I have been playing my potty game Sudoku for about five weeks now.  I find it a wonderful waste of time. . . well not really a waste I suppose as you'll see from the video I am working on.  It's teaching me a few things.  I actually LIKE working with numbers better than I did before.  Here's the thing though.  When I was playing "just for fun" I found I really enjoyed it and got no small amount of satisfaction from beating the game.  However, for this project I decided to make the video mentioned earlier.  I was trying to shoot scenes that demonstrated how I was learning the game. . . . and I noticed myself becoming frustrated . . . even agitated because I had a "deadline" with a specific accomplishment desired.  Not as much fun anymore.  I was surprised that a different motivation could make the game LESS enjoyable! 

Here's the thing.  I've never been much one for sports.  Even growing up I shied away from all kinds of physical sports.. . . even cards and board games were not my thing.  Perhaps I am anti-competitive. . . I don't know.  Though I do love doing something at work that makes me or my team look good or improve operations. . . Isn't that competitive?

Hour 1:  I am stunned by how bad I am at this game.  OK. . . admittedly I have . . . maybe 45 minutes in. . .but right now I am not feeling too much of what McGonigal calls "fiero!"  I recognize the amount of time that it takes to become even a novice at this game. . .  but can it hold my attention that long?  I will keep trying.

Hour 2:  It's starting. . . the hard fun is starting!  I took the time to complete the tutorial before the second class so at least I wasn't stumbling around like a blind fool.  I have some of the controls worked out and that is pretty gratifying. . .  Still some things that mystify me . . . but at least the frustration level is lessening.  I am really starting to see a little bit of the attraction.  Cadre 16 has a "date:" to play more tomorrow and we'll see how I do.

I'm not a math person.  Never have been.  I remember all through school feeling intimidated in classes because I didn't understand it.  A lot of it just didn't make sense in elementary- and high-school.  Lately though I have been playing an electronic version of Sudoku.  I have played this game before but always in a non-e format.  You know the games in the back of the Southwest and other airline magazines?  Even then, the numbers gave me some grief.  I would never have a pencil so I ended up using a pen. . . with much scribbling out of errors and so forth (apologies to all those who flew after I did and tried to play the game.)

Then I found the potty game Sudoku.  First, no pens are involved.  Second, the game makes me feel "OK" with numbers for maybe the first time. . . The e-version of Sudoku is cleverly designed with little hints and guides to help newcomers quickly solve the easier levels of the game.  

I am sure all of you know how to play Sudoku but just in case. . . no number may exist more than once in each quadrant ("ninth-rant?") or in each line vertically or horizontally.  Easy to explain. . . more difficult to play.  

Have a look at the screenshot to the left.  In the middle block of nine on the left column (the block with the red rectangle around it) where does the 7 belong? . . Without the little green square "hints" it might be difficult to find . . . but with the hints it's a whole different story - an.  The second image shows, with the constraints above, the only possible place to put the 7.

In this image it's easy to see why the 7 must be placed where I have it.  Now for the rest of the empty squares. .. .   

The above is just one of the methods that this version of Sudoku provides to make the game less threatening to non-mathies.  There are other hints, tools and levels to not only make the play non-threatening but also to allow one to gradually work up to more difficult levels.

OK. . . so here's the thing.  This is NOT a math game, right?  No, it isn't.  But my early experience with math made working with numbers in any form a trial to be avoided at any cost.  The thing about this game is that it made me feel like I COULD work with numbers and be successful.  I never really enjoyed the paper Sudoku but I do enjoy, and am getting better at, the e-version . . . . and I find I am playing it at every "potty opportunity"

So, here I go with Portal. After asking the 18YO (nicely) to use the x-Box and making the him PROMISE not to instruct, give hints, cajole, or help in any way,  I was off and running (well. . . . stumbling really) with Portal. He kept to his word and didn't assist me at all. . . . but I did have to put up with him laughing uproariously and ridiculing me at some of my early feeble attempts at the more challenging sections. Lots of emotions . . . . I was Intimidated, felt like he was being condescending, and lots of other negative stuff.  Sure I laughed it off.  Had to. 

Honestly, never having been a gamer I was really amazed at the graphics and level of detail (I know, I know. . .newbie right?). At first I stumbled around in the corner of the room for a minute or two until I worked out the controls. I really didn't find the hand controls intuitive at all. I finally got through the door of my "resting chamber" (success!) and started wandering the hallways. At first I found the computer voice kind of annoying and tried to block her out (unsuccessfully) to concentrate on the play. Pretty soon however, I recognized  that amidst the "HAL-esque" (remember Kubrick’s 2001?) interruptions and sometimes bizarre attempts at humor there was occasionally a tidbit of useful information about how to succeed. Lesson 1: Listen to the voice . . . but filter! Something else that I ignored for a while were those odd "international" style signs on the walls (like the one accompanying this post). I remember one of them had a piece of cake with the universal "no" symbol through it. What? No eating cake? I thought they were just more attempts at humor and window dressing by the designers. Not so. Well. . . not entirely so. . . . Occasionally, amidst the decorative clutter I would find a symbol that would give me a hint on how to solve the current puzzle and escape from the room I was in. I remember one of these challenges where the voice and the signs combined gave me the hint I needed. The sign was similar to the one above and the voice said something to the effect of "speedy thing goes in. . . speedy thing comes out." This was my clue to get some momentum before passing into the portal. Lesson 2: Keep your eyes and ears open. . . but filter! 

So. . . my takeaways for Portal so far. Fun? Yeah. . . Hard fun? Heck  yeah! Once I stopped stumbling around and used the clues and queues to make some progress that is. I enjoyed solving the challenges. . . and having some successes. Made me think. 

A negative?   The pretty much constant ridicule by the resident 18YO.   Made me wonder a little about the gamification of traditional learning. Younger children are sometimes wont to make themselves feel superior by bullying, laughing at, or otherwise ridiculing their peers who are not as "good" as they are. I wonder if, in a non-gamified, more traditional educational setting, there would be less of a chance of this happening than in a gamified environment, simply because of the level of competition with would creep in. . .

Well. . . here goes.  I am not, and never have been a gamer.  Whether it be running up and down a field clutching the external remains of a farm animal or madly thumbing the fire controls of a PlayStation remote. . .  it just ain't me.  Nevertheless. . .  I do recognize the educational value of gaming (of all sorts) and the benefits to be gained by playing.