Wisconsin Life

(lively music) -

Voiceover

I think most of us grow up doing board games with the family. (shaking dice) You know, Candyland. Monopoly. (dice rolling on board) Those games are mostly an excuse to hang out with people that you love. Ask for Candyland. It's fun. -

Patrick

But like as games that teach you any sort of skill, Candyland, it's not a game. You don't make choices in Candyland. What it's good for is it gives you something to do with your child other than watch TV. (zapping sounds) -

Voiceover

And it teaches your child how to operate within a framework of rules. But will this teach him problem solving? Off you go on a thrilling trip. Up over the gumdrop mountains. -

Patrick

No, no it won't. All through high school I played, they were called text adventures. And those were fantasy games. "Zork." (foreboding music) And it was like living in a novel 'cuz it was all text. You would read the description of the world. And then you would try to solve the puzzles by typing in instructions. (chip music) And they taught huge problem solving. I literally worked for years on these games. You'd try something. You're like, "What am I not seeing?" (scream) And then I would go to school and I talk to my friend Chad. And we would talk about this. It's like, "No, I tried that with the dragon. "It doesn't work. "No, I tried that and then I died." "How did you die? "Maybe that will give us a clue, you know?" I played so many of those. And I have still not seen them equaled in terms of the problem solving you needed to engage in. And that frustration I experienced. I lament the fact that my child will never be able to experience that level of frustration playing a game, because these days if you get stuck, you Google it up, and then you just move on. Frustration teaches you a lot. (bing) I'm really looking forward to my son getting old enough to play some of these games, because you learn how to solve problems. Systems manipulation. That's what I tend to think of it as. And that means you have to learn the rules and figure out your optimal strategy. Tell me that isn't going to be useful your whole life every day. (sad note sliding down) Dealing with failure. Dealing with disappointment. That's really important to learn. That you can lose and you play again and you win. And losing wasn't the end of the world. I mean, I know some adults who haven't learned that. And it paralyzes them with fear. They're so afraid to try anything for fear that it might not work. Not realizing that if you don't play at all, you've lost right at the start. Honestly, the world would be a better place if more people played games.