2D Educational Essay

Educational Games

An educational game is a genre and type of video game that is developed to teach the audience about certain subject that the game uses as a template for its gameplay; an example of this is that in games that have word searches as the gameplay the audience will have to find words related to that subject an example of this is the subject English/literacy in which players would be finding words that made there vocabulary more varied. The image to the right of this paragraph was placed here to show that educational games can be aimed and all users but mainly for children as it has child like graphics as well as big buttons that are easy to see.

Educational games can be aimed at any anyone from all age groups as long as it applies to them in terms of gameplay and the subject, such as simple gameplay like point and click games are aimed primarily at young children as they are easy to use so that 5-7 year olds can use them as they don’t require much talent on a computer to play the game, an example of this type of ed-game for this age group  is the Acme Animation Factory which allows players to create their own animated cartoons using Looney Tunes characters in which the player has control over the graphics, animation and music as well as the colours of characters; this teaches children how to do basic animation while trying to keep it as simple as possible.

 The games that apply to children who are slightly older whose age is around 8-12 are more complicated and will use more difficult controls but still be somewhat simplified and fun to use but still have very simple learning characteristics such as counting to twenty or spelling out very simple words like ‘because’. The types of games that are available to children at this age is much more varied as the games can range from platformers, adventure games, point and click as well as many others, which were used for this age group because more subjects and topics could covered in the game as it a larger field to cover. 

 

An example of a platfomer educational game is Donkey Kong Jr Math which was the last educational game made by Nintendo in the player must solve problems like math problems in order to climb to the top of the level to win that stage which would prove to be fun as well as challenging while teaching player how to do math problems using a trial and error system. I have placed an image of the game to the left of this to show how the game functioned as well as the visuals to show how the game is suitable for children as it has simple graphics and no 12+ themes.

 

Educational games that apply to teenage players are increasingly more difficult than the games meant for children as they include more complex puzzles/problems; as well as having the learning be more combined into the gameplay so that it is harder to notice and the player will learn more without noticing.  The image to the right of here shows a game suitable for all ages and has an increasing difficulty ability option that make it more suitable for teenagers and adults which i placed to show the relevance of this paragraph.

An example of an educational game made for a player between the ages of 15-18 will contain more graphic imagery and complex problems than in games for lower ages in which a game that is like this is Rolling Fall which a 2D physics educational game in the player has to cut the rope at the correct time so that the ball will hit the zombies on the platform; this will teach players on how gravity work as well as other physic related material.

 
Educational games can vary in how they look and types of games that they are in which the types of known games are: Point and click, platformer, Quiz, simulator and adventure games as well as some other games on some not so used genres for this particular type of game.

An example of a platformer educational game is Math Platformer an example of educational game made by small developer company which is game in which player controls a slug to solve math problems to get through a level; in which the player has to navigate a level by collecting all the numbers in each level going from smallest to biggest as well as trying to navigate the level at the same time by doing platfomer like things such as jumping platform to platform or interacting with objects like lifts. The game fits into the educational category as it teaches people on the number order and more likely aimed at children ranged from 8-11 as in the screenshots available it showed that numbers were not overly complex although they did dive into negative numbers which smaller children tend not to learn. I have placed an image to right of this paragraph to show the type of gameplay that exists within a math game as well as the variation games that the developer can make.

Another example of platfomer educational game is Mario is Missing made by Nintendo which is a game in which you navigate a side scrolling level as Luigi in which you have to beat the Koppa’s guarding each level to collect pieces of artefacts which are pieces of famous historical landmarks then he has to take the finished landmark to a certain location then is asked two questions about the landmark; after this is complete Luigi has to take pictures of the locations he visits which can be viewed later in the  game. This game mainly teaches people about the different landmarks around world as well as the ability to puzzle solve and using directions as the player has to ask the people of city/level where the remaining Koppa, his current position and information on the landmarks; the difficulty of this game is extremely ranged going from preschool to adult which shows it is made for all ages and gets harder in terms of Koppa locations and the questions asked about the landmarks. The image to the left of this is an example of the ghameplay which shows how game is better suited to children as it has fun cartoony graphics that children enjoy.

An example of a simulator educational game is Wolf Quest developed by game company Eduweb which is a game in which the player is put into the role of a wolf and is made to live their life in Yellowstone National park. The purpose of this game to teach players to understand how wolves live and the type of affect they have on the ecosystem as well as their interactions with it; the game is made for all ages as well as being rated as family-friendly but does have some graphic violence in it like blood but is mainly to show people what happens in nature as well as having bad texturing so it looks more like paint making it more suitable for younger players. The image to the right is an example of this game in the paragraph which i place to show the game is for all with basic graphics making blood look like paint and basic control scheme. 

Another simulator educational game is Urban Jungle made by Autoklub Rijeka and DIR; which is aimed at children as contains no violence and is simple to play. The gameplay is simple in that all the player has to do is deliver goods from a start point to an end point without making many or any criminal offenses such as running people over, running the traffic lights, speeding or crashing into other cars; in which it has been viewed as being a good learning tool for driver education and road safety. The to left is an example of the game that shows i have placed to show how it is educational for people learning to drive as the interface of the car is fairly realistic which further fufills the game's purpose.

Another example of an educational game is I.M Meen which is a game designed to teach grammar to the players and was developed by Animation Magic. The gameplay is more complicated than others but still quite simple in which the player has to rescue the lost children trapped in scrolls by fixing grammar mistakes on the scroll as well having to fight monsters in each level as well as fighting a boss every fourth level; the game is aimed at children as it is interesting and fun and doesn’t just concentrate on the learning grammar which would pull a child’s interest more. I have placed an image of the game to left to show how different it is too most educational games as it bares some resembalse to old games like DOOM which further hints at the game being more fun for children than others.

Educational games can be very helpful as they improve a lot of things as well give a new way of learning to a variety of people; one of the ways it can help the player is that it improves hand to eye coordination which can come in handy later in life as well as help you do work as well as improving their vision as long as they don’t play for days which in turn can seriously damage a player’s eyes. Another good thing about educational games is that they can make learning more interesting and fun which can be great help if a teacher is trying to teach children as the children will find lessons more interesting which overall all will help their grades and learning experience.

Another good example of how playing educational games improves a person’s education is that students are more comfortable will technology they can recognize and enjoy which leads them to being able to stay on top of their work if they play a game that is similar to their current work but this also has a downside as video games whether they are educational or not can be extremely addictive which can leave students playing games all lesson and neglecting their work.

Some other good points about using educational video games is students who play video games are more likely not to develop problems like attention problems but can also cause them to become less sociable which will stop teachers and tutors from helping there students. Another point is that students will be able to remember the things they learned in the games as they are more interesting which will lead them to remember what they played.

Another good thing about playing educational video games is that it can enhance the learning advancement by making it fun and enjoyable for children as well as also making it fun for the teachers or tutors so the then student and teacher can have better relationship which making the learning experience better and fun. Also in any game the player always has the chance to earn something whether it is points, score, trophy/achievement, reward among other things which is a helpful tool in as it makes them enjoy achieving things which after going back to normal work is still in the system and will give them a rush so they perform better at other education related work/activities.

The purpose of educational games is that they can be used to help people get better understand at certain subjects which the chosen game will focus in which it by adding aspects on the subject to the game this is done secretly in some games so they don’t realize they are learning things; also education games where made to help children become more aware of their surroundings which also helps them to express the individuality which is done by learning from the games as most games today even some educational ones having a social aspect to it such as ones for older players might have a leaderboard to compete against each other.

One of the things that doesn’t go that well for educational games is that video games as a whole have developed a bad reputation over the last decade, which has lead people to believe that these games will have a negative impact on people which is not helped with all the massacres and crimes caused due to video games as well as that physiological problems like anti-social behavior and physical problems like weight gain or loss due to lack of exercise as video games have proven to be extremely addictive and students can lose interest in the real work as well as teachers losing control of the situation or classroom.

Another problem with using educational games is that in some education facilities they can’t afford to buy the technology needed to play the games or to buy the games themselves, which can vary depending on equipment needed.

Educational games apply their subject by mixing it in with the chosen play style which can be hinted greatly or mixed in well so the player doesn’t notice, in which interactive games like point and click such as word searches which will state that it’s a word search made for a certain subject such as using words that are key to study the English subject or to have a list of words and then have words that mean the same thing in the word search to expand people’s vocabulary.  Whereas other educational games don’t show there drew agenda as easily and hid it well enough so people don’t know they are being taught an example of this is in games related gravity and other physics as the idea to make things fly into other things like people or objects which can be enjoyable for children and teenagers alike and at the same time teaches them how objects fly through the air and how the amount of strength the object is pulled or through can affect speed and direction of an object.

Improvement

One opinion that could be done to improve educational games is that they could make them more interactive between game and the work that student is currently doing as it would overall make the learning experience more enjoyable and fun as well as making students want to more work. Another opinion is that could make fun but not to fun so they are not as addicting as that will keep more students focused on their work instead of ignoring it to play games.