Tangential Learning and Games: A Common Misperception

A question I get a lot is, “Is tangential learning possible in games without limiting yourself to historical themed games? “ Yes. Absolutely and indubitably!

I’ll give an example of how tangential learning, barely implemented and taking no development time, can serve to introduce players to new ideas. Do you know how many RPG gamers who have never gone to Temple know what the Sephiroth is simply because the Final Fantasy team decided to name a character after it? If .1% of their audience discovered what it is they’ve just facilitated the learning of 10,000 people.

Tangential Learning and Games: Better Implementation

Setting up kernels of fact or parables regarding real events in the midst of a fantastic sea of game fiction is not, as you may have guessed, the best way to invite players to educate themselves. So how do you highlight what elements of your game have more to them?

You could take the straightforward tact of games like Xenosaga and simply make everything referential. Of course this takes a lot of effort and preplanning. Alternatively, you can take the simplistic approach of simply highlighting the names of things which are referential; effective but a little tacky. But really, there are more subtle approaches that games can take to clue in the interactor to potential learning opportunities.

There are a million such techniques, but I’ll give you two as examples:

I personally like games that give information or quotes during the loading screens. This allows you to utilize otherwise dead space and point the player in the right direction regarding tangential learning opportunities.

The inclusion of clearly referential objects also informs the player of prospects for potential learning. For example, if you include Excalibur as a sword in your game, it is much more likely that your audience will connect the fact that the sword Masamune in your game might have some basis in “fact”.

There are other options, however. From things like the Civilopedia to the Mass Effect Codex, games have attempted to provide a space for players to access tangential topics from within the game. Making these things more accessible is indubitably a good idea, but is this approach too intensive? To heavy handed?

First, I’ve had a passing thought on the ‘Civilopedia’ of the future…Wikipedia. Wikipedia links could be easily implemented for any PC game and requires no development time or additional storage space. Additionally Wikipedia would allow the user to follow their interests in a way that a traditional in-game encyclopedia simply never could.

As far as it being too heavy handed, after much debate I’ve come to the conclusion that, so long as the player never has to interface with it, things like a Codex or Civilopedia are not too heavy handed. Done well, they can add to the depth of a player’s experience without making them feel like they’re being forced to partake in an educational experience.

Of course this is just the surface, and there are a myriad of other techniques I haven’t even begun to envision to encourage tangential learning. I hope this has inspired a few of you to try and think through this problem. I look forward to playing through your thoughts.

We have become a mass media. This is a fact that we cannot fight. Our actions have consequences. Where we can, where it costs us nothing, we must do what we can. At least this is my belief.

I want to end this by apologizing to the edutainment industry. They embody this philosophy. Their efforts are often the noblest for the least reward. I believe that they have the right approach to humanity...perhaps just not the best method to merge that with “games”.

I do not believe we should sacrifice the soul of what we do in order to give it meaning. Games, first and foremost, need to be fun.

But what they must be is not all they can be.

Feel free to direct any comments or questions to Jportnow@gmail.com