The purpose of this paper is to review David Shaffer's book How Computer Games Help Children Learn.
This article discusses Shaffer's work and compares this with the ideas of other authors.
The use of games and simulations in education is increasing, becoming more sophisticated and undergoing serious study in The Academy. The number of articles is increasing and there is increasing pressure to establish credibility through publishing both in academic journals and books.
The new medium of digital learning basically relies on traditional theories of learning. Sometimes a book tells more about an area by its presence rather than by what it provides to advance thinking. As with on‐line learning, Shaffer's book shows that the path to change starts with mapping bricks into clicks and, as such, offers little to challenge the growing commercial arena of serious games being developed, almost as an aside.
