And how we can — There is a famous definition of games by Jane McGonigal. She says that: “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.” — Jane McGonigal, Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better…

As with all paradoxical things in our lives, the answers to this two-fold question might seem both simple and complex. — Who is turning habits and life into fun games for? And who could we be looking up to in this regard? Here are some possible answers to these two questions. Who is turning habits and life into fun games for? This question can be answered as follows: Turning habits and life into games is for anyone who wants to make…

A very short but comprehensive answer — Any project or activity, and any habit representing or comprising it, can be turned into fun games. The best candidates are those you procrastinate about but want to pursue. You can also turn the behaviors you want to avoid or do less often into fun games by limiting the rewards…

Use these two simple practices — There is no game that someone plays 24/7 except perhaps the game of life. In the traditional sense, we play and enjoy games and then leave them at least temporarily to do something else. The same is bound to happen with the habits we maintain. What does leaving a game at will mean? Leaving a game or an…

And this feature is boredom — When I was writing my longest book so far on turning life into fun games, Self-Gamification Happiness Formula: How to Turn Your Life into Fun Games, I discovered the following statement by one of the biggest authorities on matters of fun and games, Raph Koster: “[T]he destiny of games is…

We can use our yearning for something new and shiny to spruce up what lost its shine in our perception. — Successful online games get regular updates and new features. Or maybe some older and forgotten features, but reinvented and shown in a new light. Even board games get extensions, expansions, and new releases. My experience with the Super Sleeper and other habit games revealed different dynamics, both in terms of…

And help ourselves to grow along with them. — Sometimes, my husband and I get compliments on how we educate our children. And sometimes, our actions are criticized. But in both compliments and critiques, I observed myself being at odds with the word “educate.” I decided to look at what the word “education” means. According to Oxford Dictionaries, it…