Playing Against the Game

Thepaperfirstoutlinesadifferentiationofplay/game-motivationsthatinclude‘negative’attitudes againsttheplay/gameitselflikecheatingorspoilsporting.Thisproblemisofparticularimportance inconcernoflearninggamesbecausetheyarenot‘played’forthemselves–atleastinthefirstplace –butduetoaninstructionalscheme.Sotheyarelikelytoprovokeresistanceamongthe‘players’ orlearners.However,becausetheyareintroducedasagames,acertainextentaplayfulsphereis created.Thisopensthespaceforapreviouslyneglectednegativebehaviour:‘playingagainst the game’.Theplayer–notsomuchthelearner–createsanewgameby‘testing’thegame,byacting atspecificpointsincontrasttotheinstructionalschemeand/ortheoriginalideaornarrativeofthe game.Secondly,thepaperwillpresentempiricalevidenceconcerningthisphenomenonof‘playing againstthegame’.Theevidencecomesfromtheevaluationofthreedifferentlearninggames.Student answers tousualmotivationalquestions like:“Thegamewasfun”–“Iwanted tobebetter than theothers”–“Itwasagoodfeelingtomakestrategicdecisions”,willbecomparedtoquestionsof resistancelike:“Iwantedtoknowwhathappenswhenmyavatarwasnotdoingwell”–“Iwantedto seewhathappensifIchooseabadstrategy.”–“Iwantedtoknowwhenthecompanygoesbankrupt.” Thedatashowsthat–partlydependingoncomplexity,playfulnessandanonymityofthegame–a relevantnumberofplayers/learnersusethisnegativebehaviour.Nevertheless,thisbehaviourcanstill beawayofinteractingwiththesubjectmatterofthegame.