Oregon Trail, particularly OT 2, is a beloved game for many people of my generation, yet it is sufficiently informative to be labeled an "educational game". OT 5 was the last offering, and while the educational content remains, the game apparently was not as enjoyable as the ancient version of the product.
I've looked for MMO or other model games in this vein, and the only thing that came up as publicly available (aside from a managed enrollment private site or some primitive web sites) was this blog item. Apparently the game is well-received on iPhone, but that's not of much help in classroom settings.
So that's what I'm asking - and not just for the 'Wild West', but for other educational topics. Far too many educational software products are sheer crap, pumped out with pretty graphics in order to sucker ignorant educators into dumping loads of cash into something that will prove worthless in a couple of years. I don't even like to think about the amount of money that has been wasted on "drill & kill" math and spelling programs of little utility, which really don't do much more than put flashcards on a computer screen.
In particular, I'd like to know if anyone has seen an economic game on the basis of FreeCol or Pirates, but one which deals in deeper concepts like currency, inflation, and exchange rates. Pretty much every game has a set value for "gold pieces", yet in actuality the values of such coinage fluctuates and has wide discrepancies. I'd also love to find some sort of (less boring) update for the old "Balance of Power" series.
Anyone?|||Do they still make Carmen San Diego games? Or Number Munchers?|||I'm not sure if it's the kind of thing you're looking for, but I thought SpaceChem actually helped me with my Chemistry (although the extent to which it did I can't say for sure - whether I would have gotten better at it with just revision and not playing the game is impossible to tell).
It also helps with more transferable skills, like logic and difficult reasoning, including spatial planning etc. - and it was definitely 'educational' in that sense; it made you think (hard) and after a while your brain gets better at solving the puzzles presented...
It's not really similar to OT, but I think its a very fun puzzle game (which alone sets it apart from most educational 'games')
|||Real Lives (there is a 2010 version)This is a game in which you play a real human being somewhere in the world. Just like in real life, the chance that you are born to be a third world inhabitant with various problems throughout your life is pretty huge.
Geo-Political Simulator
Be president. Run the country - any country. Don't mess up. It's harder than it sounds.
Rulers of Nations
Sequel to the above, with updated numerical values of things, and better mechanics. As a bonus you get to have Obama as president of the US (I don't know what happens when you choose to be president there, as I never did; I only played South Korea and Sweden. Invading Finland was a bad move lol).|||I missed the obvious answer.
|||Quote:
Do they still make Carmen San Diego games? Or Number Munchers?
I LOVED Number Munchers. The other second graders were green with envy over my prime number pwnge.
|||Quote:I LOVED Number Munchers. The other second graders were green with envy over my prime number pwnge.
Problem is, I'm having to consider cost and relative code maintenance. Number Munchers, like OT 2, is antiquated enough that we don't use it any longer.
Ideally I'm looking for browser games that are not <huge> time investments, but have decent intellectual quality - in other words, not the sort of click-the-mouse-quickly-on-the-right-answer that seems all too common today.
P.S. Lucis' game seems likely; I'll have to check Jam's out but they seem a bit more long-term. There's a couple along the lines of the old "The Incredible Machine" that are sometimes used, but they only go so far with teaching physics on an < 8th grade level.
P.P.S. When I mentioned economic games, I'm thinking along the lines of "Dope Wars" but both less random and more acceptable.|||You have to define the grade or age of the person that should play the game. There are huge differences of course what you can show a 4th grader and a 10th grade student.
http://www.fantasticcontraption.net/
nice physics game that came to mind right away.|||It really depends on what sort of learning experience you're after. General history education or similar and so on is what has mostly been mentioned. The puzzle games and brain training games would also be obvious choices.
However, you could also add competitive games to the list if you wanted. You're definitely taught several important things about strategic and tactical choices, their consequences and so on, as well as keeping your reflexes on top.|||Wikipedia.org is pretty good. I play it every day.
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