Gamepaddle Video Games. Education. Empowerment. Michaela Anderle & Sebastian Ring (Ed.)

1. Video Games and (Educational) Play Theory

So, the question is what makes games and playing special - and whether these characteristics also apply to video games.

As Rainer Buland (2010) points out, in German language we use the word Spiel for very different activities, whereas in English there is a distinction between “game” (for a game with its specific set of rules, like a game of chess), “play” (for children’s play as an experimental and creative activity), gambling and sports. According to him, especially “play” has great educational potential. Within such a definition, the borders between different types easily become blurred, though. While most modern digital games nicely fit the “game”-definition, some of them, with their endless possibilities to explore and create worlds of one’s own (just think of roleplaying games), seem more “play-“ than “gamelike”.

Several general definitions of what a game is exist, but most of them agree on certain key characteristics. Playing a game is a voluntary act - we decide freely to play or join in a game. A game is a sphere with specific rules and agreements that only apply within the framework of the game. It has a beginning and an ending, and its ending is open, uncertain - which is a source of excitement. While we play a game, we act on an as-if basis: our actions are deeply meaningful within the framework of the game, but have no consequences outside of it. (Rosenstingl & Mitgutsch, 2009: 20-23, Klimmt, 2008: 9). All these criteria roughly apply to video games, too.

Jürgen Fritz defines a game through its three dimensions. First, a game has a behavioural dimension: while playing, we act in a “different” way, self-determined and experimental. We experience excitement and can live out our fantasy and creativity. The second dimension, framing, describes the way a game/play creates a world of its own, a “magic circle”, which only exists as long as the persons involved agree to “keep it up”. The third dimension defines a game/play as a construct of rules, agreements and materials (Fritz, 2004: 17-35). These dimensions can also be found in video games.

The ability to create flow-experiences is often seen as something very typical for play and game, even if not exclusively: we can experience flow during other leisure-time activities and even at work. During flow, our actions and our consciousness merge into one another; we concentrate deeply on what we are doing and have the feeling of having everything under control. The condition precedent to flow is having clear goals and a clear feedback structure. The requirements of the tasks on the one hand, and a person’s skills and expertise and their scope of action on the other, should be well balanced - the demands should neither be too excessive nor too low. (Fritz, 2004: 99-101). The structure of many video games - clear goals and a clear step-by-step reward system, the possibility to define the level of difficulty oneself or the way difficulty levels gradually rise during progress in the game - creates good conditions for experiencing flow.

According to Wolfgang Einsiedler, self-efficacy is a major factor of the learning potential of games and play:

“While playing, a child discovers its self, its self-awareness as an independent, free acting human being. It can experience the connection between action-result and action-consequence“ (Einsiedler, 1993: 61)¹⁸. As for video games, their attraction is greatly based on the transparent connection between action and feedback (Klimmt, 2008: 8).

Children’s leisure time today is by trend increasingly organized by adults, so those who observe children’s cultures often lament the loss of non-pedagogical, adult-free free space for self-organized play (e.g. Einsiedler, 1993: 68-70). Here, virtual gaming spaces can be regarded as something that might, to some extent, help to counterbalance this development.