To understand why game-based learning works, first we must comprehend what exactly makes us so happy when we play. Why is playing pleasantly exciting? Our brain releases dopamine. Imagine it as a message. It’s stored in a safe until we get a reward stimulus. Then it gets released and travels through your neural pathways to the part of your brain that makes you feel emotions. It says: “We feel good now.”
So, what is it in the game that makes it rewarding – what’s the stimulus that makes the message release? There are a few of them. Winning a game is an obvious one, whether you play against people, against a computer, or against yourself – which brings us to achieving goals. Mastering skills, completing challenges, or reaching outcomes that require effort. That’s the part that makes sense. The more paradoxical thing is that even more dopamine gets released the moment before we get to know the outcome. The gratitude comes almost immediately after we start to play as the dopamine comes from anticipation. It’s that feeling of excitement before you know what comes next – how the story continues, whether you win, or how many points you get. This feeling is an even more important source of dopamine than the outcome itself, even if it’s positive. That’s also the reason why in the most extreme cases, people continue to play even after they keep losing, because feeding a coin into a slot machine makes us more excited than the actual prize.
In educational contexts, game-based learning has been found to improve learners’ motivation, active participation, and learning outcomes.
Game aspects that are particularly effective in educational settings:
- Interactive storytelling: make learners more engaged by anticipating what comes next and how the story ends.
- Progress Tracking: Especially visual representations of progress help learners monitor their advancement, setting clear learning goals and promoting accountability.
- Immediate Feedback: Instant feedback on performance reinforces learning and guides learners towards improvement.
- Competition and Collaboration: Healthy competition and collaborative challenges motivate learners to excel while promoting teamwork and social skills.
At the end of the day, it’s important to not view game-based learning as a one-fits-all solution. The more personalized the experience, the better the educational results. And this is what we aim for in our DigiCity project!
