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How games bring out the best in us, act as a gateway to real-life goals, change who we think we really are, and protect us from real harm, and give us actual superpowers.... and how we will play world-changing games in the future as a result.
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Born to Play Games
— a talk about our human
destiny, circa 2020 AD
Jane McGonigal, PhDDirector of Game Research & Development
Institute for the FutureAugust 2010
Game designer nominated for Nobel Peace Prize by
2023
Do games bring
out the best in us?
Are games a
gateway to real-
life goals?
Do games change
who we think we
really are?
Are games
protecting us from
real harm?
Can games give us
real-life
superpowers?
YES.• Games do bring out the best in us.• Games are a gateway to real-life
goals.• Games do change who we think we
really are.• Games are protecting us from real
harm.• Games can give us actual
superpowers.
YES.• Games do bring out the best in us.• Games are a gateway to real-life
goals.• Games do change who we think we
really are.• Games are protecting us from real
harm.• Games can give us actual
superpowers.
Games activate 10 powerful positive emotions.
10. Joy 9. Relief 8. Love (really!) 7. Surprise 6. Pride
5. Curiosity
4. Excitement
3. Awe & Wonder
2. Contentment
1. Creativity
Being happy makes us successful – and not the other way around.
• Better grades in school• More popularity, social support• Higher achievements in personal goals• More raises and promotions at work• Longer, more satisfying marriages
We can change our lives by achieving “ The 3:1 ratio” .
Scientists have calculated a “tipping point” for exactly how much positive emotion is required to unlock the conditions for success:
It’s 3 positive emotions for every 1 negative
emotion you feel.
Positive emotions make us
super-resilient. People with a positivity ratio of 3:1 or
higher not only are happier and more successful – they live 10 years longer.
Emotions are contagious –
both positive and negative.
Every time you feel an emotion, scientists have discovered, it spreads on average to 6 other people you know: friends, family members, neighbors or co-workers. Then it spreads to 36 people they know; and then on to 216 people they know.
The old story is that anything that feels good is merely a distraction—trivial, inconsequential, and therefore expendable. The new story—backed by science—is that these same good feelings, cultivated through natural and ordinary means, are the active ingredients needed to produce an upward spiral toward flourishing. Whereas the old story leaves people feeling guilty when they ‘take time’ for something that makes them feel good, the new story can give people the courage to cultivate their best possible lives.
—Barbara Frederickson, PhD in Positivity
1994: We start playing Warcraft
Are we on the threshold
of our ownepic game?
90 million Farmville players
1 in every 75 people on the planet is currently playing FarmVille
1 in 200 logs in on any given day to manage and grow their virtual farm.
Show Epic Win Trailer
Watch Groundcrew Demo
Show Foldit Demo
Show EVOKE trailer
Demo the game site
www.urgentevoke.com
Game designer nominated for Nobel Peace Prize by
2023
FOR THOUSANDS OF
YEARS, GAMES HAVE
MADE US WHO WE ARE:
HUMAN .
FOR THOUSANDS OF
YEARS, GAMES HAVE
MADE US WHO WE ARE:
HUMAN .
TODAY’S GAMES MAKE US
THE BEST VERSION OF
OURSELVES:
SUPERHUMANS.
- S U PER EMPOWERED
HUMAN S .
Games give us something to do when
there is nothing to do. We thus call games ‘pastimes’ and regard them as trifling fillers of the interstices of our lives. But they are much more important than that. They are clues to the future. And their serious cultivation now is perhaps our only salvation.
—Bernard Suits, philosopher
worldchangin
g
worldchangin
g
slides@ avantgame.com@ avantgame
www.gameful.org
