Things I Love: The Plain Game

“If there’s one thing we should never lose sight of, it’s this: We write documents so someone will read them.”

Last Friday, I took a break from the serious work of content strategy to play with the beta version of In Game Learning’s The Plain Game — a fun, interactive game that teaches the fundamentals of plain language and clear communication.

As someone who is taking time to get back to basics myself (ahem, see my earlier post on deep-diving into good forms), The Plain Game’s mission really spoke to me. The 2 topics I played through focused on:

• Understanding your audience’s needs, preferences, and barriers

• Aligning the reason you’re writing with the reason they’re reading

The gameplay, storylines, and animations in The Plain Game might not speak to every communicator and learner. But I really appreciated the chance to step away from the same-old, dry webinars and recordings and dive into a relatable cartoon scenario. (Spoiler alert: “The rabbits are ignoring everything we’ve written!”)

Whether you’re an old hand at plain language looking for a refreshing take, a plain language learner growing your skills and knowledge, or just curious, I encourage you to check it out!

Pro tip: It’s a great late-afternoon pick-me-up!

Source: In Game Learning