Comments on: Play Tetris to Achieve Your Dreams

By: TACKY CAKES | and other things that inspire me | the Optimalists

TACKY CAKES | and other things that inspire me | the Optimalists — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:32:48 +0000

[...] Mythology. Seth Godin. Tetris. [...]

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 18:19:18 +0000

Well this IS encouraging. I like to brag that tetris is one of my (few) skills. Maybe I’ll start listing it on my resume.

By: colin

colin — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:55:51 +0000

@Yuro:

I totally agree. Managing a tech tree and the physical requirements of waging war (or peace) is a great exercise for the real world (hopefully you won’t be waging any wars, but the management of resources, no matter what those resources happen to be, comes in VERY handy in many situations).

You hit on a great point with the skills=technologies statement, as well. Being able to work your way up to a more enlightened self is a lot like developing through different technological stages, and requires just as much effort, ambition, creativity and thought.

Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts!

By: Yuro

Yuro — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:44:11 +0000

I would say a real time strategy (RTS) such as command and conquer can be great way to learn. Its pretty much the same with you said in the civilization where you need to learn more technologies so that you can defeat your enemies, and you also need to be build your forces fast because you don’t want to have your enemy built their momentum to squash you.

Just like in real life, learn more technologies is the same principle as learning new skills and knowledge in order to compete in the real world. You also need to act fast you don’t want your dream to be taken by other people right?

Great post by the way, I always think that games is a great way to learn.

By: colin

colin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 06:28:25 +0000

@Graham: I haven’t played Diplomacy, but it sounds like a ball! I’ll have to try and snag a copy when I get to Buenos Aires (would be a shame to buy it here and then have to sell it right away). Think it will be a good way to make friends (or would it be a better way to make international enemies)?

@Pramila Mathew: I checked out your blog, and I’ll be following along with you as well. Seems like you’ve got a good niche there, as more people need to start being concerned about whether or not they are happy with their lives, regardless of the path they decide to take to get there. Good stuff!

By: Pramila Mathew

Pramila Mathew — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 05:59:22 +0000

This is an interesting piece of information.

I follow you on twitter, which is how I found this interesting article. It is in line with what I have to say – having fun at work is just as important to maintain a healthy and happy lifestyle.

You could leave a tweet on the same at http://twitter.com/mmmtraining.

Alternatively you could check my thoughts on the same and more on http://www.mmmts.com/softskill-training/?p=108

Keep posting, and keep tweeting!

By: Graham

Graham — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 02:40:21 +0000

I completely agree. Video and board games are great for practicing and improving analytical and creative thinking.

One great game you left off your list is Diplomacy. Actually, I think it can replace Risk (oh, how I despise Risk). Diplomacy is a 7 player game in WW1 Europe. It is very similar to Risk but there are no dice and no ridiculous army cards. The armies are small so you are forced to make and break alliances in order to win the game. It is a huge mental exercise in figuring out tactics for moving pieces as well as figuring out which players to trust and which are lying to you.

Diplomacy is my favorite game and it is almost like a religion. We have a joke that once you play Diplomacy, you realize that any game can be boiled down to Diplomacy by making alliances. Even when the structure of the game doesn’t support it!