If I were to identify other basic human traits that game designs currently tend to reinforce, and that may be obsolete legacies of our heritage, I might call out traits like: Blind obedience to leaders and cultism: We’re willing to do things in games simply because “those are the rules.”* Rigid hierarchies or binary thinking: Games, because they are simplified, quantized models, usually reinforce notions about class, jobs, identity, and other fluid concepts. The use of force to resolve problems: We don’t tend to see a way to form a treaty with our opponent in chess. Like seeking like, and its
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