Eye strain from gaming, and how to blink more
Short answer
Gaming cuts blinking hard. In a 2025 study, casual players went from about 13 blinks a minute at baseline to about 4 while playing, in action, adventure and sports games alike (Argilés, 2025), and a faster game cut blinking more than a slower one (Cardona, 2011). Full blinks in pauses and looking away between matches may ease tired eyes.
What happens to blinking when you play
Argilés, Cardona and Valentino recorded 20 casual gamers with an eye tracker while they watched and played Call of Duty, Sackboy and FIFA 19, in random order. Blink rate averaged about 13 a minute at baseline, about 8 while watching gameplay and about 4 while playing. The action game had the lowest rate, but the difference between genres was too small to be sure of. Blinks tended to come in calmer scenes rather than the busiest ones.
Cardona and colleagues had 25 young adults play two computer games that were similar in mental demand but different in pace. Blink rate fell to about half of baseline in the slower game and to almost a third in the faster one, more of the blinks were incomplete, and the tear film was less stable. So it isn’t only concentration: how fast new things appear on screen matters too.
Do experienced players blink differently?
In a 2026 study, 17 regular action game players and 13 non-players each played 25 minutes of Call of Duty. The regular players blinked less: about 6 times a minute in busy scenes against about 8 for non-players, and about 10 against about 14 in calmer ones. Eye discomfort rose in both groups as they played, earlier in the non-players, and tear volume didn’t change.
The authors suggest that experienced players may learn to hold blinks back so they don’t miss anything, which fits earlier work showing that people time their blinks for moments when little is happening on screen (Nakano, 2009). These are small studies of short sessions. They don’t show whether years of gaming affect the eyes.
Breaks between matches
No study has tested breaks between matches for gamers, so this is a reasonable habit rather than a proven fix. The nearest evidence is from office work: reminders to follow the 20-20-20 rule eased symptoms over two weeks, with the benefit gone a week after they stopped (Talens-Estarelles, 2023), while 20-second breaks during a single 40-minute task made no difference (Johnson and Rosenfield, 2023).
Games already have pauses built in: loading screens, respawns, replays and the gap between rounds. Those are moments when blinking costs you nothing, so they are good places for a few slow, full blinks. Full blinks may matter more than extra ones: in Portello and colleagues’ 2013 study, raising blink rate with a tone didn’t change symptoms, while incomplete blinks went with more symptoms.
How to blink more when gaming
- In loading screens, respawns and replays, close your eyes fully two or three times.
- Between matches, look out of a window or across the room for 20 seconds.
- Sit back from the screen, about an arm’s length from a monitor, with it a little below eye level.
- Keep fans, heaters and air vents from blowing at your face.
- If your eyes stay dry, sore or red, or your vision changes, see an optometrist or eye doctor.
BlinkPause works inside your browser, so it covers browser games and your time on the web between matches, not desktop or console games. Its soft eyelids keep coming in fullscreen, and look-away breaks wait until fullscreen ends. It’s a reminder, not a medical device.
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Sources
- Argilés, Cardona and Valentino (2025), Characterization of eye blink parameters during high and low-dynamic scenes in different video game genres
- Cardona et al. (2011), Blink rate, blink amplitude, and tear film integrity during dynamic visual display terminal tasks
- Argilés et al. (2026), Blink rate self-regulation, tear volume and ocular symptoms in expert and naïve action video game players
- Nakano et al. (2009), Synchronization of spontaneous eyeblinks while viewing video stories
- Talens-Estarelles et al. (2023), The effects of breaks on digital eye strain, dry eye and binocular vision: testing the 20-20-20 rule
- Johnson and Rosenfield (2023), 20-20-20 rule: are these numbers justified?
- Portello, Rosenfield and Chu (2013), Blink rate, incomplete blinks and computer vision syndrome
- American Academy of Ophthalmology (2024), Computers, digital devices, and eye strain
This page explains research for general interest. It isn’t medical advice, and BlinkPause is a reminder, not a medical device.