Models are powerful tools for helping people think together and make better decisions. When we use  physical models, conceptual models, computer models, or another form of representation, we are typically trying to refine, reflect on or update our mental model. That is, we use models to scaffold the way that we perceive and think – empowering us to make better decisions.

Games help us to create and refine mental models. As we learn a game and grow to understand its rules and mechanics, we begin to think about it in new ways. Through repeat play, we are upgrading our mental model of how the game works, and using it to optimise our performance and win the game.

Games often lead us to create mental models very quickly, and the more we play the same game, the more complex our mental model of it becomes. This translates to us being better able to understand the rules of the game and the outcomes of our actions in play. This greater understanding of the game leads us to get better and better at it.

Let’s use chess as an example. Chess is a pretty complex game, with most pieces moving and acting in different ways to each other. When one first plays, there’s so much to think about just learning the different pieces let alone much more. During that first game of chess, your mental model of chess is built, but it’s quite scarce. The more you play, the more you can build on this foundation. You learn to incorporate strategies, like what pieces work well together, and what opening moves are strongest. The more you play chess, the more complex your mental model of it becomes, enabling you to make better decisions regarding your move choices, ultimately increasing your ability to beat your opponent.

Gaming then, can be viewed as a practical, hands on and fun way of building and improving a mental model.

One avenue where this can be applied to everyday life is through simulation games. These games aim to emulate aspects of real life. As such, any mental models made for these simulations could then also be applied to their real life counterparts.

But why use games? Why not just expose someone to a real life scenario and let them build a mental model that way? Well, firstly, that might be impractical. Such a situation could be costly to set up, in time, money and other resources. And secondly, it may be a rare situation that relies on certain other events or circumstances that are just too hard to schedule. Or further, the challenge might be something high-stakes and complex like brain surgery, which leaves little room for mistakes. Games as a way to build and refine mental models overcomes these hurdles.

A game can be played over and over, with pawns stepping in to represent people, and cubes or other pieces representing resources. Games can be played with representational stand-ins, rather than the actual thing, thus making it cheaper and easier to create the scenario you want to build a mental model of. And because all of the elements are small pieces in a box or on a screen, they can be set up in any way that they need to. You don’t need to wait for the stars to align.

Let’s take another example; the Beirut Port Explosion simulation. Professor Hajj of Wellesley College taught a Comparative Politics course to a group of passionate students. When discussing the costs and benefits of bold/violent vs. subtle/peaceful resistance in the face of conflict, she found that the students often argued for the former, calling it more effective. The students could not grasp the cost of human suffering when such strategies only partially succeed, or totally fail. The students needed to shift perspective, which is hard in a classroom setting.

So, to aid this perspective shift, Professor Hajj had the students “dropped into” Beirut, Lebanon just moments after the explosion in August 2020. The students were then tasked with developing a strategy to transform suffering into a path forward that realises justice and peace for Lebanon, in the face of this catastrophic negligence.

Interaction with a simulation, with real-time information on what was happening in Lebanon, enabled the students to build a lot more complexity into their models of the incident, and their wider mental model on how to deal with conflict and social unrest. Their mental model already existed, being built by their book-learning within the classroom. But as Professor Hajj noted, it didn’t quite capture the scope necessary to bring the best solutions. Being immersed in a simulation provided students with information and experience they otherwise would not have had. They then gained a better view of the true effects of their strategies and a new perspective that will inform their conflict transformation strategies for years to come, because it has been incorporated into their newly complex and refined mental model.

So here we see that while the elements of the simulation are mere representatives, the mental models created are very real. The understanding a person gains from interacting with a simulation game still creates and builds a mental model they can use in the real world.

There are a whole host of benefits. Here are some more examples:

• Games are a safe place to fail where that may not be true of the real world.
• The playful nature of games encourages more creative solutions that can be built into a mental model and then tried in reality.
• A game can encourage people to engage with topics they might otherwise consider dry or boring. 

So. It is clear that building mental models, growing our understanding and gathering more information to better our decision making is a good thing. Using games, especially simulation games, only increases the appeal and effectiveness of this model making.

Games have so much to offer our world, so much possibility. I can’t wait to see what we all create!

I would like to highlight the work of Joe A. Wasserman in this space. He has done a lot of research around games and learning. You can check out his stuff here!

This article was written by Logan Timmins, on Wurundjeri Country. Amble Studio pays respect to Elders past, present and emerging and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded.

All images from unsplash.com. Header image by Nietjuh. First article image by Felix Mittermeier. Second article image by Buecherwurm. Third article image by FunkyFocus.