In the 1970s, a 4,500-year-old complete board game was discovered in a grave in Shahr-i Sokhta, Iran, making it the oldest of its kind. The game includes a board with 20 circular spaces, four dice, and 27 geometric pieces.
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Self-help books often focus more on profit than practical advice, but gamification offers a proven alternative for achieving goals. By using variable reward systems, like those in casino gambling, people become highly motivated to repeat behaviors, fostering habit formation.
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Gamification, the integration of game-like elements into education and training, has gained significant popularity for boosting engagement and motivation. By incorporating rewards, milestones, and challenges, gamified systems foster competition, achievement, and recognition, which in turn increases productivity and retention.
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At 40, Tim Clare was diagnosed with autism, and he reflects on how his lifelong love of board games helped him navigate a world that often felt confusing. Games provided structure and a way to connect with others, filling social gaps and reducing anxiety.
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"Trailblazer Heroes," a cooperative card game developed by a team at Teachers College, Columbia University, celebrates Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) heritage. Guided by Professor Joey Lee, the game aims to empower young people by sharing positive examples of AAPI contributions across various fields like science, art, and politics.
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Dr. Sky LaRell Anderson, a faculty member at the University of St. Thomas, emphasized the importance of accessibility in video games during the Jon Henner Memorial Accessibility in Games Speaker Series. Using a Twitch livestream, Anderson highlighted how games should be designed to be inclusive of individuals with disabilities, advocating for features like subtitles, input remapping, and adjustable difficulty.
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Since its debut in 2011, Cards Against Humanity has sparked a trend in bold, typographic tabletop games, contributing to the growth of a $27 billion industry. While the success of such games has led to copycats, it also created new opportunities for game publishers to experiment.
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Rebecca Preyra, overwhelmed by the feedback on her first study, was inspired to help others navigate the review process. After joining Teresa Chan's lab, they created Dear Reviewer 2, a card game designed to teach junior researchers how to respond to reviewer comments.
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Board games are being explored as a tool to combat dementia, with a focus on accessibility and simplicity. In Japan, tabletop game creators are developing games that can be played by people of all ages and abilities.
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A viral video created by Liu Yong, a gaming enthusiast from Shandong, uses a simulation game to explain the workings of Dujiangyan, the world’s oldest irrigation system, built in 256 BC. Liu spent two days gathering information and designing the video, which demonstrates how Dujiangyan controls water distribution using its dam-free structure.
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Daniel Pearson explores the challenges within academic publishing, highlighting issues such as citation manipulation, coercive citations, and the citation black market. These practices undermine the true impact of research, as metrics based on publications overshadow meaningful outcomes.
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Video games and playful approaches are increasingly being integrated into educational environments, offering unique benefits for student learning. Games foster creativity, goal-setting, communication, and collaboration while reducing the fear of failure.
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ASL Aspire, a startup launched in 2022, aims to address the literacy challenges faced by the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, particularly in STEM education. The company, founded by Ayesha Kazi and Mona Jawad, focuses on developing STEM curricula with standardized American Sign Language (ASL) vocabulary for teachers to integrate into their lessons.
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The New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service developed the "Learning Games Lab Toolkit," a free online resource launched in September 2024. The toolkit, based on two decades of experience in educational media creation and youth collaboration, provides educators with strategies for using digital games and tools effectively.
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The author reflects on the deep connection with their Cuban grandmother, who immigrated to the U.S. in 1965 and never learned English. Despite language barriers, they bonded over food and the game Parcheesi. While growing up, the author spent time with their grandmother in Miami, playing the game and sharing meals, bridging their cultural gap.
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In a 2021 experiment at Aalborg University, students participated in “Face-the-Waste,” a game about food waste, which sparked strong emotional reactions, including anger and insults, as food was discarded with every wrong answer. This highlighted the effectiveness of games in addressing environmental issues over dry facts.
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Higher education plays a crucial role in addressing future societal challenges like climate change and an aging population. Serious gaming has emerged as a powerful method to engage students, professionals, and the public in exploring solutions to these "tomorrow problems." By using tabletop or board-game-style mechanisms, serious games facilitate learning, creative thinking, and collaboration.
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Bioware's Dragon Age: The Veilguard was meant to be a redemption for the studio but sparked controversy after being targeted by a vocal anti-diversity group, reminiscent of the Gamergate movement. This "Gamergate 2.0" backlash, criticizing diversity in games, continues to influence the gaming industry.
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Seyahat: A Journey to Mecca," a free-to-play 2D RPG created by Central Connecticut State University history professor Tyler Kynn, is now available on the Steam platform. The game serves as an educational tool, allowing players to explore the cultural history of the 17th-century Ottoman Empire and Islamic world.
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The article discusses how game design at the AAA level has shifted, focusing more on analytics and creating the "perfect game" through numbers, rather than emphasizing the intangible "feel" of a game. It argues that game design isn't just about mechanics and metrics but about creating memorable experiences that resonate emotionally with players.
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