The document discusses using an "instructional ethology" approach to analyze learning in digital games. It outlines three key assumptions: that players learn new things while playing games, that successful games facilitate this learning, and that learning can be examined separately from formal educational aims. The document then provides an example analysis of the game Animal Crossing, looking at game elements like mechanics, progression, and how they facilitate learning through interaction and experience collection without direct instruction. The goal is to better understand how commercial games teach players and apply those lessons to educational game design.