Games Functioning as Learning Tools

Just realized that I forgot this post from Wednesday..



I believe, in certain instances, that a game can be a learning tool. As noted in the article read, games can act as learning tools both by imposing a problem for the player to solve as well as causing the player to think of new ideas. I believe many games that involve strategy demonstrate this, on some level. With children, for example, games that involve navigation of a character can teach aspects of spacial properties. For adolescents, MMO games such as WoW or Warhammer can teach basic skills, such as team coordination and cooperation, as well as improve reaction time. In addition to this, as noted before, games can inspire new ideas. For example, although a very basic thought, I found myself comparing some aspects of the philosophical storyline within Warhammer to early Greek civilizations. A comparison that came to mind was that of Athens and Sparta.

Warhammer: Concluding Thoughts

In general, my game has been an interesting overall experience. I think my main fear of the game was that I wouldn't be able to excel very much. While this fear wasn't entirely dissolved, I did find myself doing better than I anticipated. The difficulty, however, was about what I expected it to be. One misconception I had about the game was that I thought it would be similar to or the same as any other war-oriented game. In contrast to this, I was surprised to see the detailed character customization. While I realize this is a feature in some other single-player and MMO games, I found the customization in Warhammer to be pretty specific. Furthermore, while the game was centered around the concept of battle, the story seemed to play out more in this game than others. For example, I was able to have more group-oriented battle with Warhammer than I have with other online games.
While I may not be playing the game as consistently as I have over the past week and a half, I will definitely play it again when I have the time.