In the 21st century, technology has become increasingly integrated into education, especially during the covid-19 pandemic, where technology was essential for online learning. Although games are not something new in teaching, online video games have become more prevalent in education, not just in school subjects but also in many other practical skills in life. 

So why use video games? The most obvious reason is that games make learning more engaging. Sitting at a lecture for hours may not motivate students to learn, and they likely need to revise these topics in their free time. Games make learning more interactive. Instead of taking what a teacher says for what it is, students can figure out the concepts themselves with guidance from the teacher. Games also make it more likely that students will engage in learning outside of the classroom. "Homework" sounds tedious, but if that homework was to play games, students would be thrilled to finish it. 

Video games already take on many fundamentals of learning. Learning happens the most when mistakes are made, and video games are catered to just for this. Video games have objectives and means to get to these objectives. If students fail, they can try again, taking into consideration what went wrong in the previous try. Games vastly differ from tests, where students take a test once and are given back a number as an evaluation. Although students can reflect upon their mistakes on the test, most are more willing to look at the score and nothing else. Video game design already being based on a sense of trial and error, and learning from these errors makes them ideal for learning. 

Many video games are also designed with competition and teamwork. This can be something as simple as a leaderboard system, but as long as there are other people, competition can be integrated into these games. Competition motivates people to improve their scores and look at getting past the scores of other people. If games get tied with teamwork, where teams compete, people are more willing to work with others they may not have worked with before and are forced to learn teamwork skills to overtake other teams. 

Many of these features are much easier to integrate through video games than through games in real life. Video games have fewer real-life consequences and can be played online at home without gathering a big group of people. Although many educational games are not too engaging now, proper game design and development could have students in the future learning much more through educational games. This can be applied to learning in school, the workplace, and a competitive environment. There are math competitions that have taken on a more game-like format. 

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