I recently had a thought which arose when I was having a discussion with people about various forms of entertainment and how educational/not educational they are. Most people seemed to agree that games, as a whole, are not educational. Now this instantly drove me into defensive mode because after all, I am Pike, Tireless Defender of the Vidya. But then I got to thinking and realized that perhaps my experience is different from others. After all, most of the games that I play are historical strategy games or simulation games, which are educational by nature.
I realized that this had given me a different view on games than other people might have. I’m a hands-on learner and so I’ve learned more about, say, historical geography from Paradox games than anything else ever. This is an interesting experience that maybe not everyone has had. So maybe other people have a point when they say that games aren’t very educational for them. Huh.
…of course, then I went back to being Pike, Tireless Defender of the Vidya. Hey, someone’s got to be.
I’d say the level of education would depend on -what- you’re planning to learn from the game.
There are games that help us learn rhythm and dance (Just Dance, DDR, Rhythm Heaven, Elite Beat Agents). There are games that help us learn how to make quick, well-informed decisions (RTS games, most MMORPGs, even FPS games). There are games that help us learn how to identify failings within ourselves and others (fighting games).
And then there are games that teach us when to put the controller down, go outside, and remember how to be friends again (Mario Party, I’m lookin’ at you).
Seriously, though. It’s all in the lessons you take away – and I’d honestly say that I’d rather have the education DDR has given me than the dates and locations of civil war battles, no matter how much fun either game is.
In Mario Party’s defense, I’ve never gotten in a fist fight over Mario Party. The same cannot be said for, example, Monopoly.
To me this is sort of like saying books are not educational because all one has read is Twilight. It may be true for that individual’s experience, but it doesn’t demonstrate anything about books as a medium!
When I find an article about the rebels in Mali, and I know who the Tuaregs are and where Timbuktu is, I know who to thank.
You can learn something from any game, the question maybe should be, is what you have learned worth the time invested? Playing, say, Doom, taught you hand-eye coordination and path finding. While playing Civilization taught you about historical progression and resource management. Let’ say you spent ~25 hours playing each. Which did you benefit more from in the long term (not talking about which did you enjoy more)? I would go for Civilization, but I bet many would say Doom, as these are different skill sets that people use differently.