Google Cloud Arcade
The Google Cloud Arcade is an interesting idea, trying to gamify the learning experience. To be honest, I think it has been effective on me, as I am taking it but only because I want some GCP swag.
The prize “counter” AKA store is only open in June 2023. I think I would like a notebook or pen.
After reviewing the requirements for earning Arcade points, I would say that it’s actually quite hard to earn 5, especially without paying for credits or a subscription. It reminds me of my mathematical statistics homework where the HW would be 5 questions, but each question had multiple parts. Up front, you “only” need to finish some 15 labs, but each lab may take anywhere from 30–90 minutes. Then imagine having to do this 4 more times. I would say it is definitely not worth it if you’re only doing it to get the swag.
Example requirements to earn 1 Arcade point: https://www.cloudskillsboost.google/games/4028?utm_source=qwiklabs&utm_medium=lp&utm_campaign=level1-may-arcade23d
In terms of user experience, Google really didn’t think this through. There should be intermediate points given for each completed lab or quiz. In comparison, Microsoft’s trainings are much more effective i.e. Take your first steps with Rust — Training | Microsoft Learn.
