Educational Video Games for Highschool?

Hello, I've been trying to find educational games for an older audience. Most games like this only seem to go up to the 5th grade, or barely qualify as a game at all. Does anyone know of good educational video games that might interest Ages 13-17? Can be on anything in general, but I would love to see math and chemistry.

Kodu was recommended for learning to program, and general logic.

- http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/kodu/

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Permalink Reply by Daniel Edward Sagmiller on January 11, 2012 at 2:39pm

it occured to me that many games might already do similar things, that could be improved by adding knowledge based skill increases.

For instance, many MMO's have things like mining for materials, smelting them and producing other materials. IT would be interesting if the rest of the game was there, but in order to first use a skill, you have to answer 5 random questions about how it works, such as "Steel is primarily made out of what two elements?" if you don't get the answer, it will suggest you go talk to people like the black smith or (duh duh duh) go to the library!

But the rest of the game can still do its normal things, its just that you have to prove you understand the concept of what you are doing to get the skill that would have changed in the game.

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Permalink Reply by Justin Eames on January 12, 2012 at 9:19am

Hey Daniel,

I've had success with Spore, Rollercoaster Tycoon (there any many games in the Tycoon Series), and SimCity. Although not perfect, Spore is good for reiterating concepts surrounding natural selection and, later on, sociology. R.T. is good for working with the design process, economics, etc. And SimCity, well, it's SimCity. I also think there's value in letting students play more mainstream games that have less obvious educational value (Starcraft, for example). It's amazing to watch them plan and carry out strategies with each other.

Let me know if you'd like to discuss further.

Justin

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Permalink Reply by Daniel Edward Sagmiller on January 12, 2012 at 10:19am

You make some good points on the other games. I'm thinking I'd like to find games to help out for common skills in school, and not just limited to logistics and strategies

History (possibly Civilization, possibly historically accurate battle reenactments)

Math (possibly Kodu for the algebra)

English ?

Foreign Languages ?

Health/Phys Ed (Xbox Connect)

Geography (Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego)

Economics (Tycoon Series)

Agriculture ?

Biology ?

Physics ?

Chemistry ?

Astronomy ?