The Burrow
Apr 12, 2023
For a lot of people, video games and physical games were a way to deal with the near-two years we experienced lockdowns, giving us a release from the uncertainty of what was going on, and enabling us to connect with our family and friends.
Fast forward to 2023, and whilst COVID lockdowns are a thing of the past, playing games remains as popular as ever. According to Statista, North America is the biggest market for video games, with the market predicted to amount to US$80.9billion in 2025 – up from US$56.8billion in 2021.1
For anyone who’s played a video game, board game, or physical game, you’d know that sometimes it can be easy to forget your surroundings, which could result in you accidentally damaging something.
That’s why it’s a good idea to consider adding accidental damage cover to your home and contents insurance policy or checking the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) on your existing one to see if it is a standard inclusion. This type of cover provides protection for accidental damage to items such as your television and other electronics, broken glass on windows, or other fragile items.
As experts in home and contents insurance, we wanted to see which games caused the most destruction in the home. So, we polled 1,000 gamers in the US and Australia to see which games have resulted in the most accidental damage being caused to their home and belongings, the furniture that’s been broken, and the average costs to repair those damages. Read on to find out…
33.9% of respondents said that playing Call of Duty had led to accidental damage to their home or belongings, making it the most destructive game of all. As an intense first-person shooter game, it could lead to you accidentally causing physical damage.
Fortnite comes in second place, with 29.8% of players having seen some damage to their home as a result; with indoor ball games coming in third place (no explanation needed!).
Video games narrowly dominate the top 10, with Minecraft, Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario Kart, and virtual reality games all featuring. However, it turns out that physical games can cause almost the same amount of damage too.
Outdoor ball games come in fifth place, with a ball that’s thrown or kicked a bit too forcefully sometimes resulting in a smashed window; alongside hide and seek in sixth place, and pillow fights in ninth, which, might seem surprising at first, but can get vicious very quickly if you’re competitive!
Funnily, Monopoly makes it into 12th place. Renowned as the game for competitive players to cheat and get into arguments, we can’t say we’re surprised that 20.4% of respondents have reported damage to their home or belongings when playing this!
Shockingly, the average person spends US$477.40 on the damage that’s been caused to their homes after getting carried away with a game, and almost one in three spend more than US$200.
The most commonly reported damage is to laptops, mobile phones, and tablets, due to gamers getting carried away while they’re playing video games, with 31.9% of respondents reporting this had happened to them.
Not far behind are unintentional holes in the walls, ceilings and floorboards, with three in 10 respondents admitting this has happened to them, whether it’s from getting frustrated when losing a game or throwing a ball just a bit too hard.
The third-most common type of damage homes across the USA and Australia have seen is broken vases, mirrors, and ornaments, with this happening to more than a quarter of respondents. Whilst they often don’t cost as much to replace (unless they’re family heirlooms), it’s still not ideal, especially if it’s something that happens regularly.
As for where the damage costs the most to repair, Oregon is the US state that forks out the most, with the average cost of their damages totalling a huge US$1,114.30 – that’s almost triple the spend of the average American at US$407.85! Arkansas and South Carolina see the second and third-most expensive damages at US$933.60 and US$849.71 respectively.
In Australia, it’s Western Australia with the most expensive repairs, at US$1,043.44, which is almost double the nation’s average cost, at US$638.57. Victoria comes in second place, but costs here are significantly lower than Western Australia, at US$752.50.
Adrian Taylor, General Manager of General Insurance at Compare the Market Australia states: “Whether you love a competitive family boardgame night, your kids regularly have their friends over to play together, or you enjoy online gaming as a release from the stresses of daily life; we all know that playing games is a great way to switch off and forget about the world for a little bit.
“That being said, sometimes – especially if you’ve got little ones playing together! – games can result in accidental damage to your home. That’s why taking out home and contents insurance with cover for accidental damage is so important. From accidental structural damage, such as holes in the wall, through to broken vases and laptops, if you do accidentally experience damage to your home or belongings, your insurance may provide cover, meaning you can reduce your out of pocket expenses.”
So, if you haven’t yet taken out a home insurance or contents insurance policy, now’s the time to compare deals and look for one that suits your needs. It’s a great way to protect your belongings from loss, damage, and unexpected events from gaming damage to floods and fires.
3Gem was commissioned in March 2023 to survey 1,000 American and Australian respondents.