Strict game rules funnel player decisions into narrow channels (The solve approach seeks optimal outcomes), limiting opportunities for expansive thinking or focusing on how to Dissolve problems, not just solve them.

Instead of encouraging broad exploration, these constraints confine learning to predefined solutions (The solve approach seeks optimal outcomes).

By removing real-world ambiguity, games can inadvertently weaken a learner’s capacity to reframe and dissolve problems. Players practice executing given tasks, not challenging the system itself. Permaculture as a lens.

Consequently, while games can be effective for teaching system operation, they’re less effective at fostering the open-ended creativity that emerges from questioning assumptions and reimagining constraints as modeled by the Chris Crawford conversation model.