Game Review: Age of Empires Online

I have to say I was hopeful about the educational possibilities when I heard about Age of Empires online. It's not a game designed for education, but it is similar in a lot of ways to the Civilization games, which seem to be one of the more commonly used commercial game lines in education. Also, it's free to play the basic version on any computer with the Internet, a definite positive.
Age of Empires Online is a real-time strategy game based on historical civilizations. Your goal is to perform a series of tasks, from fighting off invaders to developing technologies and building things, to make your civilization grow. The entire game is quest-based, allowing you to play in short bursts of time. I have been sticking to the easy beginning missions so far, and have found them to take anywhere between 5-20 minutes. Any given quest has one or several objectives (such as building specific buildings, rescuing kidnapped villagers, protecting a defenseless village), offers in-game rewards for completing it, and allows players to retry the quest if necessary. It's a relatively fun game, although for non-gamers it will probably have a pretty big learning curve. Some of the controls seemed very counter-intuitive to me, and I ran into a lot of glitches (although I have to say that out of the three people I played with, I was the only one to encounter most of these).

While you could use this game to work on some problem-solving, goal setting and planning skills, the tutorial stage lasts for a very long time, and there doesn't seem to be a way to side-step those quests very easily. There are, however, multiple opportunities for students to set goals and achieve them. For example, the student could choose the goal of making villagers more efficient, and select technologies and buildings that helped those villagers gather and store food better and stay healthier. Again, the downside to this plan is the time commitment to get that far. For students who enjoy gaming and are good at it, the time investment would probably be significantly less, and this game could be used to address educational goals. If you have students who are unfamiliar with games, however, this game may not be worth the time they will need to invest.
The historical value of the game is also, at least so far in my experience, negligible. You can choose to play as one of several different civilizations (Egyptians and Greeks are free options), but beyond encountering a few historical person and place names in passing, there is no historical information particular to the civilization. Again, this may change much further into the game, but for the first several levels and hours of the game, there is not enough content to easily focus education around history in this game.
All in all, Age of Empires online is a relatively fun game, free (although there is extra content for sale) and accessible from any computer with an Internet connection that can download the game. However, it has a learning curve and is time consuming in order to get to a level where you can easily focus education around it. The primary use I can see for this game would be for teaching goals, problem solving and planning or strategy.

Space Physics Lite Game Review

I bought a cheap Android phone this week, and I've spent all week enjoying the huge number of free games available. After my required Angry Birds time (which will be another forthcoming topic, as it has already been involved in a few educational ventures), I began experimenting with a few educational games.

My personal favorite educational game so far is by far Space Physics Lite. There is also a full version of the game available for $1.99, which is said to offer more levels and ad-free play. It is a surprisingly fun game for one with such a simple concept, one that feels like a combination of an Etch-A-Sketch with a physics engine.

The game has a familiar "arcade game" structure, with multiple short levels which each have a single goal. In every level, the player's goal is to move a green ball across the level through a variety of obstructions to reach a glowing star. The obstructions range from empty space to spinning gears and multiple levels. Players can use the touch screen to draw items to assist in moving the ball to its goal, from gears to ramps and even cars. The concept and mechanics or the game are relatively intuitive and simple, but the play itself becomes complex pretty quickly as the puzzles get more difficult.

In spite of the name, Space Physics does not seem to be a game that is particularly well suited for teaching basic physics. While the game physics engine seems to be accurate as far as the interactions of the items on screen, I did not find any features that aided understanding of why things happened the way they did. I still think that Space Physics could be used as a teaching tool, although one that would need very much to be in a supporting role. The ability to draw freehand and see gears, bridges and cars pop into existence is definitely fun and can provide a way for students to quickly understand how intertia and forces can affect components. While the building and interactions are very simplistic, they can provide a basic, intuitive understanding.

In addition, Space Physics provides a good interface for problem solving, specifically for thinking about problems that need to be solved physically. It takes very little time to restart the level and clear all the items you have created, making it a risk-free "playground" to experiment with the interactions of gears, levers and other building blocks under normal physical conditions.

Stop Disasters! Serious Game Review

In the wake of the many recent disasters lately, disaster preparedness is looking more and more  important. While it is easy to find information today about how people and agencies have failed to be prepared for every type of disaster, there is a lot less talk about how to plan ahead and how expensive doing so can be.

That is where the Stop Disasters! game comes in. The free, Flash-based online computer game allows you to choose from several different scenarios, and you assume the role of a disaster preparedness coordinator preparing to prevent a specific disaster. Each scenario gives you the opportunity to select the difficulty of the scenario, which adjusts the size of the map that the player is asked to construct defenses for as well as the budget and time constraints. In addition, the player is required to make several additional upgrades, such as hospitals or schools, and can upgrade existing structures.

Each section of the map can be developed either by adding buildings such as houses or hotels, or defenses such as trees or firebreaks. Clicking on a single square of the map brings up a menu allowing you to choose whether you want to view information about the square (current level of safety, terrain type) or create either defenses or buildings. Each possible defense or building allows you to view information such as the cost, how much it reduces the risk of the disaster and why it reduces that risk. In addition, clicking on a structure you have built brings up a list of upgrades you can buy to further reduce the risk. The upgrades vary based on the building; a community center may allow you to buy sirens and training, while an individual house only offers the ability to upgrade the foundations. As you perform actions, "key facts" are revealed in popups and are accessible from a numbered toolbar at the top of the screen. Facts can include information such as how education can increase safety.

The player needs to balance the possible upgrades and buildings with their budget and time constraints to create the safest possible situation. As the time runs out a progress bar is filled in, and if the player has bought an early warning system a countdown appears in the last several minutes. When the disaster finally hits, a summary of the situation is provided. A news story provides the basic facts about the player's performance. Players can also choose to view a report with more specific information (such as how many of their goals they achieved and how many key facts they found) and the scene after the disaster.

This game is recommended for ages twelve and up, and that age category seems relatively accurate. The game is far too simplistic for training people to become disaster preparedness coordinators but can provide some valuable information for people trying to understand the many factors involved in disaster preparedness. This game could be useful in a social studies class examining current events or governmental spending. Specific simulations could also be used to talk about the challenges of development and life in specific geographic locations.

This game was interesting to play and did convey some knowledge as I played, but it could have benefited greatly from providing additional tips on how to prevent disasters. As it was, I found myself simply clicking through each option to find out more information, which feels like a waste of time when the timer is counting down in the corner. A single game takes around 10-25 minutes (depending on the scenario and difficulty). In addition, it would have been very helpful if the game would have summarized additional changes the player could have made to save more lives and prevent more damage. These are shortcomings that can be resolved with good teacher briefings and debriefings, but is definitely something to keep in mind if constructing a lesson around the Stop Disasters! game.

The Diabetic Dog Game Review

I was excited today to learn that there is an entire section of the Nobel Prize website dedicated to free educational games focused towards the Nobel Prize winning discoveries. While most of my colleagues take their mental breaks throughout the day by playing ping pong, chess or Android-based versions of Scrabble, I spent my day experimenting with various Nobel Prize games. While a few of the first ones I tried out suffered from some common education game mistakes (for one, the learning content was mostly separate from the actual gameplay while another was simply badly explained and difficult to play), I was relatively impressed with The Diabetic Dog game.

The game asks you to take care of a virtual dog with diabetes. Many of the elements are the same as with any other virtual pet game--the dog needs to be fed, walked and petted throughout the day (as measured in the game--this is not one of the more realistic pet simulators performed in real time). He begs for food, pouts when he doesn't receive enough attention, and is generally a pretty cute cartoon dog. Added to these standard elements, however, is one significant change: the blood sugar monitor in the lower left. In addition to feeding, petting and walking your dog at the appropriate times, you need to keep his blood sugar as close to normal as possible. The closer you keep your dog's blood sugar level to normal, the more you are paid at the end of the day, and you can use the money to buy your dog food and accessories.

The diabetes-related portion of the game seems relatively accurate, although admittedly I have no real-life experience with diabetes to do a detailed comparison. You can choose from multiple different foods to give your dog, each of which has a different effect on the dog's blood sugar. Insulin affects blood sugar (although there is little guidance about the amount of insulin to give beyond the response of the blood sugar bar) as does walking the dog (although in game, it is not very clear whether it is the exercise affecting your dog's blood sugar or simply the time passing while you walk him). At the beginning of the game you are provided with some text-based instructions for caring for your dog, both in general and specifically related to the dog's diabetes. You can access these instructions at any time. In addition, if you are struggling with the game, hints appear several times before you finally fail. When you do fail, your dog is taken to the hospital and you are no longer allowed to own him. A list of resources appears to help you learn about diabetes and your dog in specific.

At the end of each day, you are provided with a summary of your performance. Several factors are included, from your ability to keep your dog healthy to the amount of attention you gave him. Money is given based on your performance, which you can use the next day to buy food and accessories for the dog.

At any time, you can choose to save the game. Your dog's name is unique, so you can come back to play again at any time. The only exception to this is if you fail to keep your dog healthy--in this case, your dog ownership is revoked and you will need to start a new game.

For a very simple game, The Diabetic Dog game seems to be both educational and relatively fun for the right audience. It is a good way to learn the basics about managing diabetes, although it would be beneficial for teachers to provide some additional context and information. As a virtual pet game, the Diabetic Dog has some great potential for teaching elementary to middle school students, especially girls (audiences where virtual pets are commonly enjoyed). Older players may be bored quickly, and while some boys may enjoy the game, others may struggle with the caregiver role. It is a relatively straightforward game that can be played free through the Internet with relatively little additional instructional development or time. The game is easy to play regardless of your level of experience with games, so that the majority of the challenge for any student should be focused on balancing their dog's blood sugar levels.

Cisco Binary Game Review

A few months ago, I found out that Cisco had created a set of online games to help people achieve Cisco certification. Since I've always heard from those at my work that Cisco certifications can be very difficult, expensive and time consuming, I was very interested. Unfortunately the few times I tried to access the games, there were troubles with the site and I wasn't able to. This is why I was so excited to find the Cisco Binary Game listed on the Serious Game Classification website.

This game is another drill-style game, continually providing the player with a serious of problems based on binary math. The player is either given a total and asked to select the options that would create that total using binary math, or is given a row of selected bits and asked to calculate the total. As time progresses, the problems become harder and appear faster. If you answer a problem that row disappears; if the screen fills up with problems, you lose the game.

While the screen filling up with new problems (which reminded me vaguely of Tetris) and music added a slightly more interesting dimention, I still felt like I was using flashcards to practice binary math. This game can be a good way to drill students on binary math problems, I didn't find that the gameplay interface added anything. Also, after completing a few levels I found like my biggest challenge was being able to physically click the buttons fast enough to keep the screen from filling up--and that's coming from someone who has never officially learned binary math and in fact has spent the last 8 years avoiding math in the liberal arts!

The primary use I can see for this game is to let computer science or math students practice math, and specifically practice being able to answer problems based on binary very quickly. I wouldn't use the game as an introduction to binary math for younger students as I think the pace of the game could cause some problems, and I also wouldn't necessarily use it for advanced students, as they might get bored very easily in the early levels. Essentially, I think this game is useful for practicing binary math drills for students who understand the basics of the problems and simply need to practice quick thinking.

Free Rice Online Game

Free Rice is a free basic drill trivia game where players can choose to answer trivia questions from a variety of topics ranging from English (or Spanish, Italian, German and French) vocabulary to chemistry symbols, famous painters and their works, or multiplication tables. For each question that the player gets right, the website donates 10 grains of rice to hungry people through the World Food Programme. You can play casually by just going to the website http://www.freerice.com/ or you can choose to log in, which allows you to track your record with the game and create groups. There are even leaderboards available through the Rice link on the top of the page, allowing you to see the top players and the number of grains of rice they have donated.

As a game, I can't say that Free Rice was extremely captivating to me. After trying a few different subjects, I still found myself essentially answering online quiz questions for a variety of subjects by clicking the correct multiple choice answer. If you answer a question wrong, the game gives you the answer and the question nearly always comes up again after a few questions.The element that makes Free Rice into more than any other trivia-style game is absolutely the fact that with each correct answer, you are doing some measurable good by donating food to needy people. While the donation is only 10 grains per answer, as you answer questions you can see the level of rice in your bowl grow and that really does become addictive.  I continually found myself thinking that this game wasn't much different than just answering review questions--except that I was not preparing for any quiz, and I kept answering questions until about 300 grains of rice after I had decided this game wasn't helping me learn anything new. Actually, I switched the category to Spanish vocabulary (I haven't taken a Spanish class in about 12 years) to give myself a little more of a challenge, and kept going!

Overall, Free Rice is an extremely simple trivia game with the added element of donating food to hungry people. The trivia portion of the game may help some, but there isn't any way to customize which questions appear beyond selecting a category, which may still have broader questions than you need. For example, if you're trying to prepare students for a vocabulary quiz, you have no way to make sure the game asks about specific vocabulary words. With a more limited set like chemistry symbols or multiplication tables I could see the drill feature of this game having more of an application.

To make the best use out of Free Rice, I think an instructor would need to focus some portion of the lesson around the feature of donating food. You could have the class do research about how much rice the class would need to donate to feed a family or about some of the countries where the rice could be donated to and their situations. Alternatively, you could use Free Rice to learn about teamwork and the difference that a team can make as opposed to an individual, by creating a group and examining the totals. For teaching about generosity and good citizenship, you could use this game as one example of the diverse ways that people can help others, and even do some research about how Free Rice was created or who sponsors them. While you could always have the freedom simply to use Free Rice as a trivia game to test student knowledge of specific facts, I think that using it in this way would add very little educational value and would really miss on the biggest potential of the game. Free Rice could potentially be used for any age group, although the trivia questions are largely focused towards subjects that would be taught in K-12 classes.