Games are for Learning

On Games and learning.  The idea has been around for a long time, but have seen relatively few really good examples of success.  Our own successes stemmed from competitive solution exploration.

" ... When I entered the games for learning business a little over two years ago, there was one word everyone wanted to talk about: “Gamification.” I was asked about gamification by top philanthropists, accosted at the Game Developers Conference about the subject, and even had to drive by a gamification billboard every evening on my Silicon Valley commute.

The “gamification” concept goes something like this: Take an existing set of activities – say banking, or exercise, or rote schoolwork (the more mundane the better, apparently) – apply a set of “game rewards” in the form of points (or leveling, or badges), and as if by magic the world will become more fun, workers more efficient, and learning more effective.

As a game designer of more than twenty years, this idea rubbed me wrong. Like, really wrong. ... "