Tom Bennett has rather missed the point with his critique of game-based learning (“Lollipop learning ends on a sour note”, TESpro, 20 January). A “good” game is one that is cleverly designed to make players want to keep playing. Playing the game is the reward. Gold stars, points and power-ups are not ends in themselves. They are just devices used to keep players playing. To keep playing, you have to keep learning. You learn by willingly solving problems of increasing difficulty in ever-more-complex scenarios. Isn’t this just what we want pupils to do?

Dr Owen Barden, Course leader, Oldham Sixth Form College.