813 Experimenting Instead Of Losing

Yesterday’s post got me thinking more about educational games.

What I loved about The Incredible Machine was that “losing” a level just constituted your solution to the machine not working out entirely. But that “losing” was a part of winning. Which means it wasn’t losing, it was experimenting. And that’s awesome.

There are a ton of games now that still do this. Even if there is “death” or clear “losing” built into the game’s mechanic, it’s often contextualized or approached in a way that enforces a learning aspect. I love this, and I hope the design trend continues this way.

Of course, there are exceptions; games that are specifically designed to test resolve, patience, and tenacity. Ooof.

[ Today I Was Playing: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time ]

#educational-game, #game-design-topic, #game-opinion