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Chapter 14

In chapter 14, McGonigal introduces us to the idea that gamers can help save the world by playing serious “god games” which are games where the player can decide how to progress and advance the world. (p. 297) McGonigal explains to us that there are three different skills that all god games develop which is what gives these gamers the power to solve global issues. The first skill is the ability to take the long view, which is the idea of expanding our vision to a larger scale than normal. The second skill is ecosystem thinking, which means to look at the world as interconnected and interdependent parts. (p. 297) And the third skill is the pilot experimentation, where test runs can be executed in order to see the possible results.

One game example McGonigal used is World Without Oil, which aims to get people to imagine a future oil crisis and work to determine how one would proceed with life. This is what McGonigal calls massively multiplayer foresight. (p. 302) With this, people all over try to create plans to help the world cope and survive with this oncoming oil crisis. I found this an interesting idea, especially with the BP oil crisis that recently happened, and also with the high gas prices. I, personally, would find it hard for me to take part in such a game. While I enjoy the idea of god-like games where I can create my own city, etc. I do not think that this idea would interest me.

Overall, I found McGonigal's book quite interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed having it assigned as a required textbook. This is, especially in comparison to some textbooks that I have come across in my university career. I found McGonigal to be smart and very in with the times, so to speak. She has found a way to incorporate something she must truly enjoy into the every day, and even further, into our futures. I do have to admit that I have found it quite difficult to get through the last few chapters. It seems as if she has allowed them to get longer than the beginning chapters, which one can assume would happen as the book as more information to base itself off of. It just seemed that after the first 3/4 of the book was written so interestingly, I was disappointed in the rest of the chapters.

Chapters 12 and 13 

In chapter 12, McGonigal introduces us to the term “epic win” which describes an unexpected success. (p. 247) These epic wins come when gamers put themselves into situations that they don’t expect to be easy. Social participation games are created to give gamers real-world volunteer tasks that feel as satisfying and achievable as quests and goals in some of the most popular games. (McGonigal, p. 249) The Extraordinaries is a game that gives people simple tasks that help others, whether businesses or individuals, like mapping all of the local AED machines. Groundcrew is a network that allows people to post “wishes” to the public to ask for help. People can see theses wishes like wanting to read a book while at the park, and others have the ability to grant these wishes. While these games are used for the greater good, I feel that they may not realistically work well. As I have said before, I believe it is necessary for these games to be implemented in specific areas like a university setting. These games are simple ways to help others while gaining a sense of accomplishment for you. This is an interesting concept for gamers and people looking for self-satisfaction that could work with the social networking tools we have today like Twitter and Facebook, and not to mention the amount of smart phones being used.

I found chapter 13 more long and boring than most of McGonigal's chapters. Since it was about collaboration, which is working together using cooperation, coordination and co-creation, (McGonigal, p. 268) I thought that she may choose to highlight games that are reinventing the idea of collaboration whilst using the ideas of chapter 12. Instead, McGonigal chose to talk about online collaboration games like Call of Duty, etc. The game that McGonigal used as an example for real-life games (rather than online/virtual) was The Lost Ring, where a group of teammates guide their "runner" through a labyrinth using humming noises. While this is a good example of a collaborative game, I don't feel like this type of game is one that gamers would find stimulating enough to choose this over other collaborative games.

Chapters 10 and 11 

In Chapter 10 of McGonigal’s Reality is Broken, we are introduced to her term “happiness hacking.” This type of hacking is “the experimental design practice of translating positive-psychology research findings into game mechanics.” (p. 188) This is a way to implement activities that make people happy into social and communal scenarios. McGonigal chose to talk about three games that create happiness: Cruel 2 B Kind, Tombstone Hold ‘Em, and Top Secret Dance-Off. Cruel 2 B Kind uses positive interactions like compliments or polite greetings to defeat their opponents. Tombstone Hold ‘Em is a way of playing poker in a cemetery. “Thinking about death is one of the most highly recommended happiness activities” (p. 198) which is how running around in a cemetery and acknowledging the people who are laid to rest there can be a mood-booster. Dancing, which is a guaranteed way to boost your mood, tends to make some people feel awkward and embarrassed. The game Top Secret Dance-Off allows people to dance in private, while wearing some sort of a disguise. These people complete quests like dancing by a tree, etc. to level up.

While I definitely agree that activities like dancing make people happier, I am unsure if I would find any of these games of interest to me. The most likely one that I would play would be the Tombstone Hold ‘Em, as it is something that I would feel would be the most interesting and the most fun, as you play it with your friends. The other games, while definitely an interesting concept, seem like they would not be as successful as they aren’t sure to have reached all cities, etc. If something like the Cruel 2 B Kind game was implemented somewhere like Brock’s campus, I think it could really catch on.

Chapter 11 focused on the idea of “crowdsourcing” which is the idea of gathering a large group of people in order to accomplish a particular task. (McGonigal, p. 220) A great example of this, which was given in the book, was Wikipedia and how people all over the world have come together to create their own encyclopedia.

While “games” that use this type of foundation seem to be something that the world and all it’s technology can surely accomplish, it is not always something that provides enough satisfaction to provoke motivation. Something like Wikipedia allows users to see their updates right away, however this doesn’t necessarily give people the same type of satisfaction that leveling up in one of their favourite video games would achieve.

 Chapters 8 and 9 

In chapter 8 of Reality is Broken, McGonigal introduces us to the idea of games which correspond with reality. This includes games that allow us to “level up in life” like the chapter title reads, which makes life more interesting and motivating. McGonigal uses Jetset and Day in the Cloud as examples of ways that games can be intertwined with real life instances. Jetset allows people to not only check in at an airport, but also play the game anywhere, and put them in a different, familiar position as an airport security guard. Day in the Cloud gives airplanes full of people the opportunity to participate in various games competing against another airplane. This not only entertains the people on the planes, but also gives them a sense of purpose and community while in flight. Games that allow a person to check-in at various locations like airports or restaurants makes them not only feel like they’re a part of something, but also that they are connected to the world and the people around them. This idea seems to be a growing trend with social networking sites as well.

Chapter 9, titled “Fun with Strangers,” is about alternate reality games and how they can create a sense of community and togetherness between complete strangers. McGonigal believes that in order for one to create a community from strangers, you must have a shared interest and the means for interaction surrounding this interest. (p. 172) Games like Bounce have a goal in mind of attempting to close gaps between various groups, including different age groups and different cities. Communal games allow people to find other people they can relate with. These games allow people to never have to feel alone. I enjoy this thought because there are many times when people feel like they are the only people who feel a particular way about something and that they cannot always express themselves. These types of activities and games allow us to be a part of something bigger than our schools or jobs, they allow us to find people we relate with on some important levels. While not all people are willing to put themselves out there in order to make these social connections, it does show us how many more options people everywhere have.

Chapters 6 and 7

In Chapter 6, McGonigal describes the idea of epic games and how being apart of “something bigger” gives us meaning in our lives. (p. 98) Epic games are those that gamers remember, games that involve greater size and intensity. These games have 3 keys: 1) epic contexts for action: collective stories connect individuals to bigger missions, 2) epic environments: interactive spaces, and 3) epic projects: efforts carried out collaboratively on massive scales. (McGonigal, p. 98) It is through these things that games become inspiring. It is games like Halo 3 and NCAA Football 10 that has brought massive amounts of people to break records and to encourage fan bases.

I found this chapter particularly interesting because I completely agree with the idea that people are constantly looking for a meaning to our personal lives. People everywhere are looking for ways to “leave a meaningful mark on the world.” (McGonigal, p. 113) Through games like these, people are finding ways to play their own role in creating their own meaningful futures.

Chapter 7 introduces us to alternate reality games (ARG) which are games played “in your real life in order to enjoy it more.” (McGonigal, p. 120) These types of games allow us to motivate ourselves to fully participate. McGonigal describes 3 types of ARGs: life-management, organizational, and concept. The first game she introduces to us is Chore Wars, a life-management ARG where people sign up online with a group of people (like their roommates) to keep track of chore duties and to encourage the members to compete to complete more tasks. This is an interesting game concept – one that I was not aware that existed. McGonigal goes on to discuss why school should be more like a game, which is what a New York City school, Quest to Learn, implemented. This school uses organizational ARGs to teach its students through quests and “gameful” activities. (McGonigal, p. 129) The last game is a concept ARG called SuperBetter. McGonigal chose to impose goals and missions into her daily life to help her recover from a concussion.

While the idea of creating/participating in ARG seems interesting, I do not think that this is something that someone who is not a competitive gamer would be interested in. By implementing non-virtual games into your life, one could discover ways to make mundane daily tasks more bearable. For myself, I do not think that I would find this appealing, as I am not a “hardcore” or very competitive gamer.

Chapters 4 and 5

In chapter 4 of Reality is Broken, McGonigal talks about how failure in a game is one of the reasons that keeps gamers coming back. McGongial states that “gamers spend nearly all of their time failing. Roughly four times out of five, gamers don’t complete the mission, run out of time, don’t solve the puzzle…” (p. 64) With so much time spent failing, this is definitely a topic worth exploring. In video games, players are usually given multiple lives or have the option to restart/retry to task. It is with this option that one has the ability to improve and conquer their goals in the game. By making failing entertaining and fun or humorous like in Super Monkey Ball, players will feel more eager to try again and compete. This all works together to create addicting games because we know that these games are made for someone to beat. There is always a way to win, and if there weren’t then I would assume that this game would not be very popular. This contradicts real life situations because in life, there is no guarantee that you will succeed and you are not able to hit the restart button when one plan doesn’t pan out the way you had hoped. This aspect makes games that much more intriguing.

Throughout chapter 5, McGonigal focuses on the idea of “social connectivity.” The example that she uses is the Facebook game Lexomous, which is a game similar to Scrabble. This game allows people to play with strangers or with their Facebook friends. Another popular feature is the ability to play continuously, whether you are both online or not, the game stays active. McGonigal talks about how when researching the reviews, most people have used this game as an opportunity to stay in contact with friends and family – more specifically, their moms. (p. 78) This idea of staying connected via online games is one that people may not have been able to predict. By interacting and participating in something together, people will feel like they are spending more quality time with one another. This connection allows people to feel close together even when they are miles apart. (McGonigal, p. 78) McGonigal also talks about how sometimes people “want company, but we don’t want to actively interact with anybody.” (p. 89) This is a great explanation for how popular games like MMOs and online connectivity like Xbox Live have become.

Chapters 2 and 3

In chapter 2 of Reality is Broken, we are introduced to the term “flow” which can be described by Csikszentmihalyi as “the satisfying, exhilarating feeling of creative accomplishment and heightened feeling.” (p. 35) It is through this term and Csikszentmihalyi’s studies that McGonigal explains the rise of video games. Csikszentmihalyi felt that game-like activities provided a greater sense of flow than what we experience in every day life. (p.35) McGonigal talks about how we reach our optimal happiness when we are engaged in structured, motivating work – when we are “completely activated.” (p. 36) Csikszentmihalyi feels that if work and school were structured more like games – with constant feedback and clear goals – humans would be more likely to achieve satisfaction and overall well-being. (p. 36-37)

While I understand where McGonigal and Csikszentmihalyi are coming from, I find it hard to believe that setting up school like a video game would be very successful. Video games are things that people choose to do in their spare time as a way to relax or let loose. For work or school to be like a game, I think it would have to be set up without fundamental things like regular hours and deadlines. While games have goals and achievement levels, work and school do not run in a fashion that allows one to achieve these things at their own pace. School and work are structured in order to make one prioritize and manage their time accordingly.

The third chapter focuses on the idea of having satisfying work, which is achieved through clear goals and actionable next steps. (p. 55) If there are both of these things then one should feel engaged and motivated to complete their tasks. McGonigal describes the “guarantee of productivity” as a key factor in motivating people, which leads to the build-up of our self worth. (p. 56-57)

This concept of having self-satisfying work is one that I can agree with. It is definitely motivating to be able to continuously see your results and be able to be ranked accordingly. I feel like one of the main motivators for gamers to continuously play a game is that they achieve a level of ranking that the working-world does not give you. It is not always the person that works the hardest that gets the job or earns a raise, which gamers (and non) would find very discouraging.

Chapter 1: What Exactly is a Game?

In chapter one of Jane McGonigal’s Reality is Broken, we are given four traits by which all games can be defined: the goals, rules, feedback systems and voluntary participation (p. 21). McGonigal uses these traits to describe various different types of games including golf and Tetris which shows us how these traits can be applied to games – whether they are digital, physical, board or card games, etc. From these descriptions, one can understand why successful and popular games are played worldwide.

McGonigal has the intention to make the audience think differently about games and gamers. Throughout the chapter, McGonigal explains ways in which games “provoke positive emotion” (p. 28). I enjoyed this idea of positivity being created through games and activities as it gave me a different perspective. When I think of gamers and things like virtual worlds, I tend think of people who are running away from reality and even hiding behind their avatar. However, McGonigal made me believe that everyone is some type of gamer – whether they are an athlete or a clan member – and they may know something that I don’t.

People are looking for a way to be entertained and pushed mentally and physically. By participating in activities such as Mario Kart (my personal favourite), people are actively seeking ways to feel good and feel accomplished. One idea that I wish she would have went into further detail on would have to be the different types of gamers and how the differences in frequency of play and types of games make a difference. As I would not describe myself as a gamer, I would like to see how games affect my emotions in comparison to a World of Warcraft player’s. These are things that I am hoping McGongial unveils later on in the book.

McGonigal chose an interesting quote by Noel Coward: “work is more fun than fun” (p.31). This quote helped McGonigal further prove that games create positivity. She explains how things we partake in as “relaxing fun,” like watching television, can reportedly make us feel worse once done than when we began. These things we choose to do to help us relax may in fact be making us feel worse about ourselves rather than helping us recharge our systems. I enjoyed this insight and I am in a state where I am going to be open to what McGonigal has to say about creating motivation and positivity. After all, who couldn’t use some more motivation and positivity in their life?