Serious Play

Watch a stimulating lecture on the application of gaming research to museums!

In Dec. 2008 CFM hosted a lecture by Dr. Jane McGonigal, researcher and games designer with the Institute for the Future, titled "Gaming the Future of Museums.” More than 850 people at 397 sites around the world viewed the lecture and participated in online chats during a webcast on Jan. 28, 2009.

We are pleased that due to the sponsorship of LearningTimes we were able to make the webcast free to all participants. Dr. McGonigal has been kind enough to allow us to make the recorded webcast available to AAM members. Follow the webcast link to log in to the AAM website and access the recording. The slides are available to everyone at Slideshare.


Transcripts from the webcast discussions are now available for download!

Download the Discussion Guide for the lecture to enhance your viewing experience.
Participate in Leisure Activities:
  • Games People Play . . . in Museums
  • Badges! Playing with Incentives

This webcast of the lecture was generously sponsored by 

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The “real world” lecture was given on Dec. 2, 2008, at the Newseum’s Knight Conference Center in Washington, D.C. More than 140 people from the nonprofit, for-profit and government realms attended and gave the lecture rave reviews. “Jane McGonigal could not have been more interesting, challenging and engaging,” commented one attendee. Said another, “[Jane is] scary-smart, and I found her premise fascinating and engaging."


Why Should You Watch This Lecture?

Games are astoundingly popular and pervasive in American Society, capturing market share and attention at an ever-accelerating rate. Ninety-one percent of youth under age 19 play computer games, and this participation does not drop off as they age. The average age of a gamer is 35, and one in four gamers is more than 50.
Dr. McGonigal challenges us to consider:
  • What makes games so compelling, even addictive?
  • How can museums become experiences as engaging as games?
  • Given the vast number of hours millions of people invest in playing complex, online games, how can museums harness this creativity to give their audiences opportunities to contribute to  advancingtheir missions?
Museums can learn and benefit from studying popular games because:
  • Games are museums’ competitors—vying for people’s increasingly scarce leisure time. 
  • Games present an opportunity for museums to engage new audiences and interact in new ways with existing audiences.
  • Successful games can teach museums how to create experiences that are deeply satisfying.
  • Games may provide new ways for museums to have a profound impact on society if they are designed, as alternate reality games are, to change people’s real world behavior.