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'We all know how it works in the animal kingdom: when you watch two leopard cubs play, for example, you expect that it's not simply about fun and pleasure. It's about honing skills; it's about figuring out hierarchy.

And yet, with humans, we often forget that play is serious. We dismiss play and games as "sheer entertainment," distinct from life-lessons and skill-building.

 That's not to say that games haven't had a long history of being used for education. Think Oregon Trail. Think Math Blaster.

 But proponents of "serious games" want us to think bigger.

 "Serious games" take on a specific problem -- a real-world problem, not a "the princess is not in this castle" problem, if you get what I mean. Serious games like EVOKE, SuperBetter, and World Without Oil have asked players to tackle important questions about health, energy, and poverty, for example, asking them to think through and "play" through scenarios in order to work on developing solutions.'

This is an interview script in which Audrey Watters interviews  Nathan Maton, community manager for serious games site Gameful.

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