Getting serious about gaming to connect water stakeholders

“Gaming has always been an integral part of human culture. One of the oldest forms of social interaction and communication, games have enabled civilisations to bond and thrive as communities. In his book Homo Ludens, Dutch historian Johan Huizinga argued that playing games is older than culture, and it is actually a necessary condition of the generation of culture. For example, the Royal Game of Ur, a wooden board game with ornamental, shell plagues, was discovered in the Persian Gulf and dates back nearly 5,000 years. Today, many aspects of our digital world have been gamified; whether it’s accumulating followers on social media, to earning bonus points through online shopping apps. The fact the video games have overtaken the film industry to be worth a staggering US$200 billion is testament to how our thirst for games continues to grow. While the primary function of many of these games is entertainment, gaming meanwhile has developed with the primary goal of education and learning. Gaming facilities interaction between people by creating a safe environment with rules, structures and goals. Participants are taken out of the everyday context and play a role with the freedom to make decisions which would not impact real world assets. Ultimately, the goal is to bring learning into practice.”

(Citation: Munaretto, S. – Getting serious about gaming to connect water stakeholders – www.waterwastewaterasia.com (2021)18 May)