We all know that most educational games suffer from a problem of being a "teaching tool" first and a game second, often resulting it being poor at doing either.
However, at the same time, I'm sure many of us have learned a thing or two from games as well. That is, games might have inadvedently taught us skills that we might not have otherwise learned. So tell us what exactly did YOU learn from games. Try to be specific if possible.
I'll use my own example to start off.
D&D taught me to read. I started playing D&D in the early 90s. English is a second language for me, due to me growing up overseas. But when my friends introduced me to D&D, I found it all fascinating. I was mesmerized by how a game is attempting to mimic the real world, and how it tries to view the world through this interpreted system. I also kind of like to see how it interpreted a lot of classic myths.
So I started spending more and more time reading the material. This led me to start picking up a lot of D&D related novels, and just becoming a more avid reader. (it also piqued my interest in Lord of the Rings, which is not exactly a light read)
Because of D&D, I became a reader.
It also taught me a couple things about system organization, and how models of representation can help us organize data about the real world. Is it perfect? certainly not. But perfect simulation was never the goal. I didn't realize it at the time, but D&D had actually helped lay a foundation for me to examine the world through a systematic approach, something that is paramount in my line of work.
On the flipside, civ games taught me resource management. Do I expand now? If I want this particular research bad enough, how do I manipulate my resources so that I can minimize the amount of time it will take, while maximizing the resource gains in other areas? How do I figure out if this particular research is WORTH the resources I'm about to expend?
I'm sure you have all learned similar lessons from different games. Post your experience.
However, at the same time, I'm sure many of us have learned a thing or two from games as well. That is, games might have inadvedently taught us skills that we might not have otherwise learned. So tell us what exactly did YOU learn from games. Try to be specific if possible.
I'll use my own example to start off.
D&D taught me to read. I started playing D&D in the early 90s. English is a second language for me, due to me growing up overseas. But when my friends introduced me to D&D, I found it all fascinating. I was mesmerized by how a game is attempting to mimic the real world, and how it tries to view the world through this interpreted system. I also kind of like to see how it interpreted a lot of classic myths.
So I started spending more and more time reading the material. This led me to start picking up a lot of D&D related novels, and just becoming a more avid reader. (it also piqued my interest in Lord of the Rings, which is not exactly a light read)
Because of D&D, I became a reader.
It also taught me a couple things about system organization, and how models of representation can help us organize data about the real world. Is it perfect? certainly not. But perfect simulation was never the goal. I didn't realize it at the time, but D&D had actually helped lay a foundation for me to examine the world through a systematic approach, something that is paramount in my line of work.
On the flipside, civ games taught me resource management. Do I expand now? If I want this particular research bad enough, how do I manipulate my resources so that I can minimize the amount of time it will take, while maximizing the resource gains in other areas? How do I figure out if this particular research is WORTH the resources I'm about to expend?
I'm sure you have all learned similar lessons from different games. Post your experience.
