can't win a premier event and bring home serious money. There are open events offered globally throughout the year where winners can take home a four-figure prize.

Playing a fun, challenging game is a reward by itself. For the most competitive among us, playing a fun, challenging game for a chance to win thousands in prizes is akin to having one's cake and eating it too!

It reminds me of an old saying I used to hear at the tournament tables: "Even a day of playing bad Magic is still a good day."

Reason #5: The Gathering

Now we're getting close to home for me - this is the number one reason why I started and continued playing Magic for the past 27 years of my life.

Magic has this inherent ability to bring people together. No matter your background or your walk of life, when you sit down with someone to play a game of Magic, you immediately develop a bond because you both share a passion that the average person on the street doesn't understand. It's like you are in some sort of club that anyone can join, but not many people know about, and it goes much deeper.

Let's travel back in time to late 1996, when I was around 12 years old. Around this timeframe, my parents had just gotten divorced, and my father was planning to marry someone else - a tumultuous time in my life, to say the least! My father moved away, and my mother, siblings, and I moved to a different town where I had to start seventh grade in a new school. I knew nobody.

This is when Magic entered my life in a most unsuspecting way. My dad's new wife had a son from a previous marriage, and he played Magic. When I went out to visit my dad's new family for the first time, I was exposed to this intriguing game. I fell in love with the art on the cards, the complex nature of the game, its deck-building aspect, and the fact that these game pieces also carried some value. Most importantly, it gave me a reason to connect with my stepbrother.

While that relationship didn't blossom as I would have hoped, I stuck with the game. Then when I began seventh grade, I met two friends (and only two) who also played Magic. We started hanging out now and again, and these individuals became my closest friends for the next six years. In fact, these same two friends are driving out to visit me next month as we celebrate our 40th birthdays together! I found these pictures from New Year's Eve 2005, of my best friends and me playing Magic (without sleeves, as Richard Garfield intended!).

Magic became a safe space for me to be myself and connect with others during a time period when I lacked support and direction.

In between 12 and 40, I met so many other important people in my life through Magic. I have traveled the country and the world and met other Magic players who have become great friends. For example, I have friends in Belgium and The Netherlands whom I have visited and stayed with - we only know each other because we interacted on the topic of Magic on the internet. The picture below was taken during a visit I made to Amsterdam!

I have also played Magic in Germany and England - no matter where you travel in the world, you can immediately bond with someone who also cherishes this beloved game.

Wrapping It Up

I honestly don't know where I'd be if not for Magic. It helped give me something to look forward to and enjoy during a very trying time in my life. It kept me entertained for countless hours as the game has evolved. It gave me a chance to play in some high-stakes tournaments (though I never had much success in anything beyond the local game shop level). It helped fund my meager lifestyle in college when I sold a handful of cards to raise a couple of hundred bucks. It gave me some of my best friends throughout my life. It gave me a reason to travel the world. Thanks to some well-timed investments, it also will help fund my kids' college educations.

All this and more, I have Magic to thank for.