A 2014 study by the University of Rochester professor of brain and cognitive sciences Daphn, awww, sorry. Daphne, Bavalier? Bev, Bavalier? Why are like John Smiths not be professors?

(Intro music)

Over a billion people have played Monopoly around the world. That's like the McDonalds of board games... which interesting because you can actually play McDonalds sometimes at... Monopoly sometimes at McDonalds. Aaah! Knew I was gonna mess that up. Alright.

Speel. Spee-iel? Spee-el? At the Spee-el! Spiel. At the spiel in Essen, Germany. Sorry. I'm so American. (laughs)

This convention set an all-time attendance record last year, with a total of 257 attendees. (coughs) Did I say 257 attendees? That's huge, man. Goin' places.

The hosts have reviewed everything from Pandemic, where... a car starts and ruined my shot!

But Shanghai... China. But Shanghai, space. Pause.

We even have a gaming Mecca in the middle of Nevazaa... Really? I can't say 'Nevada'? We even have a gaming Mecca in the middle of Nevaza des... we even have this gaming Mecca in the middle of Nevada desert called 'Las Vegas', thanks to the popular... popalor! Popularly! Naaa!

Paper, plastic, rectangular, circular... circular... circulor... 

And then it was adopted into poker as a wild card and renamed the Joker. Which then became a Batman villain! (maniacal laughter)

It eventually spread throughout the country in gaming patrons on riverboat... gaming parlors. Why did I say patrons?

Trading card games are defined as games that are mass-produced to be purchased and incorporated within a player's deck for strateg... strateg... tegic play! Stra-te-gic play. Incorporated within a player's deck for ju...

Nearly fifteen billions of these cards... fifteen billions?

...And take a look at exactly what they're doing for us and... ahh, I wanna keep saying 'doing for us now'. 'Doing for us and how'. Ok. 'and how'. And how!

In seventeen-fifty, Ben Franklin wrote that chess provided several very valuable qualities of the mind, including foresight, circumsi... circums... circums... I was gonna say circumcision. 

Students who received chess instruction scored a sign... (makes hissing noise)

This is a theory on mental states, defined by Hungarian psychologist, [tries to say 'Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi'.]... did I say it right?

Eric Klopfer author of augmented learning, research and design of mobile educational ga...  (laughter)

woo, I'm the floating head! That's even better for psychology. It's like, I'm the floating head of psychology. (chuckles) Why do you play games?

You can be a knight, in a medieval world filled with magic and hand-to-hand combat, an energized hacker in the future, or even a werewolf in Victorian London.

I dunno why I said werewolf like that. You can even be a werewolf baby! Ya-ay.

[In British accent] Or even a werewolf in Victorian London. Awwoooo

Much of the power in an RPG is concentrated in the hands of the game master, or dungeon manster.

[whispers] Not as dirty as it sounds. (laughter)
[off camera: We can't say that]
I know. (laughter) That's why I paused, so you can cut it.

Game of Thrones is mainstream, (chuckles) Usagi Yojimbo however, that's that true nerd stuff right there.

What's quoted as saying in the game is very anti-religious.
'These books are filled with things that are not fantasy but are actual in the real demon world, and can be dangerous for anyone involved in the game because if it leaves them so open to satani-'
I'm sorry! It's just reading it is so ridiculous!

Involved what the player can actually do in the game so think.. so... so think ver... oh, so think verbs.

I was like: in the game so. Think verbs.

And if you've ever played by house rules [phone dings] What?!

So while game designers are responsible for creating these elements, they hawful... they, they... awful. They... they're awful!

(singing) What a gamer wants, what a gamer needs. Whatever makes gamers happy, sets them free.

Game designer Gerald Cameron made rules for creating engaging dice games known as luunraa-linngraa

Throw puzzle solving into a narrative, and you've got yourself an audiance. What?
Oh, an adventure. Why'd I say audiance?
[off camera: I don't know!]
(laughs) I got a puzzle here! yawn. But hey! It's got a narrative!
Aw. Ooo, now we're listening, now you have my attention.

But we'll get to that next week when we talk about gaming's role in education.
Thanks for watching, we'll see you next time. Ima go play mouse trap, I guarantee it's the craziest trap you'll ever see!