Games and game-like activities are vital to both children and adults for growth and development. Gameplay provides and promotes the development and formation of thinking as well as helping structure identities, values and norms of society. Games can be used as a tool where the player has the freedom to explore, create, manipulate and experiment with scenarios in a creative environment without boundaries. Because of this, games are a motivating and rewarding experience where the player consciously or subconsciously learns every time they play (Arnseth, 2006).
Through play, learning is embedded into video games which develop vital skills crucial to other areas of learning. Prensky describes this learning as occurring on five 'levels' which apply to a greater or lesser extent every time we pick up a controller. The most explicit level 'how' explains the process of how we learn to play games. When we play a new game we must learn the rules, physical manipulations (controls) and limitations.