Educational games are BORING?

Here's a topic close to my heart, the educational usefulness, or lack thereof, of games, video games in this case - http://www.slate.com/id/2169019/nav/ais/. Having spent much of my personal life playing various games (typically big, complicated board games) and much of my professional career trying to find ways to use historical simulations in my classes, I've been continually perplexed regarding why the education world can't seem to find better ways to use simulations as part of the learning environment. I even taught a course on "gaming and culture" which tried to explore some of these topics with bright freshmen.

The short answer from this article, and from my experience with my reading and interaction with students, is that if "play" isn't enjoyable, it isn't play, and it won't entice anyone. Educators, in other words, kill the use of games by trying to make them more "simulations" than "play."

I should add that my own attempts to design games of my own have invariably fallen prey to this very temptation. I co-designed a simulation of our institution's operating procedures (called "YOU" for "Your Own University") that focused so much on getting the "economics" right, that I'm not sure it can be played without a facilitator, and I'm not sure it's always that much fun to play even when there is a good facilitator available.

In summary, I completely understand and agree with what the author is arguing for, but as he notes, trying to create a game that is fun and teaches you something is darned difficult to do. When it happens (Monopoly, Acquire, Civilization, Diplomacy, etc.), those games become instant classics. "YOU" ain't an instant classic, but we in the education world can keep trying.