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Post by nightdreamer on Sept 10, 2014 1:03:36 GMT -5
(haven't been posting much so hello!)
Education + fun should be a Noble Prize-worthy idea because learning minus the drudgery? Who doesn't want that? And yet in videogames, their combination result in dismal shovelwares. Are there exceptions? Let's explore them here by listing our FAVORITE edutainment games!
I only have two. First, is Typing of the Dead, which to be fair is merely edutainment grafted on a solid arcade game. I've tried many typing softwares, but this one tops it all for its presentation and for requiring typing accuracy (most others could be played by mashing keyboards). It's so good that I often forget that it's considered edutainment.
My other pick is Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone for the 3DS. As an art creation tool, it's not as feature rich as, say, Photoshop, Painter, Clip Studio Art, Paint Tool SAI, but most of that is due to limitations of the hardware (none of Nintendo's stylus have pressure sensitivity features). It makes up with its simplicity: its un-bloated toolbox makes using it not daunting for beginners, unlike all the aforementioned softwares. The lessons themselves are approachable and provide a decent overview of various painting styles, and they're plentiful enough that I don't feel ripped off even without purchasing its many DLCs.
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Post by Sac (a.k.a Icaras) on Sept 10, 2014 1:54:32 GMT -5
I actually quite like the Super Solver series on PC, games like Outnumbered and Treasure Mountain. I think they hit the sweet spot between being games, yet also managing to incorporate the educational stuff.
I do recall playing Mario's Time Machine quite a bit, but it wasn't good at all.
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Post by alphex on Sept 10, 2014 7:33:18 GMT -5
I actually enjoy Mario Is Missing (SNES version!) from time to time. The music is great, and the idea of travelling around the world is fun. It only warrants short bursts, though.
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Post by Exhuminator on Sept 10, 2014 9:06:18 GMT -5
Wild Earth: Photo Safari on PC was actually pretty cool. You explored Africa taking pictures of all kinds of wildlife and situations as a photo journalist. Not a bad game at all and I even learned a few things like how to take proper pictures of dung beetles.
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Post by Sturat on Sept 10, 2014 9:13:34 GMT -5
Typing of the Dead is the obvious winner of the traditional "drilling skills/knowledge" edutainment games. If you count creativity suites, Wario Ware D.I.Y. is really cool. (Too bad online sharing is gone so I don't feel as motivated to make things.) If you expand edutainment to mean "games that are probably kinda good for you," there are probably some good games that take place in relatively-accurate settings, games that encourage experimentation/observation, or games that make you consider unique social perspectives, but I can't actually think of any at the moment. And of course there are tons of great puzzle games!
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Post by Reiji-kun on Sept 10, 2014 9:36:20 GMT -5
Number/Word Munchers for me. My childhood was spent munching those numbers and words as quick as possible while also trying to figure them out and avoid the monsters. It was an addicting game and I loved playing it, so I have good memories of the game even though it's probably prehistoric at this point.
Two other games I recall enjoying was Math Blaster: In Search of Spot from looong ago, probably the mid 90s, and Mind Maze from Encarta 95. Though the latter was far more interesting. And of course, I can't forget Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?.
Sadly, I'm still terrible at advanced mathematics.
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Post by Joseph Joestar on Sept 10, 2014 9:36:34 GMT -5
I actually quite like the Super Solver series on PC, games like Outnumbered and Treasure Mountain. I think they hit the sweet spot between being games, yet also managing to incorporate the educational stuff. I loved "Super Solvers: Challenge of the Ancient Empires!" The Indianapolis Children's Museum had a computer lab that you could pay to use for an hour, and they had a bunch of Sierra games, Carmen Sandiego Games, and some other educational stuff. That Super Solvers game was one of my favorites to play, though; I loved the puzzles in it. |
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Post by strizzuth on Sept 10, 2014 9:38:23 GMT -5
Oregon Trail, Odel Lake, Think Quick and Rocky's Boots were big mainstays in my home. I also liked the Munchers series a lot since it broke up the learning with arcadey bits.
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Post by cambertian on Sept 10, 2014 10:42:19 GMT -5
Even though this site has an article that rips on it, I enjoyed Sonic's Schoolhouse when I was little. As well as those Elmo games for the Nintendo 64.
I can't think of any that I've played recently... Maybe Donkey Kong Jr. Math?
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Post by Weasel on Sept 10, 2014 11:50:01 GMT -5
Kid Pix. Nothing beats a paint program with sound effects, dynamite, and a paintbrush that draws Pac-Man, complete with "wah" noises.
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Post by Bobinator on Sept 10, 2014 12:32:37 GMT -5
I actually had a ton of fun with Word/Math/Super Munchers, and every so often, I'll actually load it up just to play it for fun. It's a bit easy on the "game" part of things, (The educational part can be surprisingly tricky) but that's understandable, given the demographic. But only if we're talking the original versions. The new, multimedia-y verion they put out in the Windows 95 era can go die.  |
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Post by elektrolurch on Sept 10, 2014 12:41:49 GMT -5
Typing of the dead is awesome!
as a kid i also highly enjoyed math blaster and amazing learning games with rayman........
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Post by The Great Klaid on Sept 10, 2014 14:10:52 GMT -5
I actually quite like the Super Solver series on PC, games like Outnumbered and Treasure Mountain. I think they hit the sweet spot between being games, yet also managing to incorporate the educational stuff. I do recall playing Mario's Time Machine quite a bit, but it wasn't good at all. I forgot about those! Those were badass! My favorites to this day are still the Carmen Sandiego games. Which I always think about picking up again to see if I can actually beat them. Because those were really quite hard for an elementary student. Especially Where in the World... |
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Post by Joseph Joestar on Sept 10, 2014 15:17:56 GMT -5
I actually quite like the Super Solver series on PC, games like Outnumbered and Treasure Mountain. I think they hit the sweet spot between being games, yet also managing to incorporate the educational stuff. I do recall playing Mario's Time Machine quite a bit, but it wasn't good at all. I forgot about those! Those were badass! My favorites to this day are still the Carmen Sandiego games. Which I always think about picking up again to see if I can actually beat them. Because those were really quite hard for an elementary student. Especially Where in the World... I liked those games too. Only one I own is "Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego" for the NES, which I got for Christmas. The desk encyclopedia thing came in handy on more than one occasion for reports and homework - kids today have it easy, you can look up almost anything these days! |
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Post by ZenithianHero on Sept 10, 2014 15:35:06 GMT -5
Oh man the Munchers.
Also there was a PC game I used to play in school, I think late 90s, where you are in a jungle and it had a river portion and a on foot portion where you discover animals.
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