Robot Unicorn Attack (game): Why am I more personally fulfilled by setting a personal best high score in Robot Unicorn Attack than I have been by anything else Ive ever done?
Short answer: you haven’t done very much, and you’re focusing on the wrong things. If that sounds harsh, there’s the longer answer (much longer, sorry). Longer answer: I agree with Yves Hardy’s comment on accomplishment, which leads to Nate Stearns’ comment on Jane McGonigal’s new book, “Reality is Broken” and the potentially dangerous lessons people are taking from it. It’s true that games provide an easy and clear sense of accomplishment, feedback, engagement, etc., than we often get from the messiness of real life. But (with due respect to Jane), the vast majority of accomplishments in games are illusory. You finish a level, beat a boss monster, complete a game — yay! You get the quick emotional boost of having done something. But wait, what have you actually done? What do you have to show for it? What real accomplishment do you have? What real change have you affected? Despite Jane’s rosy assessment, the actual answer (again, in the overwhelming majority of instances) is that you
