I highlighted an important quote from the Gee reading that states, “The world doesn’t go away, I can enter any time, it gives me constant feedback, but never a final judgment that I am a failure, and the final exam– the final boss–is willing to wait until I am good enough to beat him” (Gee, 2007). This quote stood out to me because even though I made a mistake in the game, I can always try again with a new set of policies. Yes, the public approval rating does decrease, but it’s not the end of the world and can be made up for by choosing better policies. The idea with pleasantly frustrating is that you keep trying, even if you’re failing, until you’ve learned to master the game using techniques and skills that are most beneficial to you.
I also believe this corresponds with Squire’s idea of learning by doing. Squire states, “[Games] are uniquely organized for a functional epistemology, where one learns through doing, through performance” (Squire, 2006). The player has to read the policy and choose what would be best for the people. The only way a player can get better at something in this game is to learn by doing and to make mistakes. When I first played this game, I was just pressing buttons until something good would happen. I was taking things to the wrong department and just overall making lots of mistakes. The more I was able to experience this game, the better I became at it. When I played again, I knew where every department was, and I was able to know which departments I had to take bills to. Although I was still making mistakes with the policies, I developed a strategy (weighing both the pros and cons of each policy) to help me decide which policies were good and which were not.
ED 386 Educational Technology - Lauren's Blog 