RELATED: 10 Switch Games That Are Already Modern Classics The best entertainment games go far beyond this level. The best games of the genre are not just educational, but really fun, with witty writing and well-designed game cycles. They are also well researched, including modern teaching methods and strong historical facts and events to inform students. These games are more than educational. They are really good games that stand the test of time.
10 The Oregon Trail was the origin of Edutainment games
While there were educational computer games before that, The Oregon Trail became the beginning of the modern genre of edutainment. Programmed by a student teacher at Carleton College in the spring of 1971, the game’s combination of historical elements and frequent bad luck made it addictive. The Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium began sharing The Oregon Trail in 1974 on the timeshare network. When MECC sought to expand its educational offerings to brand new microcomputers in 1978, The Oregon Trail was its first. It was free for schools and cheap for the public. Reliability The popularity Oregon Trail brought to MECC spawned a generation of toys like Odell Lake and the Munchers line.
9 Mario is missing brought a Mario flavor to the genre
In 1993, The Software Toolworks released one of the few licensed Mario games. Mario is missing! became the first game in the Mario series in which Luigi was the main character. Released for PC, NES, and Super NES, the game used Mario’s physics and platforming to teach players about the world’s cities. RELATED: 10 Retro Game Consoles That Aren’t Classic Minis Although generally liked, Mario is missing! it received mixed reviews, even from the generally positive magazine Nintendo Power. The game was subsequently criticized for several minor factual errors provided in its text, but remained an important educational title for home video game consoles.
8 The Kerbal space program is challenging and hilarious
Introduced in very basic form in 2011, Kerbal Space Program combines the characteristics of challenging simulation and humor that make a good educational title. In addition, it includes everything that would make a good educational space game. KSP’s space flight simulation improves with each iteration of the game and looks set to be even better when Kerbal Space Program 2 is released in 2023. While the atmospheric model is barely functional, the game’s space flight simulation is near flawless and The characters refer to important elements in the history of spaceflight.
7 Super Mario Maker teaches the principles of game design
The Nintendo Wii U title Super Mario Maker was an instant hit when it was released for the otherwise well-known console in 2015. The game was a user-friendly modification of Nintendo’s in-house Mario level design tools. Super Mario Maker freed designers to create the Mario levels they always wanted. Unleashing a burst of creativity unseen since Mario Paint. In fact, players felt that it behaved as a successor to Mario Paint in many ways, offering an immersive experience. A sequel was released on Switch two years after the release in 2019.
6 Munchers brought Pac-Man-like gameplay to the Educational Arena
In the mid-1980s, education giant MECC created a Pac-Man-like game called Word Munchers. In it, the player had to move around a grid of words and eat words that satisfied a rule given to the player before each round began, teaching logic and the rules of the English language. Its sequel, Number Munchers, used the same mechanics to teach math. Blocking Muncher’s path were purple, eaten Munchers, who could also change words as they passed. This could make the game especially frustrating for a player who only had one or two words, as the troggle could add more words for the player to conjure.
5 Rocksmith Unleashes The Majesty Of Rock And The Mystery Of Roll
The Rocksmith series of music education video games features a combination of visual and audio feedback and a laser focus on teaching players to play songs. Using an interface cable that plugs into the output jack of an electric guitar, Rocksmith superficially resembles rhythm games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band, but focuses on real instruments playing real music. RELATED: 10 Classic PS3 Games Still Worth Playing in 2021 Boasting that 94% of players improve while playing Rocksmith, the game seems to have the right educational chops for the job. Its game-like interface makes it an attractive alternative to pure-demonstration systems like Fender Play and the competing Yousician app. With a new installment due out in late 2022, the power of Rocksmith lives on.
4 Microsoft Flight Simulator shows the power of flight
Debuting in 1982 for what was then called the “IBM PC and Compatibles,” Microsoft Flight Simulator featured detailed, full-color graphics. It simulated in detail four cities in the United States: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Seattle. It expanded in the following years to cover the entire United States and then the entire world. The number of planes available skyrocketed from a single Cessna 182 to dozens and then hundreds. Microsoft Flight Simulator has remained the gold standard of computer flight simulation, teaching the fundamentals of flight to people who might otherwise never fly.
3 Big Brain Academy was Educational for Adults
In the mid-2000s, Nintendo released a new entertainment game, Big Brain Academy, for the brand new DS platform. Written for adults, it was intended to present players with bite-sized educational content to combat the effects of aging on the brain. RELATED: 10 Classic Nintendo Games You Forgot About Big Brain Academy was popular and well-received upon release, but Nintendo chose to continue with the Brain Age series, which covered similar ground and was better known. The 2021 Nintendo Switch release, Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain brought the franchise back to life, but its future is anyone’s guess.
2 generations of artists inspired by Mario Paint
In 1991, Nintendo was in a bind. The popular Super Famicom/Super NES video game console has come under fire in Japan and overseas from parent groups. Looking for an educational response, Nintendo created Mario Paint, an art program for the Super Famicom, which was released internationally the following year. Packaged with the first video game console mouse, Mario Paint was a huge hit. Although its market was inherently small, for those who stuck with it, Mario Paint became a versatile tool to fuel the gamer’s creative drive.
1 Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego was a daring game of trivia
Complete with a copy of the 1985 edition of the World Almanac and Book of Facts, the original release of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? it was a detective themed adventure. The fresh game taught players how to use a reference book while teaching general facts about the nations of the world at the time. Carmen Sandiego received several re-releases that updated the game for several years afterward. It was later adapted into a game of the same name on PBS, with memorable music by an a cappella Rockapella quintet, and became an animated adventure series on Fox Kids. The franchise now has online games and an animated series on Netflix. NEXT: 10 Physically Small Video Game Characters Who Are Surprisingly Fierce
