It was 10:00. I didn’t want to do more work around the house, but I wasn’t ready for bed. I had recently loaded the RISK App onto my iPod Touch. I have played the game in real life. While it is interesting, I’ve never really had the patience for it. The game takes a long time. In a digital environment, it does go faster. I was able to play two games tonight. And, suddenly, it’s almost midnight. While an hour long game is significantly faster than a real-life game, it still went by in a flash.
P.S. I was playing a three player game, and I survived to be one of the last two. I need to work on the strategy part, but I am happy with tonight’s performance.
What is it about games like RISK that can capture our attention (even those of us with so much on our minds), and keep our interest? How can we bottle this engagement and bring it to our students and their learning? That’s the challenge of Gamification in Education.