I'm not sure about the rest of you guys, but as much as I love playing games, I'm finding as I get older that I like playing games that are fun, but also help me learn something at the same time. I like games like Bookworm, Word Warp, Brain Age, or playfish's Geo Challenge (Facebook game). Even if I play these games for hours I don't feel as guilty as I would spending hours playing something like World of Warcraft (though while playing it is fun). It probably has something to do with my age (I'm in my late 20's but have played games all my life), but what I was wondering was how you guys felt about educational games. Do you guys like them? Are they too boring? Do you guys know any good educational games? Reason why I'm asking is that our company, Hug a Panda, is creating educational games, but we want to create educational games that people actually play (and aren't just for children too...). Would love to hear your thoughts!
I agree that edu games are only great if they're fun ... sometimes I feel like most educational games focus too much on the education and not enough on the fun. Thanks for the heads up on Robot Odyssey...i read the wiki article and was impressed how hardcore this game seemed after I read "the game teaches the basic concepts of electrical engineering and digital logic in general." That's pretty cool. One of my favorite edu games was Typing of the Dead Which IMO totally beat the pants off of Mavis Beacon. If anyone is interested I did a blog post on Educational Gaming Done Right and Wrong...
Mindracer Duel was fun as a head to head game. There's a Lite to try as well. Mindracer Math Chi Trung Tran Drive your racing car with mental math and be the first to cross the finishing line. Sounds intriguing? It is! Mindrace… Free Buy Now Watch Media DetailsDrive your racing car with mental math and be the first to cross the finishing line. Sounds intriguing? It is! Mindracer Math is a motivating way to practice mental math. Play alone to beat your highscores or together with a friend. The racing cars will move forward only if you provide the correct answer. There are three difficulty levels to choose from as well as a speed mode. You can post your fastest rounds on Twitter and Facebook. Mindracer Math is great to keep your kids interested in math (or for yourself if you need to brush up your rusty math skills). Features: * Randomly generated equations * Three difficulty levels * Speed mode * Single player and multiplayer * Facebook and Twitter support Information Seller:Chi Trung Tran Genre:Racing, Education Release:Jun 08, 2009 Updated:Oct 21, 2011 Version:1.4.1 Size:7.2 MB TouchArcade Rating:Unrated User Rating:Unrated Your Rating:unrated Compatibility:HD Universal Grumps Well-Known Member Patreon Indie Feb 2, 2009 758 0 16 iOS Game Developer http://www.nexxstudio.com #5 Grumps, Oct 22, 2009 Edu games are always great. You get to learn something while relaxing away. Games like House of The Dead (typing) is may work even better than traditional tap to kill because its less repetitive in some way...haha Seishu Well-Known Member Feb 27, 2009 2,823 10 0 Student us of a #6 Seishu, Oct 22, 2009 One of my favorite edu games is the original Oregon Trail. Outkast1 Well-Known Member Jul 23, 2009 1,259 1 36 California #7 Outkast1, Oct 23, 2009 I'm not sure if it qualifies as an "educational game" or not but I work at Cisco and we actually have a game on the appstore- Cisco Edge Quest 2 (sorry I don't know how to make an iTunes link). It's free though if you want to check it out. Your basically kind of racing through lanes of a "network" and you need to avoid obstacles. I haven't played it in a long time (playing a "work game" kind of takes the fun away for me) but I remember there are some educational aspects around general routing and switching. Somerandomdude Well-Known Member May 31, 2009 5,195 0 0 Doing nothing of importance. Somewhere #8 Somerandomdude, Oct 23, 2009 The problem is that most of these games turn out to be complete crap. Best example I can think of is Mario's Time Machine. It's terrible. Unfortunately, that's the kind of game that's typical of edutainment games. On the other hand, there are a few. The best one (and maybe the only really awesome one I can think of right now) is without a doubt Typing of the Dead. It combines learning how to type, humor, and watching zombies explode in a similar setting to another great game. I can't get enough of this game sometimes, and the things they'll have you typing will have you laughing. Now if all edutainment games were like this. Personally, I seem to like games where you think, but don't necessarily learn something. Outkast1 Well-Known Member Jul 23, 2009 1,259 1 36 California #9 Outkast1, Oct 23, 2009 Hey Somerandomdude, offtopic.. In your sig it says you're waiting for Final Fantasy!? Are you just... waiting for it or do you know something I don't??? Seishu Well-Known Member Feb 27, 2009 2,823 10 0 Student us of a #10 Seishu, Oct 23, 2009 I've tried your game out, and while it's not that exciting, it is somewhat educational. Maybe if the speed was cranked up a bit... Skate Well-Known Member Aug 13, 2009 384 0 0 Cincinnati #11 Skate, Oct 23, 2009 Because I am still young (not like 10 though), I don't find educational games very fun, mostly because they usually turn into complete crap. Like Mavis beacon (it was mandatory to "play" it at my old school). Outkast1 Well-Known Member Jul 23, 2009 1,259 1 36 California #12 Outkast1, Oct 23, 2009 No argument there. (replying to Seishu) Hug_a_Panda_Ben Active Member Aug 11, 2009 28 0 0 Janitor California http://hugapanda.com #13 Hug_a_Panda_Ben, Oct 23, 2009 Yeah, I know what you mean. When I was younger the last thing I wanted to play was something educational (though I did like Oregon Trail back in the day...but mostly because you could hunt deer and stuff...and those days it was on an Apple IIe computer with no fancy graphics). I didn't like Mavis Beacon...and I would have hated if they made me play that. I'd rather play this version of it... Mavis Beacon teaches Stereotyping! Hug_a_Panda_Ben Active Member Aug 11, 2009 28 0 0 Janitor California http://hugapanda.com #14 Hug_a_Panda_Ben, Oct 23, 2009 Thanks for all the great comments here...it's been, how do I say..."educational" (couldn't help myself...) I think I agree with Somerandomdude how "Personally, I seem to like games where you think, but don't necessarily learn something." Puzzle games are great for this cause you feel you are exercising a part of your brain that sometimes doesn't get that much exercise. Overall from the responses I've seen here it doesn't seem like there's much in terms of fun educational games...Hopefully we can rise to the challenge In case you were wondering or curious our first game is a content learning game/race. You race by answering questions is how I'd describe it. While it's constantly being improved here's a video of the very early days of it. Our first playable prototype. I'd be interested to see what you guys think. Flame on! Haha... 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Edu games are always great. You get to learn something while relaxing away. Games like House of The Dead (typing) is may work even better than traditional tap to kill because its less repetitive in some way...haha
I'm not sure if it qualifies as an "educational game" or not but I work at Cisco and we actually have a game on the appstore- Cisco Edge Quest 2 (sorry I don't know how to make an iTunes link). It's free though if you want to check it out. Your basically kind of racing through lanes of a "network" and you need to avoid obstacles. I haven't played it in a long time (playing a "work game" kind of takes the fun away for me) but I remember there are some educational aspects around general routing and switching.
The problem is that most of these games turn out to be complete crap. Best example I can think of is Mario's Time Machine. It's terrible. Unfortunately, that's the kind of game that's typical of edutainment games. On the other hand, there are a few. The best one (and maybe the only really awesome one I can think of right now) is without a doubt Typing of the Dead. It combines learning how to type, humor, and watching zombies explode in a similar setting to another great game. I can't get enough of this game sometimes, and the things they'll have you typing will have you laughing. Now if all edutainment games were like this. Personally, I seem to like games where you think, but don't necessarily learn something.
Hey Somerandomdude, offtopic.. In your sig it says you're waiting for Final Fantasy!? Are you just... waiting for it or do you know something I don't???
I've tried your game out, and while it's not that exciting, it is somewhat educational. Maybe if the speed was cranked up a bit...
Because I am still young (not like 10 though), I don't find educational games very fun, mostly because they usually turn into complete crap. Like Mavis beacon (it was mandatory to "play" it at my old school).
Yeah, I know what you mean. When I was younger the last thing I wanted to play was something educational (though I did like Oregon Trail back in the day...but mostly because you could hunt deer and stuff...and those days it was on an Apple IIe computer with no fancy graphics). I didn't like Mavis Beacon...and I would have hated if they made me play that. I'd rather play this version of it... Mavis Beacon teaches Stereotyping!
Thanks for all the great comments here...it's been, how do I say..."educational" (couldn't help myself...) I think I agree with Somerandomdude how "Personally, I seem to like games where you think, but don't necessarily learn something." Puzzle games are great for this cause you feel you are exercising a part of your brain that sometimes doesn't get that much exercise. Overall from the responses I've seen here it doesn't seem like there's much in terms of fun educational games...Hopefully we can rise to the challenge In case you were wondering or curious our first game is a content learning game/race. You race by answering questions is how I'd describe it. While it's constantly being improved here's a video of the very early days of it. Our first playable prototype. I'd be interested to see what you guys think. Flame on! Haha...
