Imitation is our inherent way of learning new things and we learn our earliest lessons by imitation. Your little boy by learning how to play every game in our 6in1 set will learn by imitating what you do and through trial & error; success and failure learn how to "play the game".

As children we spend a lot of our time imitating action from our social surroundings and incorporating them into our play. Symbolic play with imitation allows us to put into practice what we have learned about people, objects, animals, right and wrong etc. This type of play becomes one of our key methods of understanding the world around us since our language and ability for abstract thinking is not yet fully developed.

When we play, we often find special interest in iconic personalities like superheroes, princesses, film- or book characters, athletes or pop stars. This is because they are in a way the role models of our society. By imitating them we learn about the values of our culture and form an understanding of what we should strive for as adults.

The icons that we choose to imitate are often the ones that we feel similar to, and that we can relate to – this may be one of the reasons that Harry Potter is so popular among children for example.

As to games, a game is not great for just one reason; it is great for hundreds of reasons.

If many of these reasons are unknown to us, the only way for us to make a great game is by trial and error.

The reason for this is that some people enjoy themselves most if they have to try a couple of times before succeeding. Others enjoy themselves more if they make it in their first attempt. Both people enjoy challenges, but they should be allowed to choose just how challenging it should be.

With better insight into how our mind works when we play games, and a better understanding of what we seek in our game experience, we gain more control over the design and the end quality of the game.

We have to realize that making a great game is not about which features and components to add; it is about what those features and components do for the player.

We have to learn not to underestimate how important certain aspects of the design are to the player. For example, difficult controls alone can transform any great game into a meaningless activity.

We have to remember that we do not make games for ourselves; we make them for the player.