Ask HN: Teaching life skills through games, am I crazy?
2•shivaniShimpi_•3h ago
you can't learn to swim without water. most life skills are the same but there's no safe place to practice before you're actually in the situation
questly puts you in interactive simulations. say you're learning negotiation. you get a job offer at 95k from your dream company, ready to just say yes. a mentor character stops you and asks you what's your walkaway number? you're like wdym, it's my dream company but that question alone changes how you think. you pick right choice, it tells you why it's right, wrong choice, it tells you what went wrong and you practice that part again through the gameplay. same skill across different situations until it becomes your normal
we have 21 active deep research users. a 14 year old with ADHD came back at 3:41 AM for more. a clinical psychologist with 20 years of practice said "this is everybody." a user with OCD said it helped her calm down.
but here's where i need more feedback
does "games" as framing put adults off even when the experience doesn't feel like one? going to YC startup school tomorrow, what's the obvious thing i'm missing? would love to hear from you guys
Comments
tmaly•2h ago
I think you can teach some skills through games. Coding in a REPL loop is great for learning certain types of problem solving since the feedback loop is so tight.
Chess is another good one, but the feedback loop is not nearly as tight.
shivaniShimpi_•2h ago
the feedback loop point is exactly it. flight simulators work because every decision gets immediate feedback. most real life skill practice has the worst feedback loop of all, sometimes you don’t find out you negotiated badly until years later. that’s what we’re trying to compress
tmaly•2h ago
Chess is another good one, but the feedback loop is not nearly as tight.
shivaniShimpi_•2h ago