Unpredictable screen blackout when gaming

After about 4 years of owning my 21.5" intel iMac, I started randomly experiencing screen blackouts while playing mildly graphically-intensive games. These blackouts did not effect the actual computer, but the display flickered a little and then went black, and required a shut down and unplug. While blacked out, pressing the brightness button would make the screen show itself once or twice, but after that it remained off. This usually happens 5-10 minutes into a game, and is extremely annoying. This started happening yesterday and has happened about 10 times now. What can I do to stop this from happening?

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
As you mention your iMac screen was flickering, it may be a GPU issue. The same thing happened to me a few years ago and my iMac started flickering all the time after some days.
I recommend you to make a backup of your files onto an external drive and take the iMac to an Apple Store or reseller to get it checked. Maybe it is not a hardware problem, but it is better to be sure about this.

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