Category gaming

Bejeweled brain

My son Michael is in town for a visit, so gaming’s back in the conversation. When he’s riding the train in New York, he occasionally plays a game called Jewels. It starts with a screen full of colored shapes, like the one at left. When you match 3 or more, they disappear and new shapes drop down on the screen. He was consistently scoring 3000 to 4000 per game, and wanted to get better. Practice is the usual road to mastery, but Michael tried something else, with remarkable results.

On the edge

Top Mistake #5 is blaming failures on lack of motivation. The tech lab’s solution? Make the behavior easier to do.

My solution? Make the behavior challenging and meaningful. And while you’re at it, think seriously about what ‘failure’ means to you.

Ever watch world-class athletes? Or gotten so engaged in something that you’ve lost all track of time? Then you’re familiar with what psychologists call

A guide by my side …

Last weekend, my son Michael introduced me to a couple of online games. Since he’s a world-class gamer and we’ve talked a lot about the leadership lessons in gaming, I gave it a try.

What a come-uppance! I’m a pretty smart bear … but I fell down the hole of my incompetence as soon as he handed me the control piece.

These games are puzzles that cast you into the middle of a strange world with no idea of what’s happening and no clue as to the purpose or rules of the game. So why play them? He says because they teach your brain a different way of thinking about your surroundings. I say because they can teach you a lot about yourself.

Can gaming make the world better?

 

 

If you have a spouse or kid who loves the world of electronic gaming, and you just don’t get it, watch this video. It’s Jane McGonigal’s 18-minute TED talk to an audience of people involved in technology, entertainment, and design [hence ted…]. I think she’s onto something BIG.