Reality Is Broken Summary

Jane McGonigal begins her fifth chapter of Reality is Broken by discussing the online game Lexulous. Vast amounts of Facebook users became attracted to Lexulous, in 2007, when they discovered the close similarities the game had with the classic game, Scrabble. With the online chat feature Lexulous has, players can stay connected with whomever they choose to play against. Throughout reading game reviews McGonigal found that many users were playing against their moms, and came to believe that playing Lexulous could easily just be “...an excuse to talk to their mom every day.” (pg. 78). McGonigal also found screenshots of mother-daughter conversations that had been posted to websites like Flickr and Photobucket that solidified her belief even more. Games like Lexulous, however, are not just to keep in touch with your mom, but are designed to let you talk to your real-life friends or even strangers you’ve just started a game with. The author continues to use Lexulous as an example when she discusses how games provide motivation to stay connected. She explains that having the components of gameplay and online chat creates an addictiveness to the game. According to McGonigal, this type of addictiveness is caused by asynchronous gameplay: both players do not have to be playing at the same time, and turns are taken whenever …show more content…
She includes that these prosocial emotions are essential to creating long-term happiness, and although games aren’t designed with them in mind, games do produce them. The reasoning McGonigal uses to back her though up is a personal anecdote about her and her husband. While playing Grim Fandango, McGonigal claimed to have fallen in love. By playing together,the couple was able to “...express admiration for each other…”(pg. 82), and all that came along with that such as sympathy and