50 Of The Best Video Games For Learning in 2015
by TeachThought Staff
We’ve discussed the merits and utility of video games in the classroom before, so we won’t beleaguer the point. If you’re interested in the possibility of video games for learning–that is, teaching and learning with video games to master both academic and non-academic content–than the following collection may be of interest to you.
We’ve discussed before the logistics of how to teach with video games (especially for non-mobile games). What exactly this looks like on a daily basis in your classroom depends on the reality of your classroom: Available technology, WiFi access and bandwidth, grade level, content area, your comfort level with games, and so on.
But if this an area you’re interested in learning more about, we thought a collection of the best video games for learning–that is, those we’d want our own children playing for their varied utility in teaching and/or learning–might be useful.
Criteria
To select each of these games, we focused on 3 basic criteria:
1. Playability
This has to do with the quality of the game. There isn’t one, clear definition for what a “good” video game should be. Pong is universally-accepted as “good,” but is a simple game of digital ricochet. Other games are multi-million dollar projects with a myriad of brilliant ideas, but that come together all wrong.
The most basic test of playability is this: A well-designed game should not confuse or frustrate the player. It may challenge them, but it should promote a sense of agency and I can in the player to problem-solve, overcome obstacles, and implement strategy to accomplish either game-created or player-created goals.
2. Cognitive Load
To qualify for this list, each of these games must impose an appropriate-but-significant cognitive load on the student. That is, they must require sustained creative, strategic, or knowledge demands for the player to be successful (however that success is define).
This cognitive load may also be a matter of creativity–open-world sandbox games, for example, reward the player that is able to create their own meaning, reasons for playing, and factors for quality and “end game” scenarios. That is, they decide when they’re “playing it right,” a powerful variation on classic design.
3. Innovation
We’ve also tried to reward innovative games that push the boundaries of what a video game is as a narrative form and interactive medium. Innovation isn’t necessarily a sign of quality, but considering it helps see games not simple as toys, but a nuanced digital experience. They can be innovative in terms of their gameplay mechanics (i.e., Portal 2), topic (e.g., Type Rider), or scale (e.g., Civilization V).
Another factor of innovation is collaboration. Increasingly, video game designers are looking for ways to get players playing together meaningfully. In some games, certain levels can’t be completed without teamwork and strategy that depends on each player’s unique gifts independently. Pretty cool, huh?
With that in mind, 50 of the best video games for learning are listed below.
Some Prefaces
Note 1: Some of the links are to videos of the game, while others are to app download links. Videos are probably a more effective way to introduce you to a game than some kind of app overview page with nebulous, consumer-driven ratings.
Note 2: We haven’t linked to any “buy this here” landing pages outside of Apple and Google Play app stores, but a quick Google search should yield what you’re looking for.
Note 3: Also, though we’ve tended towards mobile games because those are simply more accessible to most players, the collection below represents a wide variety of video games for learning.
Note 4: Some of the games have violence/language (though we’ve tried to shy away from these, for obvious reasons; that said, try to have a non-violent game about the Revolutionary War). We also have a post on non-violent video games that don’t suck as well.
Update: We’ve added one we missed, so now we’re at 51.
50 Of The Best Video Games For Learning
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50 Of The Best Video Games For Learning
Listly by Terry Heick
A list of the most innovative games that have teaching and/or learning potential, for mobile (iPad & Android), console, or PC.
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1
E3 2008 - Fallout 3 Trailer
Latest trailer for Bethesda's Fallout 3 shown at this year's E3 2008
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2
Portal 2 Teaser Trailer
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3
Civilization: Beyond Earth gameplay - Hands-on with the first 250 turns
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4
Let's Play Democracy 3 - United States - Part 1
150% Difficulty. Beta playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAuY2KOtiACP4dZToOuVytZV_KQ6IF3kN
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5
Bio Inc. - Biomedical Plague - Android Apps on Google Play
Bio Inc is a biomedical strategy simulator in which you determine the ultimate fate of a victim by developing the most lethal illness possible. ---- ▶ "Fascinatin...
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6
Plague Inc.
Can you infect the world? Plague Inc. is a unique mix of high strategy and terrifyingly realistic simulation.
Your pathogen has just infected 'Patient Zero'. Now you must bring about the end of human history by evolving a deadly, global Plague whilst adapting against everything humanity can do to defend itself.
Brilliantly executed with innovative gameplay and built from the ground up for iPhone & iPad, Plague Inc. evolves the strategy genre and pushes mobile gaming (and you) to new levels. It’s You vs. the world - only the strongest can survive!
◈◈◈ #1 top game globally with 500 million+ games played ◈◈◈
Plague Inc. is a global hit with over half a million 5 star ratings and features in newspapers such as The Economist, New York Post, Boston Herald, The Guardian and London Metro!
The developer of Plague Inc. was invited to speak at the CDC in Atlanta about the disease models inside the game!
▶ “The game creates a compelling world that engages the public on serious public health topics” – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
▶ “Best Tablet Game of 2012” - New York Daily News
▶ “Plague Inc. will snag your attention in all the right ways and keep it there” - Touch Arcade
▶ “No denying Plague Inc.'s high-level of quality” - Modojo
▶ “Plague Inc. should not be as much fun as it is” – London Metro
▶ “Will leave you hoping to destroy the world, all in the name of a bit of fun” – Pocket Lint
▶ “Plague Inc.'s gameplay is infectious” - Slide to Play
▶ Winner – “Overall Game of the Year” – Pocket Gamer
▶ “Killing billions has never been so fun” – IGN
◈◈◈
Features:
● Stunning retina graphics with a highly polished interface (Contagion guaranteed)
● Highly detailed, hyper-realistic world with advanced AI (Outbreak management)
● Comprehensive in-game help and tutorial system (I am Legendarily helpful)
● 12 different disease types with radically different strategies to master (12 Monkeys?)
● Full Save/Load functionality (28 Saves Later!)
● 50+ countries to infect, hundreds of traits to evolve and thousands of world events to adapt to (Pandemic evolved)
● Full game support for scoreboards and achievements
● Expansion updates add the mind controlling Neurax Worm, the zombie producing Necroa Virus, Speed Runs and real life Scenarios!
Localised in English, German, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Italian, French, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese and Russian. (more coming soon)
P.S. Give yourself a pat on the back if you got all the themed literature references!
Special sale price to celebrate being the 3rd most popular iPhone game of 2014!
◈◈◈
Like Plague Inc. on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/PlagueInc
Follow me on Twitter:
www.twitter.com/NdemicCreations
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7
Bridge Constructor
+++ Now over 30 million players worldwide +++
+++ Number 1 in the games charts for iPad & iPhone in 33 countries +++
+++ SlopeMania add-on with 24 brand new levels and sloping roads +++
Now Available: SlopeMania!
In the SlopeMania add-on you find yourself on the Tiltin Islands, home to three brand new islands where you'll even be building your bridges inside colorful grottoes! The 24 tricky, never-before-seen levels will have you using sloping lanes to overcome the massive height differences. The "Crazy Levels" are the real brainteasers and require out-of-the-box thinking and unusual solutions.
SlopeMania is now available as a low-price In-App Purchase!
In Bridge Constructor you have to prove yourself as an accomplished master bridge builder. Play 40 different levels, and build bridges over deep valleys, canals, and rivers. Stress tests reveal whether the bridge you build can withstand the daily stress of continual use from cars, trucks and, more recently, super-heavy tank trucks.
You can choose between a range of materials for each individual bridge, such as wood, steel, cables, or concrete pillars. Use the appropriate materials and stay within budget to build the perfect bridge. The choice of different materials means that there are numerous solutions and approaches and you can build each bridge in any number of ways – your budget is the only limit. The refined grid system allows you to realize your idea of the perfect bridge with even more precision. Let your imagination and creativity run free! And if you happen to run into a dead end, you can pick up valuable tips from the brand new help system!
FEATURES:
• 40 Levels on the island nation of Camatuga
• Free build mode and help system
• 5 Settings: city, canyon, beach, mountains, hills
• Improved grid system
• Map with unlocked worlds/levels
• 4 different building materials: wood, steel, cables, concrete pillars
• Color coded load indicator for different building materials
• Three different load bearing levels: car, truck and tank truck
• High score per level
• Facebook connection (upload screenshots and bridge scores)
FEATURES SlopeMania Add-On
• Completely new Tiltin Islands
• Option to build sloping roads – even for Camatuga
• Additional "Grotto" setting
• 24 "sloping" levels inc. especially tricky "Crazy Levels"
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8
The Sandbox EDU
The Sandbox EDU is the perfect educational game for the “Maker” in you and your child.
Specifically adapted for kids ages 6 to 12 and developed with classroom teachers as a complementary version of the popular game, The Sandbox (played by over 13 million people worldwide), The Sandbox EDU features original educative content supporting the experiential learning of science, technology, art and music!
Your child can play, build and craft - whatever he/she wants - and learn to conduct scientific investigations and engineering design through inquiry-based problem solving in an open-ended world grounded by the laws of the universe.
-= KEY FEATURES =-
1. Easy to install on your iPhone or iPad
2. Full Featured version with no additional in-app purchases or advertisements
3. 50+ lessons in Earth science ("Saving the EARTH"), lab science ("Inside the LAB"), electronic circuits ("Crazy Circuits"), pixel art ("Learn pixel ART") and music ("School of MUSIC")
4. Lessons designed with classroom teachers
5. Save and share your work in the online gallery
6. Explore 150+ elements in the open-ended CREATE mode
-= WHAT CAN I LEARN WITH THE SANDBOX EDU? =-
The Sandbox EDU can be used to support learning the following subjects: Environmental Science, Physics, Geology, Biology, Engineering, Mathematics, Electronics and Circuits, Pixel Art, Music, and Game Design.
The Sandbox EDU promotes experiential learning, which is the process of making meaning from direct experience. Elemental interactions in the game serve as a foundation to enhance player understanding of the physical world.
Some of the many reinforced concepts include:
Functions
. Relationships between elements
. Inputs and outputs for elementary reactions
. Input/output machines
Chemistry experiments
. States of matter: steam, water, ice
. Water pollution: acid + water
Elemental reactions: climate change, pollution
Automated factories and clever contraptions with conveyor belts, lasers with many effects, pipes to move liquids, and led indicators.
Art projects
. Pixel Art using 11 types of colored gems
. Music using 5 different instruments: Piano, Guitar, Drums, Trumpet, Bass
. Amazing light shows: with leds, metal and electrons, bright and bulbs, sensors that pulsate, and gamewall that changes colors.
Functional electronics projects with wireworld compliant rules (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireworld)
. Gates: and, or, xor, not, and more
. More complex circuits: diodes, counters and memory
Probability/Random machines
Batteries — and battery chargers
Oil Lamps & Refineries
Operational Ecosystems: predator/prey relationships, habitats
Natural Phenomena: the water cycle, the weather system, erosion
Natural Disasters: volcanoes, earthquakes, tornados, tsunamis
Heat exchange: heating and cooling elements
-= CRAFT, LEARN, PLAY AND SHARE! =-
The open-ended nature of the game is reflected in the title. By enabling almost anyone to casually play and experiment with often advanced Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM) concepts, it is a learning simulator as much as it is a world-building game, rewarding critical thinking, problem-solving, and risk-taking self-direction on the part of the player.
The Sandbox EDU is a game that allows your kid to directly interact with STEAM concepts by solving problems, responding to scenarios, constructing or deconstructing environments, creating art, designing machines, tinkering with the elements, creating condensation & evaporation, and anything else you can image a digital sandbox of elements and tools would you let you do.
-- PRIVACY POLICY --
Privacy is an issue that we take very seriously. This is why we are making sure The Sandbox EDU is COPPA compliant to protect the privacy of you and your children.
-- FOLLOW US --
Twitter: http://twitter.com/thesandboxgame
Facebook: http://facebook.com/thesandboxgame
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9
The Sandbox
-- AWARDS RECEIVED --
BEST OF WORLD-BUILDING GAMES (iTunes)
BEST OF GAMES 2012: HIDDENS GEMS (iTunes)
TOP GAMES – IF YOU LIKE MINECRAFT (iTunes)
-- VERSION 1.351 --
Vroom!!! Check out our brand new vehicles collection: Hit the road with our Sport Car, drive a Truck to transport elements all over the place or turn your creation into a battlefield with Tanks!
Bring even more interactions to your crafted worlds with our new advanced contraptions: Conveyor Belts and Electro Multi!
Three awesome blueprints to decorate your pixel worlds: place a crashed UFO, build the Kremlin or add a Futuristic Bridge… and now the Futuristic Tower is FREE!
That's not all: the Zombie Campaign has been upgraded with new creepy levels... Finish'em all -- if you dare!
-- PRESS REVIEWS --
"With one of most original game mechanics, fantastic pixel graphics and easy controls The Sandbox guarantees fun for weeks.” iReviewT
"It’s kind of hard to get bored with so many toys to play with.” 4,5/5 148Apps
“The Sandbox straddles the border between game and art project, rewarding players for creativity while giving them near-infinite possibilities.” 4/5 TouchArcade
-- GAME DESCRIPTION --
Imagine crafting your own world (complete with amazing Pixel Art), playing with Humans or Zombies, composing your own music and much more! The universe is yours to create or destroy, and the only limit is your imagination!
Start from scratch with basic building blocks like stone, water and soil. Grow plants, raise mountains, generate life and gain access to advanced tools for crafting more and more complex elements. Before long, you’ll be able to access non-organic elements like metal and light bulbs, allowing you to populate your universe with creations both natural and technological.
UNLEASH YOUR IMAGINATION
● Millions of possibilities. Infinite landscape designs. Countless different chemical reactions. Nothing is beyond your reach!
● Embrace your inner Pixel Artist to create or recreate amazing masterpieces and compose your very own chiptunes melodies with varied music instruments!
● Bring life to your creations and watch them evolve, eat, reproduce and die
AND NOW, A SLEW OF EXCITING FEATURES:
● Over a hundred elements to combine for different physic effects!
● 9 exciting campaigns -- a whopping 136 game levels in all!
● Add an intelligent life-form to your worlds: Humans!
● Cruise around in your sport car, transport elements with a truck or destroy the land with your tank!
● Change their behaviour using one of the 4 Job Magic Powders and turn them into a Miner, Builder, Hunter or Woodcutter. Dozens more behaviours will be added over time!
● Try now the newest Magic Powder: Zombie! Turn those little Humans into evil creatures!
● Recreate the Jurassic Period with dinosaurs and volcanoes! Protect your dinosaurs from extinction or recreate the BIG BANG and make them disappear!
● Utilize our new Blueprints and add awesome real-life wonders to your worlds: the Eiffel Tower, Chichen Itza, the Pyramids, the Statue of Liberty -- even a Crashed UFO!
● Wreak havoc with powerful explosions with TNT or C4! Craft your own guns or massive destruction weapons!
● Create amazing chain reactions with several sensor types, including liquid, light and temperature!
● Craft worlds featuring unique Laser and discover their powers once combined with different gems!
SHARE YOUR CREATIONS WITH THE WORLD
● Create your universe and then share it in The Sandbox’s Online Gallery
● Search in the Online gallery to see other players' creations (350.000 worlds already!)
● Rate other players’ worlds and add elements too
An entire universe in the palm of your hand!
-- FOLLOW US --
Twitter: http://twitter.com/thesandboxgame
Facebook: http://facebook.com/thesandboxgame
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10
Farming Simulator 2012
Play your favorite technical-simulation on your mobile!
Discover a wide, agricultural scenery with fields, roads, your farm as well as a small village. Cultivate your fields with various three dimensional vehicles found in your generous fleet- modeled after original machines and vehicles by prestigious manufacturers. Take a seat at the wheel of authentic farm machines by DEUTZ-FAHR, KRONE, KRAMPE, AMAZONE, LEMKEN and KOTTE and start your own agricultural enterprise: plow and cultivate your fields, choose the seeds of your field crops out of three plants (corn, canola and wheat) and fertilize them to accelerate their growth. Sell the harvest and invest it into new equipment.
As known from previous installments of the „Farming Simulator“-series, you will be supported by digital assistants, who take over the work you assign them to. That way you will be able to efficiently organize your farm and maximize your profit.
Explore an open world with a dynamic day-night-cycle and become a successful farmer in the challenging free-play mode.
Features:
• Put your favorite simulator into your pocket and play wherever and whenever you want.
• Huge vehicle fleet with authentic machines by renowned manufacturers like DEUTZ-FAHR, KRONE, KRAMPE, AMAZONE, LEMKEN and KOTTE
• Use a variety of detailed equipment and trailers
• Computer-steered assistants help you with your work
• Career-mode with management-part
• Three different plants: corn, canola and wheat
• Freely accessible world with dynamic day-night-cycle
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11
Godus - Android Apps on Google Play
YOU are about to PLAY GOD. Rule over a living, breathing world. It is as SIMPLE to play with as it is AWE-INSPIRING to behold. Feel truly powerful in the most delightf...
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12
SimCity BuildIt - Android Apps on Google Play
WELCOME MAYOR! We're glad to have you on board. Your first order of business - create your own gorgeous, unique city that has citizens vying to move in. But remember, ...
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13
Armadillo Run
Armadillo Run.
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14
Minecraft - Pocket Edition - Android Apps on Google Play
Play the biggest update to Minecraft: Pocket Edition so far! It's the overhaul of a generation. Download it now and see for yourself!Minecraft is about placing blocks ...
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15
Assassin's Creed 3 - E3 Official Trailer [UK]
More content on http://www.assassinscreed.com You are Connor, warrior son of a Native American mother and British father. As the colonies draw closer to revolution, you will become the spark that ignites the revolution into a full blaze. Your crusade will lead you through blood-soaked battlefields. You will not only witness history...you will make it.
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16
Empire Total War Gameplay HD
<img src="http://media-cdn.list.ly/production/149277/1088513/item1088513_185px.jpeg?ver=9159275991" data-src-thumbnail="//media-cdn.list.ly/pro