Meta-topic of Game Design (Educational Games)

There are lots of reasons to design games. People want to create things. Others want to make money. Some want to tackle games that have never been done, or re-create a classic. Educational games are made by the bucketful.

My topic for today is educational games. I read a "Games for Educators" newsletter awhile back, which discussed how games can help kids who are behind on their education catch back up. Kids can fall behind for a variety of reasons - difficult homes, poor schools, disabilities, disinterest...there are tons of reasons. My experience at Pokemon was a positive one - parents would come up to me, explaining how Pokemon led to a turn-around in their kid's desire to learn. In this case, Pokemon provided the motivation.

Personal tastes - I don't like the strictly "good for you because we say it is" concept. It seems heavy-handed and unfair. Learn how to count/multiply/divide/memorize things! Learn history through our narrow lens! The first part, if it's incidental to the natural game play, kids will learn it, and not see it as a ham-fisted approach that the teacher/parent is trying to force on them AGAIN. (There's only so many times that I tell my mom I don't want broccoli. She still forces the issue. Is she not listening, or just not caring about my opinion?) Learning history through someone else's direction means that your facts will be whatever they give you...no context of the greater whole.

I want to see educational board games teach teamwork, like in Space Alert or Pandemic. I want to see kids learn planning skills, similar to what you see in Macao and Through the Ages. I want to see social negotiation skills develop, that you find in Settlers of Catan. These are skills that are for the greater good of society that all kids learn these...and early, if possible.

There isn't anything horribly wrong with teaching math skills through games, it's just not efficient. Doing math problems out of their textbook will provide them with basic skills, especially if the kids do homework. My argument is that the teaching games could be teaching them things that they don't get in school...if kids develop leadership skills, it's more a result of accidents than planned activity.

Next time I'll come back with an example of educational board games - in the meantime, check out "Games for Educators" - their newsletter is pretty interesting. (Link on the side.)

Disclaimer: I actually like broccoli. It was peas that took me awhile to adapt to.