Cisco Heat and “grinding” for personal bests

One of my first interactions with a computer was playing on a computer my mom brought home from work. The computer ran on DOS, and one of the first games I remember playing was Cisco Heat. Here is a YouTube video of the game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXUUf5qNATU

This was when I was 4-5 years old, and the first time I was exposed to a computer and computer games in general. Around this time, I was also introduced to the GameBoy, so really in general, my first interaction with technology was through games.  One of the biggest impact that these devices had on me was that it taught me the importance of practice and perseverance. If I couldn’t beat a level in a game, I learned not to give up on it, and that if I kept trying, I would eventually succeed. I remember struggling in Cisco heat for a very long time before I managed to beat the first level, before I managed to get past it, after much repetition, and moved on.

 

3 comments

  1. I used to love my gameboy! Both my brother and I had one and we would play tetris on it all the time. It’s amazing how that game has survived for so many years! Thanks for triggering some fond memories!

    Mo

  2. I’ve never played Cisco Heat before, but I agree with the intrinsic assessment built into games to develop practice and perseverance. Competency is demonstrated at each level, often becoming increasingly harder without requiring cumulative assessment in the end. I wonder how that can look like regarding standard final exams.

    Andrew

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