Find two different examples of games that involve grinding: a required repetition of rote tasks. Your examples could be free-to-play Facebook or mobile games that require extended wait times, such as Farmville; massively multiplayer online games like World of Warcraft; very difficult games with repeated, rote learning like Dark Souls;or games involving repeated chores like Animal Crossing or

Harvest Moon. Play each game and be sure to grind. Find a goal that requires grinding to achieve it, and get to work. If you don't get bored before you reach your goal, find an even more laborious goal! After you've finally finished grinding in each game, write a paper describing and analyzing your experience.

How does the system you played work, and what does it feel like? Was it satisfying? Frustrating? Did you get impatient, and if so when? How did you feel when you were finished and the goal was reached? What kinds of tactics did you engage in to help manage your impatience and frustration? Did these involve optimizing your activity's efficiency or other kinds of tactics to deal with patience and boredom? Finally, describe your own opinions about grinding. Do you like this kind of game activity? Would you make a game that involves grinding? Why or why not?

Working alone or in groups, choose a board or card game that you're familiar with. You could opt for a well-known traditional game such as poker or a familiar commercial game like Sorry or Risk. Modify this game by creating a new system of rewards. (Some simple games have few rewards built into their basic design, but more complicated games may require you to remove the existing reward system to design your own. Be aware that the latter option can be more challenging!) Decide what kinds of actions or accomplishments should be rewarded by your new system, and how. Create a system that involves multiple kinds of reward. This might include rewards that feed back into the game (such as a currency resource, or additional verbs such as in-game "powers" or special cards that can be used once) as well as rewards that don't feed back into the game, such as score, medals of recognition, or even rewards with real-world value, such as money or edible treats. Have some of your classmates play your game, and take notes on how they seem to be responding to or interested in various rewards. Afterward, discuss what you noticed and what this suggests to you about the effectiveness of different kinds of rewards.