Who said games aren’t educational? While these games don’t fit your typical educational game mold, they’re just as capable of engaging kids while teaching them important lessons. Here’s a list of our favourites that you should also get to know!
Educational Game Guide For Kids In Singapore
1. Assassin’s Creed Origins
What This Game Teaches: Ancient History Where To Play It: PC Why watch a documentary about Giza Pyramids and Roman Aqueducts when you can interact with them in an educational game? Explore Ancient Egypt with the Discovery Tour from Assassin’s Creed Origins! With topics ranging from Daily Egyptian Life to Roman history, each tour is bite-sized so players can comfortably consume these nuggets of information. Also involve your character in various activities and participate in history by browsing the Ancient Library of Alexandria or making your own Egyptian pottery. If you’re worried about non-educational aspects like combat, Ubisoft has removed them entirely so your kids don’t get distracted! [caption id="attachment_19629" align="aligncenter" width="640"]
(Credit: Mary Harrsch / Flickr)[/caption]
2. Kerbal Space Programme
What This Game Teaches: Physics, History, Aerospace Engineering Where To Play It: PC, Mac, PS4, Xbox One Make rocket science fun with Kerbal Space Programme! While it might appear goofy with dorky Kerbal characters and hilarious YouTube videos, this educational game teaches the basics of Aerospace Engineering by enforcing Kepler’s Planetary Motion Laws and Newton’s Law Of Motion. If all this sounds too much for you, don’t worry! Kerbal Space Programme has worked with schools to create KerbalEdu: a school-ready version of the original game. The helpful Earth History Campaign covers everything from instantaneous acceleration to orbiting and includes lesson plans to guide players along. You’ll even get to build historic spacecrafts like the V-2 and Sputnik so kids can witness them in action. [caption id="attachment_19634" align="aligncenter" width="640"]
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3. Factorio
What This Game Teaches: Programming, Optimising Systems Where To Play It: PC, Mac OCD players beware; Factorio isn’t much of a looker but it offers an engaging reward loop system! At its heart, you’ll find an educational game that allows players to experiment and automise everything (conveyor belts, robotic arms, trains). To engage your kids critically, create a factory with a problem like a bottleneck at the refining stage or an unnecessarily long transport route. By letting them resolve the issue, they learn about trouble-shooting, the importance of optimisation and how many smaller parts contribute to the greater whole! [caption id="attachment_19632" align="aligncenter" width="640"]
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4. Human Resource Machine
What This Game Teaches: Programming Where To Play It: Nintendo Switch, PC, Mac, Android, iOS Want to introduce your kids to programming and coding? Try out the educational game, Human Resource Machine! The game oozes a Tim Burton-esque charm as your character has to solve corporate objectives in a grim, monochrome setting. While transferring items from an inbox to an outbox seems simple, your boss continually throws hurdles at you by enforcing various restrictions. Fortunately, the interface is intuitive enough for any budding coder to use! Even when you’re finished with a problem, the game encourages you to optimise your script by adding optional goals. Go from a complete newbie to pro as you debug and test your way to success! [caption id="attachment_19633" align="aligncenter" width="640"]
(Credit: BagoGames / Flickr)[/caption]
5. Minecraft
What This Game Teaches: Creativity, Problem Solving, Teamwork Where To Play It: Nintendo Switch, PC, Mac, Android, iOS, PS4, Xbox OneMinecraft has been popular the past decade because it’s an educational game that appeals to all ages! Thrusting you into a pixelated world, players must survive while building houses and mining materials. Sky’s the limit as players can build anything, from towering medieval castles to sculptures of their favourite characters.
The game’s built-in redstone circuit system even encourages players to create moving figures: with a flick of the switch, you can create moving structures that automate certain tasks. Minecraft also encourages collaboration as players pool resources and work together, allowing kids to learn about the wonders of teamwork!
(Credit: Kenming Wang / Flickr)[/caption]
6. Epistory – Typing Chronicles
What This Game Teaches: Typing Where To Play It: PC, Mac If your kid finds typing boring and tedious, let them try Epistory – Typing Chronicles! Featuring a colourful origami-like world to explore and typing as its core mechanic, Epistory is an educational game that allows players to roam freely. Playing as a girl riding on a fox, you fend off danger by typing in words that appear above enemies to destroy them. Do this in quick succession and you’ll accumulate a multiplier which grants you more points to upgrade yourself. The game is great for younger ones to flex their typing skills, especially in the arena battles where enemies relentlessly pour in and you’re forced to defend yourself by typing rapidly. [caption id="attachment_19628" align="aligncenter" width="640"]
(Credit: Fishing Cactus / WikiMedia Commons)[/caption]
7. Universe Sandbox 2
What This Game Teaches: Space And Gravity Simulation Where To Play It: PC Universe Sandbox 2 is an educational game that poses the question: what happens if you had complete control of the Solar System? Discover accurate recreations of planets like Jupiter and Venus as you adjust how fast time passes while enjoying the relaxing piano background music. Or you can skip the boring parts and go straight to experimenting with the destructive features of black holes and planetary collisions. Filled with flashy effects and jaw-dropping graphics, this educational game proves that you can learn while having fun experimenting with destructive physics. [caption id="attachment_19638" align="aligncenter" width="640"]
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8. Papers, Please
What This Game Teaches: Attention To Detail, Empathy, History Where To Play It: PC, Mac, iOS Don’t let the dreary design and mundane premise fool you, Papers, Please is an excellent educational game that references life during the fall of Russian communism! As border control, you’re tasked with only admitting people if they have the right papers and earn income based on performance. The game throws numerous curveballs at you, ranging from passport discrepancies to weight differences because they’re carrying firearms! The game also touches on morality as you decide whether to let in criminals because of a bribe or if a couple gets separated because of false paperwork. With multiple endings and long-term consequences, try this game if you’re looking for a unique experience. [caption id="attachment_19636" align="aligncenter" width="1280"]
(Credit: Papers, Please / Facebook)[/caption]
9. Valiant Hearts: The Great War
What This Game Teaches: World War 1 (WW1) History Where To Play It: Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, Android, iOS While you could use a history textbook to educate your kids, few games have tackled WW1 better than this gem of an educational game! Inspired by tragic WW1 war letters, Valiant Hearts: The Great War explores the first World War from the eyes of a modest soldier as each character experiences the horrors of war. The storyline and music plucks at your heartstrings as you desperately take cover behind mounds of corpses and witness soldiers dying within seconds. To help with educational efforts, the game makes numerous references to real-life locations like Verdun in their helpful colourised images that include informative captions. [caption id="attachment_19639" align="aligncenter" width="640"]
(Credit: Carlos Hergueta / Flickr)[/caption]
10. Cities: Skylines
What This Game Teaches: City Planning, Management Where To Play It: Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC, Mac Cities: Skylines is an educational game that starts out simple but soon adds layers of complex city building elements! Players learn city planning basics and crisis management as they take on the role of city mayor. With over 36 km² of land, this sandbox strategy game grants players freedom to decide how to run and structure the city. You’ll definitely make mistakes as you encounter congested junctions and unregulated pollution but you’ll learn from these mistakes to make your next city better! Ultimately, your kids will gain a sense of satisfaction as they see their little town expand into a bustling city. [caption id="attachment_19630" align="aligncenter" width="640"]
(Credit: Kakha Kolkhi / Flickr)[/caption]
11. Dynasty Warriors Series
What This Game Teaches: Chinese History Where To Play It: Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, Xbox One While it has earned a reputation for over-the-top combat and hilarious weapons (fans, paint brushes, tarot cards), Dynasty Warriors does its best to accurately represent The Three Kingdoms period! Featuring legitimate historical figures like Cao Cao and Zhuge Liang in epic battles like the ones at Chi Bi and Wuzhang Plains, you’ll learn plenty about Chinese History as you hack and slash your way through enemies. The game’s melodramatic narratives and cutscenes also give players insights on faction motivations as you witness the rise and eventual fall of the Wei, Wu and Shu empires. [caption id="attachment_19631" align="aligncenter" width="640"]
(Credit: BagoGames / Flickr)[/caption]
12. Scribblenauts Mega Pack
What This Game Teaches: Creativity, Problem Solving Where To Play It: Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One Scribblenauts Mega Pack contains two of the best educational games: Scribblenauts Unlimited and Scribblenauts Unmasked! The game tasks players with solving puzzles by entering solutions and bringing them to life with extravagant adjectives. Do think outside the box as the game welcomes all kinds of creative answers! Scribblenauts is perfect for any child to think of the limitless solutions on offer. To further draw players in, Scribblenauts Unmasked includes an entire roster of DC characters for you to include in your puzzle solutions as you gawk at how adorable they look in the game’s iconic art style! [caption id="attachment_19637" align="aligncenter" width="820"]
(Credit: Scribblenauts / Facebook)[/caption]
Love playing games that feature superheroes? Why not check out our guide to the best super hero games! Also, if you need some gift ideas to make your kid’s day, our children’s day gift guide should do just the trick!]]>
