Teaching through play seems counterintuitive. After all, we are basically asking people to run amok, right? Not necessarily; part of what is being urged here is for people to explore the provided space. The age of the individual is superfluous when we ask people to play a game because the rules govern what you can and cannot do. This is not to say that there are no inherent advantages when playing against someone with less experience, but there also is no guarantee of victory. And that is a great equalizing factor that allows the younger generations to challenge the older ones and have a chance to teach their opponents something new.
So, why focus on game design as an approach to learning? In part, it has to do with how we learn and what we know about how the brain works. One of the main elements for this approach is the lessons hidden behind a façade of fun. People like to do meaningful work and love to see the results of that work. This is the same feeling you get when you accomplish a task or win a game against someone who is your equal or better in the skills used in that game. There is a great deal of work involved in playing against an opponent that involves not just knowledge of a game’s rules, but also learning how your opponent thinks and what they are (or aren’t) willing to risk to win.
Game design pulls back the curtain and invites players to write up their own systems and to think about the hows and whys of the game in the making. It touches on all the elements of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) and develops 21st century job skills. Game design has a holistic approach to many fields of knowledge and necessitates a multidisciplinary approach. Even if a student does not intend to go into any occupation that requires that sort of training, game design and the requisite research to make a game work, gives the individual a firm grounding to draw from multiple sources and apply techniques to their designs or work that escapes the “in the box” thinking a single-discipline focus tends to create.
Game design also lets people do something humans love to do: show off what we know. To make a game that people want to play repeatedly requires not just skill but mastery of the skill and knowledge needed to win or do well in that game. The game designer might not be aware of how much he or she is teaching the players, but this is essentially what’s happening. When designing a game, the core of that experience embedded in the design revolves around the skills and knowledge the designer has highlighted. Monopoly, for example, highlights risk assessment and cost/benefit analysis (amongst others), while a game like Dungeons & Dragons emphasizes group cooperation, communication, and storytelling. Thus, game design is about self-exploration of a subject the game’s creator has more than just passing knowledge about.
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Learning by Design – Introduction, Part 2