Reflecting on Our Game Experience

“We do not learn from experience...we learn from reflecting on experience.”

– John Dewey

We can learn a lot from games if we take the time to look beyond the mere momentary entertainment they offer. Like real life, we often finish a game, make some cursory judgments about whether we liked it, and then head home to our daily toils, temporarily restored by some brief respite of play. Too often it seems we stumble through life like this, careening from one crisis to another on various fronts (home, work, school, friends), muddling through the tedious daily grind, and finding passing relief in our hobby interests before succumbing to sleep, all while rarely taking time to look back at our experiences, reflecting on them to see what we might learn, what we might change as we move forward. Games, especially those we play for some educational value (however shallow), can help teach us to analyze an experience, reflecting on what we hated and liked, how our choices affected the game, how we interacted with other players, and what we might do next time to achieve a more favorable outcome. Reflecting on the play experience remains a paramount exercise when using games for learning, in both formal settings and in our own casual gaming.

Games are social activities. We gather around the table, often with drinks, snacks, or even a meal. Someone teaches the game, or we collectively figure out how to play (a “game” in itself), or we simply set up and get started thanks to prior familiarity with the rules (and a few refresher questions). We interact over the game components, sometimes “out of character” and often immersed in the imaginary world and challenges the game presents. Maybe we play a few rounds, perhaps just one game (especially if it’s a long one); but ultimately we pack up and move on with our day. Sometimes exceptional conditions prevail – good friends, plenty of time, some remarkable gameplay – to encourage us to kick back after a game and revisit it, talking about highlights, particular obstacles, rules that worked really well (or didn’t), how we might change our personal strategies or even the rules themselves in future games, and otherwise prolong a positive experience by reliving it in shared conversation.

How many times have we all done that? After playing that huge convention wargame we talk about the game as we all help the host pack away figures and terrain. We finish the latest board game and talk about the rules (did we get them right?) or how we might pursue different strategies next time. We bask in our triumphs and defeats over collectible card games, thinking about whether we want to buy a few more booster packs to improve our chances in future games. We think about lessons learned from our mistakes in minis games like X-wing and Star Wars: Armada (though some of us still don’t learn how not to accidentally ram into other starships). We watch how other players acted, what strategies they pursued, and see if they might suit us in future games. Most roleplaying game sessions I ran for friends – regardless of the game – ended with half an hour, if not several hours, of hanging out afterward talking about what happened in the game, what various revelations meant, and how their characters would act going forward. As game designers, how often do we finish a playtest session, then talk with the participants about what worked and didn’t, how comfortable they were with the rules, how they felt at various points in the game?

This is not the briefing
you're looking for.

Professional military wargames include this kind of post-game reflection as part of the learning experience. Discussion often focuses on the elements of the simulation/game (what we’d call assumptions about set-up and rules) or on the strategies employed during gameplay (as well as problems encountered)...or on both, with an eye toward improving the simulation experience and the knowledge participants gain from engaging with the exercise. In many instances it’s often more important than the game, though it cannot occur without a game (or exercise, lest it sound unprofessional). Those in the professional military wargaming community call this essential after-action discussion the “hot wash up” (a term originally referring to a quick cleaning method for firearms after use)...but to us mundanes the term “debriefing” works just as well.

Reflection remains essential to learning from our experiences in any educational context, young or old, professional or amateur, in school or in the workplace. In his essay “The Unexamined Game Is Not Worth Playing” history educator and game advocate Jeremiah McCall discusses how games can help students learn to think critically with a teacher’s guidance in reflecting on the experience. It’s worth a read and still extremely relevant to discussions of games and education despite its publication more than a decade ago. He, too, focuses on the importance of post-play analysis:

Simulation games are models, and representations, of no particular value for deep learning unless they are reflected upon, dissected and analyzed. In a very real sense, this is the primary goal of teachers, to get their students to pause, analyze, use, and reflect what they would otherwise have happily scanned and passed by.

Alas, games as learning tools have received little traction in secondary education and nearly none in elementary education, though more at the collegiate level (a subject I’ll probably revisit and expound upon in the future); hence I hold such games-for-learning advocates like McCall, Professor Scott Nicholson, and Khairul Hisham in high regard.

Games often reflect life. How many times have we wanted to get together to play games with friends and not found any time in our hectic schedules? In our busy modern society we never seem to have enough time...and certainly not time to calm down and think about what we’ve experienced, let alone learn from those reflections. After a long day at school or work folks don’t want to reflect on the most recent tedium or trials, they want to decompress and find respite in their leisure pursuits (for some of us it means games). But games aren’t simply escapist entertainment. They can inform our real-life experiences. Taking time to discuss what we do at the game table reminds us to take time to reflect on other events in our everyday lives; experiences from which we might learn how to better overcome challenges, work with others, and become more positive people, among many other improvements to our lives and the lives of those around us.

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

– Socrates