Educational Games
Educational Games
Educational games have gained great popularity over the years. We can rank them according to the length and breadth of learning including the fun factor as well. These games really want to make us learn. The formula is that it should be entertaining and should have nostalgic factor too.
Sesame Street ABC
Sesame Street ABC contains two separate games. One is ‘letter go round’ and the other is ‘Earnie’s big splash’. Letter go round is a small word game that had you completing, creating or simply replicating words. It is some quality education with entertainment. The interface is dark and creepy which makes the game popular. This is because it is the creepiest game children might have played with low sound effect and no music. There are creepy cut outs of your favorite sesame characters bouncing on the screen. It is just a stark bare universe where your only solace is learning. With simple lessons about the alphabet it teaches kids from ages 3 to 6 how words are broken down and built up.
Earnie’s big splash is a very simple puzzle game where you try returning Earnie’s duck to him by moving it through a series of tiles. It reminds a lot about another game known as ‘the incredible machine’ where you have to get something from point A to point B using various gadgets and gizmos. It is also bright and colourful and not creepy at all. Maybe that game is a better option than ‘Earnie’s big splash’. However ‘the incredible machine’ does not have the sesame sing along song which captivates the players.
Meteoroid and Asteroid Exploder’ or MAX
If there is one thing that children should learn early is the crippling effect that stress can have on a person. Who better can teach it than Bill Neder the science guy. The game starts with him saying, “Ok people, now we have got a problem!” The problem is that a meteoroid named ‘Impending Dume’ is on a direct path to earth. Luckily the scientist has invented a laser system invented ‘Meteoroid and Asteroid Exploder’ or MAX. However, this MAX has a mind of its own and is not sure that humans deserve to be saved. In order to prove the human race worthy of being saved the machine throws seven science questions that we need to answer. We need to solve these questions in time otherwise the earth would explode.
Museum Madness
The museum has been struck by a computer virus and you must save it by rescuing kangaroos, stopping pollution and doing more slide puzzles and making simple machines. It was established for Windows 95 and gained significant popularity.
Carmen Sandiego
Geography is boring, so kids are tricked to build knowledge of the world and places by seeking a criminal in this game. The name was a game show and a comic book before it was channelized to a game. The thieves are tracked down through knowledge of history and geography. Later on Math and English was incorporated in this game too. There are numerous versions of this game.
Another game is ‘number munchers’, which relates to Math. And so there are a number of games that amuse and educate you at the same time.
