"A good game can function as a gateway through which students can explore a much broader range of knowledge. The properties and processes of a well-designed game may motivate them to turn to textbooks with the intention of understanding rather than memorizing. And, in some cases, games may inspire players to read more broadly across a range of other related fields. Learning occurs not just in the game play but as players move back and forth between games and other kinds of activities; that is, when they are motivated by playing Prospero’s Island to reread The Tempest or to watch it in performance, when they draw on physical observations alongside imaginary data to solve the mysteries posed by Environmental Detectives, or when they discuss in class the actual outcome of the historical confrontations depicted in Civilization III."