Customer Reviews

Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I read this book in 3 days. It's a great book. The thoughts developed by Jane McGonigal are visionary. Most of us know "blue ocean strategy" ... this book is about "deep ocean strategy".
If you want to leverage the potential of people (= deep ocean) then games are a great source for inspiration. I'm not a gamer but learned that game developers and gamers are really developing new knowledge about how we can support the development of crucial or critical competencies ... yes ... competencies we will need to save our world: Eco-Systems Thinking - Global Co-Creation - Bringing Toghether and Focusing the energy and minds of people. The book is filled with great examples that help you understand how to build a appealing "game" context. But it's not about gaming ... it's about using the power of gaming to develop skills. Great, great, great ... a lot of different layers through the book ... the more experience you have in development, the deeper the book will touch you. Thanks ... Jane.

I don't usually buy this sort of instant-nonfiction; most of them are just hype for the latest fad, or kow-towing to the successful-business-of-the-day. This book, however, is mostly full of solid research and well-argued ideas, with quite a few sparkles of meaningful insight. I do think it could have been half as long (every chapter has to explain its core concept over and over), but overall it's probably one of the best books I've read this year.

I'd recommend it especially to people involved in interaction design, storytelling, management and, of course, game design, but it really has something for everyone.

Jane McGonigal's "Reality is Broken" discusses game design, improving lives, and changing the world. Sound grand? Yes, but McGonigal presents a strong argument. Far from being the downfall of a generation, the writer argues that video games are enabling collaboration on a scale previously unseen, and that through this form epic (to use the book's terminology) worldwide positive change will be enabled. Though at times lingering too long on games designed by the author (I think the book would have benefited from more variety), overall it was certainly a gripping (and I don't use that word very often) and insightful read that I would highly recommend.

Simply put; this book is amazing.

I'm not a computer gamer (I haven't seriously played a computer game for almost a decade), but this book is so much more than the tag line suggests... its a guide to motivation of yourself and those around you to achieve more... This book has inspired me to make changes to my every day personal life and my working life... I personally feel more motivated and I've seen a definite increase in motivation of those people on my team towards the work we need to do as a direct result of implemeting some of the ideas in this book.

Who should read this book? Managers, Leaders, and individuals.

Any gripes? Just one; it seemed to lose its way slightly about half way through -a couple of the games that were suggested didn't inspire me at all... I worried that it was going to go downhill from here, but no; next chapter got right back on track!

Brilliant.

I'm reading this in conjunction with the coursera Gamification course. I'm only on the first quarter but it appears well written and very interesting and thoughtful. Would highly recommend.

Using the video game model as a method of improving day to day life is certainly a brilliant idea. I'm still a little bit sceptical about using them to change the world but this book opened my eyes and allowed me to see the potential for change in something simple.

This book is exactly what it's supposed to be: It tells you why and how games in general are really stimulating for your mind, I recommend book this to everyone one.

...because although an interesting subject, the writing style is not engaging. It is taking me ages to read this book, and I usually ripping through them once I start. This one is pretty put-downable, though - be prepared for a bit of a plod.

First couple of pages were interesting, and the rest went rapidly downhill. I rated this poorly on two angles.
1. It takes a very facile approach towards the culture of game playing and the rewards programmed within it. It would be more compelling if it was expanded to include all gaming including real life games and sports. Very little time is spent discussing the psychological design of games to trigger reward mechanisms in people. Reality isn't broken... it's just REAL-LIFE. The whole book reads like an after-the-fact justificaiton of game playing dressed up in a thesis which is designed to make it more acceptable. Games aren't better than life, they don't have any of the constraints of life and therefore game-playing cannot offer as much as the author contends to improve people's lives and realities.

2. The book is about 150 pages too long, and stretches patience in reading.