Most parents tend to think that video games can only harm their children and their educational process, as they take plenty of time. However, there are numerous video games that aim to teach players of particular skills and replenish their knowledge in some areas. Although, some of such games have hidden senses and educational character. So we have created a compilation of educational video games which are capable of providing your kids with useful content.
Scooby-Doo
Scooby-Doo is a well-known video game based on the same-named cartoon. The game has an adventurous direction where the group of characters receives different investigating tasks which have to result in exposing the criminals. The education is not even hidden within this game, as it forces players to develop their logic in order to solve the riddle and to find the right solutions in decisions under various circumstances. Different game characters have particular duties and tasks. Even if the result of the game is the same, the process of playing can differ, which makes the game even more useful for the brain.
Minecraft
Minecraft video game consists of two different playing modes:
- Survival – where players actually have to fight against the game monster, with no brainstorming needed;
- Creative – this mode is completely different for survival as it is the building mode, players receive access to all building elements where they can create anything.
The creative mode of Minecraft gives players huge opportunities to develop their creativeness and architectural\design skills. Even if these activities will not come in handy in the players` careers, then they will definitely enrich their outlooks and enhance their creative way of thinking, which can be useful in lots of spheres in life.
Nancy Drew Interactive Mysteries
Nancy Drew’s video game is based on the fictional character of the famous detective, created by Edward Stratemeyer. Logical that this video game dives players into the mysterious story where they tend to be real detectives investigating different cases. Of course, this game helps players to develop their logic and intelligence. They really liked the graphics within the game, so some of them wanted to start learning video game design, meaning the video game has brought them a new hobby.
Jumpstart: Escape Adventure Island
Jumpstart had an educational idea from the very beginning. It takes players into the fictional island where they need to find their way back home. Therefore, players have to go through various tasks and games to move on. The games are based on particular skills, like making calculations that enhance math knowledge, reading long descriptions of the upcoming challenges, and making the right decisions to find exits from the particular obstacles.
This game also teaches what is the price of the victory and how hard they need to work to be awarded, and it relates to any sphere in their lives.
Civilization
Civilization consists of several versions. The main purpose of playing is to run the whole civilization and enhance its development from the Stone Age to modernity. Each player gets a high responsibility of being the leader within a huge group of people, caring about their well-being, protecting them from enemies, forcing them to work, hunt, raise kids, and live peacefully. It teaches players what it means to be a leader, what duties and responsibilities this person gets, and what challenges the leaders and his\her people have to go through to reach their main goal.
Cities: Skylines
This video game is a great simulator of the real world. The players are tasked with building a new city from scratch. It is only about the house building, but it includes all the details needed to create a good city—infrastructure, roads, establishments, parks, and so on. Each player receives a certain amount of the city budget, which can somehow limit the building opportunities. Nevertheless, players get the ability to run the whole city and work on its further extension and development.
Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider is one of the most popular video games based on the self-titled movie. The game includes several parts where players need to go through different challenges and tasks to open tombs. Lara, the main character of the game, has lots of enemies and competitors who want to kill her and take all the awards. Players have to logically find the exits from all dangerous situations in order to save the life of Lara and reach the main goal of the game. The graphics are also impressive and completely dive players in the Tomb Raider world.
Wordscapes
This is a completely educational game for kids. If you think that this game is too easy for older children, then you haven’t even tried to play it. This game aims to teach kids as many new words as possible. Some of these words are quite outdated and are not used in the books, but still useful to know. With each level passed, the words become more complicated and some of them you may have never heard before. The game is capable of enriching the lexicon and making players continue learning even out of play.
Democracy
The democracy video game is suitable for children from 12 when they have already reached a particular level of personal development. The game consists of four different parts. And the last version of democracy aims to teach players of critical thinking and show the real impact of social media on our minds and opinions. Critical thinking is an extremely useful skill for the young generation. Every day we see so much news on TV or on social networks. Unfortunately, the majority of this news is fake or distorted. Children should learn how to detect fakes and research the true news\information within any area.
Kerbal Space Program
This game will be the favorite one for those kids who are keen on space and all related topics. It allows players to be one of the aliens that are responsible for running a whole spaceport in the open space. The main peculiarity of this video game is that it is not fictional but teaches players the basics of aerodynamics, space exploration, and more. In addition, the game was checked and approved by NASA, which makes this game even more unique and educational. This will not replace the real courses for space explorers, but will surely provide kids with the fundamentals of what it means to be an astronaut.
To sum up
All educational video games have different learning directions and goals. As the custom writing service Writing Judge claims, the choice of which one would suit your children best depends on the individual interests and preferences.
