Games as Tools for Thought?

#1

The intention of this thread is to provide a more light-hearted forum for discussion.

Reading and writing are the core ways that I’ve learned to exercise the strategies for thinking that Tools for Thought has taught to me. Although I’m a casual gamer, different styles of games have changed my perspective, problem-solving skills, and understanding for how to effectively communicate at multiple levels.

  1. Do you think that games can serve as a medium of Tools for Thought?

  2. What is game that you’ve played that changed the way that you think?

  3. What is an example outside of gaming where you were able to apply lessons learned from a game to real life?

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#2

Can’t say i’ve learned something conceptually new from games, even though i’ve played some

In most cases the game experience furthered understanding of abstract ideas i’ve already learned from studying game design - e.g. how it feels to always have an easily-accessible next step towards a goal

The biggest change i’ve had from the game alone was from Quake III - you always move through levels rich with different spacial structures, with a lot of verticality, which forces you to get a good spacial/affordance (between which point you can react with a jump) model of the level of else fail - which qualitatively improved my feeling of space and navigation in the physical world

Would be glad to hear what are the examples of games that helped your

understanding for how to effectively communicate at multiple levels

#3

As a somewhat meta-response to your questions:

I found this talk by Mark Rober making a great connection between games and learning:

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#4

Really a lot of morals come into gameplay “I don’t want to say something mean to this character.” In fears it would hurt their AI feelings (haha). I absolutely agree that games could be used as tools for thought, as in, a game that provokes learning or thinking on its own. Honestly you can play any video game and be heartless, however things change in VR Games… Studies show that video gamers make better drivers, soldiers, and surgeons in the outside world, oh, and for kids who suffer in school from bullying or being socially awkward, a social outlet for them to be themselves. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from gaming, that would be applied to real life, that would be hands on skills (physically) or having more empathetic thoughts and feelings.