Chapter 1
Your brain on a playground
Chapter 2
Games that save the world
Chapter 3
Gamifying the everyday world
Chapter 4
Play-based learning in action
Ch 2 · Games that save the world
duolingo NASA's NeMO-Net Video Game
Color in the corals with a brush on your screen, to help NASA's supercomputer map the deep-sea scene.
duolingo Launched in 2008, the free online game Foldit replaces dry textbooks, letting players manipulate 3D shapes to fold stable proteins
Quiz
Which university developed and launched the protein-folding video game Foldit in 2008?
Quiz
What complex biological structures do players manipulate and fold in the online game Foldit?
duolingo Turning molecular biology into a game helps online players outperform traditional research laboratories.
Quiz
How many days did it take Foldit game players to solve a viral enzyme structure that had stumped scientists for 15 years?
Quiz
The scientific breakthrough made by Foldit players in 2011 helped advance research for which global health challenge?
Fun Fact
Citizen science: In 2019, Foldit players successfully designed synthetic proteins from scratch that were stable enough to be verified in a physical laboratory.
Quiz
Which prestigious American institution co-launched the neural-mapping game Eyewire in 2012?
Quiz
What specific part of the body are players helping to map when they play the online game Eyewire?
Glossary
serious game (noun)
A game designed for a primary purpose other than pure entertainment, such as education, training, or scientific research. In 2011, players of the online puzzle Foldit mapped an AIDS-related virus structure in only three weeks.
A game designed for a primary purpose other than pure entertainment, such as education, training, or scientific research. In 2011, players of the online puzzle Foldit mapped an AIDS-related virus structure in only three weeks.
Quiz
Which space agency created the coral-mapping game NeMO-Net to help monitor ocean health?
Quiz
What powerful computer system is trained using the data generated by players of NASA's NeMO-Net game?