My first thought upon reading this was that it might be a good idea, if they are playing computer games, to encourage them to play computer games that at least teach profound truths about the human condition, and difficult lessons about the fragility of life, the need to fight one's hardest for good but the certainty of not succeeding completely etc. The problem is that they games that teach this are all for adults and much older children.
I would love to know any thoughts you may have on the subject. The world of gaming is obviously not something I knew anything about previously, but it seems really important to my children. So we are trying to find workable solutions.
Why aren't there more educational or values driven computer games for this age group? It shouldn't be too hard to make Minecraft educational, just add in fun facts or a goal or something. But instead they have Minecraft lore, which is a total waste of time.
This is fantastic Isha, thanks for sharing. No kids on my own yet but the experience is very relatable through my own experience and especially how the game has captured my little brother's psyche.
Your intuition about letting them play the game instead of watch youtubers is very much correct. As for educational - Minecraft if actually one of the best games in the market. In it, the player has the freedom to explore, create, overcome challenges and is mostly bound by their creativity and determination. If they have friends who also play (or that you allow two machines in the house), they can do all that cooperatively.
Setting time limits is healthy though, you can configure the computer to automatically power off at a certain time :)
I work on video games for a living. I can confirm that many of the people who make game for money do indeed have fun playing games, and even have some fun working on them. The games they enjoy playing aren't always the same games they work on, though. Often the people who make best-selling commercial games prefer to play obscure independent games that they find more creative and original.
I grew up with computer games in the 90s-2000s. I have mixed feelings about them. On the one hand, when I look back on the games I played as a child, I remember them very fondly. They were fun. I was happy playing them. They appealed to my imagination. I'm sure they were educational in various ways. I enjoyed playing them with friends, and they kept me occupied when I was by myself. Sometimes I still play them today, though not nearly as much.
On the other hand, I think I spent too much of my childhood playing them. Like your kids, I was rather addicted. I played them as much as my parents would let me. From time to time they would introduce rules or systems to limit our computer time--for example, requiring us to earn points by doing other things like reading or chores. That sort of system can work, but it carries the message that playing games is fun/rewarding while other activities are just tedious work to be gotten through in order to play games. Usually the systems would break down after a while as we (the kids) would bend the rules or play for longer than we were supposed to.
One rule we had in my house that was probably a good one was that computer time limits did *not* apply to using the computer to do something "creative". Playing a game didn't count as creative (even a game like Minecraft where you build things). But making a new game (e.g. with the program "GameMaker", which I discovered around age 8 or 9) or making art or videos on the computer was always allowed. That kind of childhood experience more or less led me to end up where I am today.
About my career I have some of the same mixed feelings as I do about the games I played as a child. On the one hand, making games is interesting and enjoyable. I like the people I work with a lot. On the other hand, I don't really feel it's a job that contributes much of value to the world. There's more than enough games out there already. The only reason we keep making more of them is because people keep on buying them; if I met our customers, I would encourage them to spend their money on something more worthwhile. (Luckily, I don't work in marketing.)
I'd like to think I wound up a functional adult. On the other hand, I have friends who I think spend too much time playing computer games, to the extent that it's practically the focus of their entire life, even as adults. I don't think that's the right way to live.
I think there are definitely categories of games that are worse for their players and others which are less bad. Some games are designed by people who love games and want to give the user an enjoyable experience; others are designed to be addiction machines, more like slot machines than like chess. By far the most predatory type of games are "free to play" games, especially those that run on mobile devices. A large proportion of these games are traps designed to make the user keep spending money on small in-game transactions.
Some computer games that I would say are relatively educational:
- Sid Meier's Civilization (a game about the progress of technology throughout history).
- Age of Empires (a game about ancient history and warfare; however, note that it is quite violent since it is a game about war and conquerors).
- Sim City (a game where you are the mayor of a city; build roads, power lines, new subdivisions, etc).
- Roller Coaster Tycoon (a game where you build and manage a theme park).
Technically, there are many versions of each of those games. I.e., Civilization 2, Civilization 3, Civilization 4, etc. The newer ones have better graphics and cost more money but are not necessarily better in any other way. : )
Of course, being educational does not necessarily make a game less addictive...
Clever and very funny. Thanks for this Isha!
Sorry, no insights into Minecraft. I dropped out of gaming after Tetris.
I thought of you many times while writing this post, Gunflint. Maybe I should have asked you to look it over. I hope you are doing well.
Hilarious and smart … love the Venn diagram so true… also plugging him in he’s charging is so original and funny these kids are awesome
Thanks!
❤❤❤
Springmeadow, you're always in my corner!
My first thought upon reading this was that it might be a good idea, if they are playing computer games, to encourage them to play computer games that at least teach profound truths about the human condition, and difficult lessons about the fragility of life, the need to fight one's hardest for good but the certainty of not succeeding completely etc. The problem is that they games that teach this are all for adults and much older children.
I would love to know any thoughts you may have on the subject. The world of gaming is obviously not something I knew anything about previously, but it seems really important to my children. So we are trying to find workable solutions.
Why aren't there more educational or values driven computer games for this age group? It shouldn't be too hard to make Minecraft educational, just add in fun facts or a goal or something. But instead they have Minecraft lore, which is a total waste of time.
Witty and fun to read, Isha. Bravo.
Thanks,Bradley!
Funny. We had a Wii once. The kids would fight over the controller. We got rid of it after the biting incident.
They bit the machine or each other?
So sad that I also know what a mod is :)
This is fantastic Isha, thanks for sharing. No kids on my own yet but the experience is very relatable through my own experience and especially how the game has captured my little brother's psyche.
Your intuition about letting them play the game instead of watch youtubers is very much correct. As for educational - Minecraft if actually one of the best games in the market. In it, the player has the freedom to explore, create, overcome challenges and is mostly bound by their creativity and determination. If they have friends who also play (or that you allow two machines in the house), they can do all that cooperatively.
Setting time limits is healthy though, you can configure the computer to automatically power off at a certain time :)
Thank you!
Thanks for sharing these stories.
I work on video games for a living. I can confirm that many of the people who make game for money do indeed have fun playing games, and even have some fun working on them. The games they enjoy playing aren't always the same games they work on, though. Often the people who make best-selling commercial games prefer to play obscure independent games that they find more creative and original.
I grew up with computer games in the 90s-2000s. I have mixed feelings about them. On the one hand, when I look back on the games I played as a child, I remember them very fondly. They were fun. I was happy playing them. They appealed to my imagination. I'm sure they were educational in various ways. I enjoyed playing them with friends, and they kept me occupied when I was by myself. Sometimes I still play them today, though not nearly as much.
On the other hand, I think I spent too much of my childhood playing them. Like your kids, I was rather addicted. I played them as much as my parents would let me. From time to time they would introduce rules or systems to limit our computer time--for example, requiring us to earn points by doing other things like reading or chores. That sort of system can work, but it carries the message that playing games is fun/rewarding while other activities are just tedious work to be gotten through in order to play games. Usually the systems would break down after a while as we (the kids) would bend the rules or play for longer than we were supposed to.
One rule we had in my house that was probably a good one was that computer time limits did *not* apply to using the computer to do something "creative". Playing a game didn't count as creative (even a game like Minecraft where you build things). But making a new game (e.g. with the program "GameMaker", which I discovered around age 8 or 9) or making art or videos on the computer was always allowed. That kind of childhood experience more or less led me to end up where I am today.
About my career I have some of the same mixed feelings as I do about the games I played as a child. On the one hand, making games is interesting and enjoyable. I like the people I work with a lot. On the other hand, I don't really feel it's a job that contributes much of value to the world. There's more than enough games out there already. The only reason we keep making more of them is because people keep on buying them; if I met our customers, I would encourage them to spend their money on something more worthwhile. (Luckily, I don't work in marketing.)
I'd like to think I wound up a functional adult. On the other hand, I have friends who I think spend too much time playing computer games, to the extent that it's practically the focus of their entire life, even as adults. I don't think that's the right way to live.
I think there are definitely categories of games that are worse for their players and others which are less bad. Some games are designed by people who love games and want to give the user an enjoyable experience; others are designed to be addiction machines, more like slot machines than like chess. By far the most predatory type of games are "free to play" games, especially those that run on mobile devices. A large proportion of these games are traps designed to make the user keep spending money on small in-game transactions.
Some computer games that I would say are relatively educational:
- Sid Meier's Civilization (a game about the progress of technology throughout history).
- Age of Empires (a game about ancient history and warfare; however, note that it is quite violent since it is a game about war and conquerors).
- Sim City (a game where you are the mayor of a city; build roads, power lines, new subdivisions, etc).
- Roller Coaster Tycoon (a game where you build and manage a theme park).
Technically, there are many versions of each of those games. I.e., Civilization 2, Civilization 3, Civilization 4, etc. The newer ones have better graphics and cost more money but are not necessarily better in any other way. : )
Of course, being educational does not necessarily make a game less addictive...
Wow, what a great comment. I will be using your comment as a reference in making decisions regarding video games for my children. Thank you so much.