Don't Interrupt the Game

The sandwich and the sushi roll were invented around the same time, in the same way, for the same reason.

1760s England: The Earl of Sandwich is deep in a card game. He doesn't want to stop playing, so he asks his cook to put some meat between two slices of bread. Something he can eat with one hand.

18th century Edo: A gambler in a dice den has the same problem. The cook wraps tuna and rice in nori - something he can eat with one hand while he keeps rolling.

The tuna roll is called tekkamaki. The word comes from tekkaba - the Japanese word for gambling den.

Two cultures. Same century. Same invention. Driven by the same obsession: games.

I think about this a lot when I'm designing learning experiences.

Games aren't just engaging - they're powerful enough to literally reshape how we eat.

Two separate civilisations, faced with the same constraint, arrived at the same solution: don't interrupt the game.

If you're trying to hold someone's attention, that's worth remembering.