Jane McGonigal Quotes

There is no problem that doesn’t have some underlying need for more optimism, stamina, resilience and collaboration. And games are, I believe, the best platform we have for providing that.

We’ve been playing games since humanity had civilization – there is something primal about our desire and our ability to play games. It’s so deep-seated that it can bypass latter-day cultural norms and biases.

I want gaming to be something that everybody does, because they understand that games can be a real solution to problems and a real source of happiness. I want games to be something everybody learns how to design and develop, because they understand that games are a real platform for change and getting things done. And I want families, schools, companies, industries, cities, countries, and the whole world to come together to play them, because we’re finally making games that tackle real dilemmas and improve real lives.

My goal for the next decade is to try to make it as easy to save the world in real life as it is to save the world in online games.

When you strip away the genre differences and the technological complexities, all games share four defining traits: a goal, rules, a feedback system, and voluntary participation.

When we know our strengths, we’re more likely to use them.

Clinically speaking, depression is a pessimistic sense of your own capabilities, and despondent lack of energy.

Any time I consider a new project, I ask myself, is this pushing the state of gaming toward Nobel Prizes? If it’s not, then it’s not doing anything important enough to spend my time.

Research shows that when we’re under stress or facing a major obstacle, we tend to focus on our weaknesses and what we’re afraid of.

Urgent optimism is the desire to act immediately to tackle an obstacle, combined with the belief that we have a reasonable hope of success.

I didn’t accomplish what I set out to do, but I realized I had set out to do the wrong things

I worry a lot about people using games just for marketing, to get people to buy more stuff, which I think would be the worst possible use.