All I Really Need to Know, I Learned Playing Game of War

These are the things I learned in Kindergarten:

1. Share everything.
2. Play fair.
3. Don’t hit people.
4. Put things back where you found them.
5. CLEAN UP YOUR OWN MESS.
6. Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
7. Say you’re SORRY when you HURT somebody.
8. Wash your hands before you eat.
9. Flush.
10. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
11. Live a balanced life – learn some, drink some, draw some, paint some, and sing and dance and play and work everyday some.
12. Take a nap every afternoon.
13. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.
14. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
15. Goldfish and hamster and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup — they all die. So do we.
16. And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned — the biggest word of all — LOOK.”
― Robert Fulghum, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

Many of us are familiar with this little essay. It is funny, it is sentimental, and it is true. However, in some ways we learn those lessons in other areas of life. Robert Fulghum may have learned everything he needs to know in Kindergarten, but I learned it in Game of War.

Lessons taught in Game of War

These are the things I learned in Game of War:
1. Share everything

Working together with your Alliance mates makes you a stronger player. It is really difficult to play Game of War without an Alliance. Within an Alliance, you can share resources and gift each other. By doing so you ultimately make each other stronger. In Game of War, I learned that sometimes it is necessary to share everything!

2. Play fair.

Many players who have been around for a big amount of time have heard horror stories and even seen them in Alliances or players that are less then ethical. Most of us remember players that during old school KvK kill events would “cheat.” By building accounts that were nerfed, they would inflate their kills and inflate their score. This kind of behavior has long been shunned by the Game of War Community. The Game of War Community teaches us to play fair!

3. Don’t hit people.

We like hitting people in Game of War. Let’s be honest. However, there is always that one trap that is intent on teaching us the lesson that we should not hit people! In my original Kingdom, I spent some time in an alliance that was intent on teaching that lesson to one of the “big bad wolves” of our Kingdom. Any time we would cap him, we would put him in “time out” and wait long enough that either his core was burnt out, or right before he dared to mar our graveyards by dying a hemlock death.

4. Put things back where you found them.

Have you ever logged into the game and changed your gear to research and forgotten to switch back to defense gear? You inevitably end up logging back in later to find that you are on fire! You took your Defense gear off to play with your Research Gear and did not put it back where you found it. This led to flames and quite the mess, so Game of War has taught me to always put things back where I found them.

5. CLEAN UP YOUR OWN MESS.

If you do not know where I am going with this, then you are guilty! Along the way in the game we kill Monsters who then spawn tiles. If you do not collect the monster tiles you end up surrounded by Monster tiles with hardly anywhere to move and monsters take longer to re-spawn. We have seen it happen! So for goodness sake, clean up after yourselves!

6. Don’t take things that aren’t yours.

Let’s travel back to the good old days of ancient protected kingdoms. Kingdoms where there were such things as Kingdom Rules (the horrors). These Kingdoms had rules, like “no tile hitting” and first march rules. By enforcing these rules, they essentially taught us the lesson to not take things that are not ours.

7. Say you’re SORRY when you HURT somebody.

This lesson comes down to basic manners. So let’s look at please and thank you as well. Game of War, if you allow it, will teach you the importance of manners. One of the first times my hero was captured, I was lost. I had no clue how to get it back or what to expect. In case I haven’t mentioned it, Game of War was my first game of this type. I was advised by my Alliance at the time to politely ask for my little Hero back. Sure enough, over the years of playing I have learned you are much more likely to get your Hero back if you ask politely, versus if you rage and threaten their livelihood. However, let’s be honest, sometimes the raging is funny.

8. Wash your hands before you eat.

I remember when we used to get seasonal monsters. Around Thanksgiving, we were all running around killing turkeys and making jokes about having made Thanksgiving Dinner — you know, or at least I was. The Turkey is ready, wash your hands and dig in!

9. Flush.

I mean, not to call anyone out… but we have all played Game of War from the ultimate Throne. Except me, I would never do such a thing, I’m a lady! Or would I? You will never know! However, after your time in the Throne room is completed, do not forget to flush and go back to number 8 (and please wash your hands!)

10. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.

This is a universal truth. Have you ever seen that alliance that sits in Kingdom Chat baiting people to join them with snacks? They get this truth! We all know that Game of War goes best with a good snack and if it is warm cookies and cold milk, it’s that much better.

11. Live a balanced life – learn some and drink some and draw some and paint some and sing and dance and play and work everyday some.

Game of War encourages a very balanced life. There is time spent building and researching and time spent burning and being burned. We work on our accounts, we spend time playing, and we spend time drinking (please drink and play Game of War responsibly). We grow, learn, and play in the Game of War universe, and to excel at this game we truly need a balance of those things.

12. Take a nap every afternoon.

It is KvK Kill… of course you are going to pull an all nighter, however, before you can do so, a nap is necessary! With the lack of evening sleep that Game of War players often suffer from, a nap in the afternoon is absolutely essential!

13. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.

In game we often find ourselves clumping together in our little hives. There is safety in numbers and when we venture out into the rest of the Kingdom or a new Kingdom we must watch out for traffic (big attackers) and stick together (reins).

14. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.

Be aware of wonder… We have a big Wonder sitting in the middle of the Kingdom. As it is one of the most fought over items in the game, I do believe that Wonder is something that Game of War has taught us to be aware of!

15. Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup — they all die. So do we.

We all get zeroed and have our Heroes captured. Eventually, it happens to every single player. We see this happen over and over again, and we learn that it happens to everyone and is part of life in the world of Game of War.

16. And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned — the biggest word of all — “LOOK.”

Look! This is a very important word in Game of War. We LOOK for targets, we LOOK for ways to increase our stats, we LOOK out for each other. Looking is a big component of Game of War and if you do not look, you will ultimately fail.

The lessons we learn in this community and the friends we make will last a lifetime. I learn everything I need to know playing Game of War. What life lessons has Game of War taught you? Be sure to comment below with your thoughts!