So I consider myself a bit of a gamer. Not a usual gamer - I don't tend to play first-person shooters, I have little interest in big-franchise games (except Watch Dogs, because that's awesome. Oh, and Titanfall) and I'm more interested in art, story and character than gameplay.
But here's the thing: I've been reading about games too. And it turns out, games have the power to change the world.
Reality is Broken is a book by Jane McGonigal, director of Games Research and Development at the Institute for the Future, so it's fair to say she's one of the best people to talk about video games. Gaming in general, in fact; she goes back to the supposed invention of the first games, through video gaming prehistory and onwards to the future of video gaming. In between, she takes a look at how video games make us better.
It's an interesting, if difficult, read, which looks at the positive effects video games have on us and how they make us happier and more productive, if only in-game. What makes it so different is that it takes a look at how to expand that out of a video game setting, how we can feel the same way we do when we beat a video game level whilst interacting with other people face to face, or helping our community.
There's really little else to say: it's not the easiest read, at times it feels kinda pretentious, but for the most part you can really absorb yourself into it, and McGonigal's writing style makes you feel like you can change the world right here, right now. It's motivating and uplifting, sometimes it delves too deep into her own life - not in a TMI way, but more a sort of "Interesting, but did we need to know that?" way - but the detailed look at popular games and apps, and more importantly why those games are popular, why we play them. It looks at positive psychology, fiero, "happiness hacks" and all sorts of solutions to the problems we deal with in getting motivated and interacting with people in real life. It examines the ways in which we're changing the world by playing video games, by making games which use our imagination to plan for the future, by applying gaming hacks to real-life situations in order to motivate us and make us more productive.
I talked before about HabitRPG; that uses similar systems to those described in Reality is Broken. It uses good rewards systems, the eternal optimism of success and the pride of actually completing all your day's tasks to motivate you. Sure, it falls down a little with the ease which you can acquire all your top gear, but it keeps the rewards coming with new pets and new quests to complete.The ability to just have someone join your party and be there next to you is a good one, too; this sort of group participation gives you the boost to actually get things done as well as giving you the opportunity to support other people once you level up and can choose your class. McGonigal calls this positive participation, and it's one more thing which helps motivate you.
See, it turns out we're really good at finding ways to motivate ourselves, but only if the rewards are worth it. McGonigal spends the book explaining how video games give us those rewards, and then spends the latter half giving examples of how people are bringing those rewards into real life and making us more interested in getting things done. It's a good book with a unique message: video games are good for us. And they're showing us how to change the world.
Adieu!
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