Living (in) the Game 🎮

We are living in the games that my son plays on his iPad. Yeah, literally.

When the Game Never Ends 🎮

He plays 30 minutes of Minecraft in the morning, and for the rest of the day, we are pretend mining, building, crafting, enchanting, fighting dragons, throwing Eyes of Ender, and flying with elytras.

He plays 30 minutes of Keyboard Obby in the morning, and for the rest of the day, we are going through stages of little challenges that he memorizes, stage by stage, and draws on paper. Jumping over platforms, chocolate falling, walls squishing, climbing ladders, lots of walking and running. Yeah, this game is my favorite!

He learned to play chess from my husband, and now we are rooks, bishops, queens, and knights all day long, rescuing an invisible king! I guess this shows his need to live inside the game.

Oh yeah, there is this other game, Fighter Merge. We have spikes and balls, and this is his third time drawing an evolution map of how the fighters merge and what they become.

On one hand, I am happy that he can turn these games into offline activities. On the other hand, I worry: Is this a sign of game-induced damage to his brain? 🤔

Wait, Am I Living in a Game Too?

Then I reflected on my own life.

For example, I have a deadline to write a proposal. The rules and challenges are written by humans, and I need to follow them, or else I lose points. Then we compete, and only some of us get picked.

Then I need to count my calories, steps (Fitbit), cholesterol, and carbohydrates to make sure my body is well taken care of.

Well, if I stay within my limits and reach my goals, I give myself a star on my Claude app, which tracks my input. ⭐ I work hard to maintain my green streak of days when I follow the rules.

So, it is not very different from his games.

Turning Life Into a Game of Numbers 📊

I thought of writing a blog titled How to Lose 10 kg in One Year Using Claude AI.

The gist is allowing superintelligence to guide you. The numbers and tracking systems become the queen, and as the king, you are protected by their calculations all around you.

Lots of technology is needed: a step counter like Fitbit, a CGM like Lingo, Claude AI to count, track, remember, and guide…

I almost need to make it a major purpose of my life to make it happen.

But What Is the Purpose of the Game?

One day, a student of mine came to office hours and kept talking about her life and other things, going around in circles.

Then I said, “You need a purpose.”

That stopped her from talking and made her eyes widen.

“What kind of purpose?”

With our game-oriented minds, we strive to have a goal, a purpose, a meaning to chase after, an ultimate why.

Writing Your Own Statement of Purpose ✍️

This purpose is very personal.

They make you write one if you apply for a PhD. It is called a “Statement of Purpose.”

These days, my friends’ kids are applying to college, and they need to write a unique essay. It needs to show their uniqueness.

What do you mean, bro? It is very challenging!

It would be a lot easier to write such an essay if your life were already structured around a “purpose” and you had designed your actions toward it.

Then writing the essay would simply mean describing your life, your goals, the challenges you faced, and your reflections along the way.

How did those challenges help you redesign your path?

Leaving Traces Along the Way 🌷

November is here, and so is the time to start wrapping up my 2026 goals.

This is my second year of blogging. Sometimes my daughters ask me if I have written a new blog.

That is kind of them. 🌷

Even if for nobody else, I am able to leave some traces for the future, “older” us…