I remember the first year at the Game Developers Conference I wore these big red giant knee-high boots. Nobody cared. You can wear anything you love, because that's what you do in games. You make yourself who you want to be.
Jane McgonigalRead
It seems like what happens when we play games is that we go into a psychological state called eustress, or positive stress. It's basically the same as negative stress in the sense that we get our adrenaline up, you know, our breathing rate quickens, our pulse quickens.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights how playing games induces a positive form of stress that can be invigorating.
In this quote, Jane McGonigal explains the concept of eustress, a positive type of stress experienced when engaged in activities like playing games. This psychological state not only elevates adrenaline levels but also enhances one’s mental and physical state, suggesting that such experiences can be beneficial to our overall well-being.
Themes
EustressPositive StressGamesWell-BeingAdrenaline
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a presentation about the benefits of gaming.
More from Jane Mcgonigal
All quotes →Urgent optimism is the desire to act immediately to tackle an obstacle, combined with the belief that we have a reasonable hope of success.
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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.
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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.
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A traumatic event doesn't doom us to suffer indefinitely. Instead, we can use it as a springboard to unleash our best qualities and lead happier lives.
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The real world just doesn’t offer up as easily the carefully designed pleasures, the thrilling challenges, and the powerful social bonding afforded by virtual environments. Reality doesn’t motivate us as effectively. Reality isn’t engineered to maximize our potential. Reality wasn’t designed from the bottom up to make us happy.
Jane McgonigalRead
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