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Game-based learning may possess the potential to change many ways in which learning can take place in the 21st century.Games have been praised for their ability to encourage and motivate their players to learn and master complex sets of skills and knowledge.While extensive amounts of qualitative research have been carried out to study how individuals learn as they play games,there has been a relative paucity of research focusing on the social and cultural contexts which form the backdrop for these individuals and their actions.This may lead researchers to overlook the subtle nuances and conditions which inform and influence the actions of these individuals; in the worse cases,inaccurate conclusions may be formed about these individuals experiences.In this paper,we propose and discuss how qualitative researchers can use the ethnographic methods of participant observation and ‘thick description pioneered by anthropologist Clifford Geertz to make sense of the sociocultural contexts which surround the activities of individual learners and game-players.We argue researchers can employ these methods to gain a greater understanding of the ways players create and make meaning out of their game-playing activities,and we can thus critically examine the exact ways in which these individuals learn.