I love games of all kinds. I think that games are one of the most spectacular inventions of the human being. Actually, I don't know if they are an invention or if they are something that spontaneously arises from human nature.
I am not talking about games to win money, betting or sports spectacles that can generate such intense rivalries that they end in violence. I am referring to the act of playing itself.
Forgive me if I may sound too academic, but I would like to share with you everything that has been said about gaming as something really valuable!. I will be satisfied with sharing a few key points.
Gaming is an expression of community and culture.
As Johan Huizinga pointed out in 'Homo Ludens', culture is expressed and transmitted through playing. It is through it, that children learn about rules and set relationships, but they can also learn the values, traditions, beliefs, or the history of a community and its way of life.
Later, Roger Callois categorized four types of play: competition-based games (a race, a pulse, tic-tac-toe, etc.), chance-based games (cards, dice, etc.), simulation-based games (role-playing games, dress-up games, cops and robbers, etc.) and stimulation or excitement games (roller coasters, balancing, juggling, etc.).
Of course, there are games that can be considered on more than one of these categories. It was in 2005 when Mike Zyda started talking about 'serious games'.
Serious Games
Those are games that have additional objectives beyond simply entertaining (It is also called gamification). In marketing actions, for example, they are often used to increase customer loyalty (scratch cards with discount vouchers, accumulation of loyalty points to exchange for gifts… etc.).
But 'gamification' is increasingly used in the educational field. Years ago I had the opportunity to explore the possibilities of Assassins's Creed game to teach history, philosophy, and architecture. When I contacted Ubisoft they gave me the oportunity to try 'Discovery Tour' versions, which are basically an exploration games using the same game engine but removing the fights and the violence. I considered it a real wonder with a great success.
I am also in touch with teachers that are exploring these possibilities of games in elementary classrooms, with excellent results. Can you imagine playing a game in which you have to learn to communicate with alien beings from a planet called 'Spain' (and learn Spanish, by the way)? Well, it works much better than intensive grammar classes.
Gamification tools such as those provided by https://www.classcraft.com are fascinating, and I think they are in line with a lighter way of teaching and learning, more natural, less forced and less disciplined, more appropriate for a 'homo ludens'.
Facing a future of virtual reality, enhanced reality, metaverses and NFT games, it is worth thinking about games, to not only identify their valuable possibilities but also to rethink what kind of culture we are creating and expressing through them.
References:
Johan Huizinga, 1938, 'Homo Ludens'.
Roger Callois. 1986, 'Man, Play and Games'.
Mike Zyda, 2055, 'From visual simulation to virtual reality to games'.
Image: Own created using Crative Commons vector graphics from Freevector.com
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yo recuerdo que cuando estaba en primaria en computación había un juego donde se tenia que salvar a la tierra de una invasión extraterrestre y para eso había que completar cálculos de multiplicación, división, resta y suma, vale destacar que era mucho mas divertido que las clases de matemáticas comunes, además que hasta a los que mas les costaba las mates se les hacia mas facil aprender