Essay Sample on Cooperative Card Game: Hanabi

Introduction

Hanabi involves the players giving clues to the other players to help them choose the right card. Clues are presented concerning the type of cards that one holds to enable them to select the right one to avoid making mistakes. Hence, one is required to pay attention to remember all the clues that have been given by others to make their choice of card (Oberauer & Hein, 2012). As one develops an understanding of the logic and the reasoning behind the clues, they become better at the game. Pay attention a lot of attention to detail is required given that mastering the skills can take quite some time. Otherwise, it becomes hard tracking what your cards are which means that distractions can make it even more difficult, causing one to lose (Shipstead, Redick & Engle, 2012). The game depends on the working memory of an individual and their ability to remember the information concerning the cards and their color to complete it successfully. A weak mind can make it hard for an individual to recall things like the part of the brain that is responsible also deals with concentration and maintaining focus.

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Humans tend to process information sequentially and thus remembering is crucial to allow a person to use it. The processes and structures involved in the storage and retrieval of data are what gets referred to as memory. The memory of the past is utilized in the present and also in making decisions in the future and in this case, choosing using the clues given by others to play (Baddeley, 2012). Moreover, learning new things such as the color and the number of the cards held is also dependent on the memory of an individual. Playing Hanabi requires the participants to remember all the clues given by others concerning the cards that they have to use it in choosing the right one (Mastrangeli, 2014). They have also have to utilize their working memory to remember what the cards one has seen. Players must be able to retrieve the memory of the color and the number of the cards that they are need to pick to avoid making mistakes.

Actions of the Game Experience

The fact that one does not view their cards means that they have to remember what the others have as well as the clues given concerning the ones that they hold. Moreover, a player must play the cards correctly and in an ascending and numerical sequence. The task can be challenging as one requires remembering the cards held by their fellow players to avoid dropping the wrong one (Mastrangeli, 2014). Working memory is thus utilized to in determining the right sequence and in paying attention to what is said by others. The retrieval of these clues has to be done in the same manner as they were stored (Baddeley, 2012). However, interference such as talking while playing can disrupt the process of information retrieval making it hard to remember what was said, and eventually leading to mistakes. Once the clues get depleted, one is left to discard their cards blindly, and at this point, a deduction is the only thing that is useful.

Players start the game with eight clock tokens which they can spend on giving clues to their fellow players concerning the cards they hold. The information is crucial in helping others to know about the cards in their possession. However, the information must be said in a way that they will be able to remember when it comes it their chance of playing (Mastrangeli, 2014). The clues should aid the player in relating the things learnt as well as past experiences and schemata to the working memory in the process of making a connection. When playing cards, one must use the information and the knowledge that they have gained in the past. Retrieving this information from thing memory is what enables a player to choose the right card (Baddeley, 2012). Remembering the color of the card and the number held by the fellow player can improve the working memory when a player is trying to choose a card of the right color and the subsequent number.

Analysis of the Game Experience with Theory

Playing Hanabi relies a lot on the experience and the information offered by others through clues. The working memory becomes useful in helping the individual remember all the cards held by others to use that information in deducing the color and number of their cards. Concentration is crucial as the information must be retained sequentially to make it easier during retrieval to avoid making errors (Shipstead, Redick & Engle, 2012). When an individual gets distracted when receiving information, it becomes difficult for them to remember when they need to retrieve it. It was evident during play as it became difficult to remember the color of cards shown by fellow players if I engaged in a conversation while playing (Mastrangeli, 2014). Talking acted as a disruption which made the information stored to be hard to access sequentially as required. Mistakes would be made as the wrong cards were dropped leading to the end of the game after running out of cards.

The reasoning that will be used to draw cards once the player has no more clues will depend on the information that they have in their memory. The decision made will also be based on the type of information stored in their short term and long term memory (Oberauer & Hein, 2012). Having played the games for some rounds, it became easier to make the right choice due to the information acquired and stored in the brain. Enactive learning provided an opportunity for learning from the consequences and in this case, making mistakes causes the game to end (Ryan, 2012). Therefore, it brought motivation to perform and learn behaviors that will result in desirable consequences as compared to learning from those that lead to failures. Avoiding distractions when collecting information given through clues can help in reducing the interference when trying to retrieve it from memory.

References

Baddeley, A. (2012). Working memory: theories, models, and controversies. Annual review of psychology, 63, 1-29.

Mastrangeli, T. (2014, July 10). Hanabi Review. Retrieved from https://www.boardgamequest.com/hanabi-card-game-review/

Oberauer, K., & Hein, L. (2012). Attention to information in working memory. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 21(3), 164-169..Ryan, R. M. (Ed.). (2012). The Oxford handbook of human motivation. OUP USA.

Shipstead, Z., Redick, T. S., & Engle, R. W. (2012). Is working memory training effective?. Psychological bulletin, 138(4), 628.