12 Days of Serious Games

[Chris]

So for the 12 Days of Christmas, we’re going to write up one game plus suggestions each day. More to follow. :-)

(I moved this forum back here. I apologize for the Confusion).

[Chris]

GAME 1: GLADIATOR: DRESSED TO KILL

For Christmas Eve, we’ll start biblical or at least Roman. This game tests how well you know what each gladiator would wear in the Coliseum.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/launch_gms_gladiator.shtml

The rules of the game are simple. You have 60 seconds to correctly dress your gladiator in the appropriate 4 pieces of armor and weapons. You also get 5 clues to help you out and you have to dress 3 gladiators (each get 60 seconds to dress).

Getting 3 pieces correct allows you to win (i.e. not die). Getting all 4 pieces correct gives you the wooden sword, which allows your gladiator to leave the arena a free man.

Very quick gam with no blood.

The first time I played, I received two olive branches (lived to fight another day) and one wooden sword (freedom). The second try resulted in three wooden swords (freedom for all!!). But then, I like gladiators. :-)

[Chris]

Game 2: Viking Quest

A well thought out game from BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/vikings/launch_gms_viking_ques...
It is a quick play (about 5 mins) and it puts the player in the role of a Viking leader chosen by the king to lead a raid on a monastery. You have many choices to make: take a loan, where to build your boat, hiring specialists (berserker, sail maker, carpenter, navigator), which route to sail, landing the boat, burn the monastery, and repair before you sail back. Building the boat walks you through how Viking vessels were built and what size crew they would hold. There is a lot of logic and chance in the game. You may hit a storm on the way over, crash your boat onto rocks, lose crew during the travel, and landing too close to the monastery will allow them to hide the loot.

I played the game about 5 times and was successful (became the leader of a colony in Denmark) 4 times. My high score was 935 points. On the high score, I did not take a loan and chose a smaller ship. However, I lost half my crew. :-(

But I still made it to Denmark. On the time, I failed I was sentenced to live out my days fishing cod.

[Chris]

Game 3: 'Speare ( Romeo & Juliet in the Future)

http://www.canadianshakespeares.ca/Speare_full_free_Folder/speare.html
'Speare, a game based on Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet but in a futuristic setting
One of our student reviews - if you haven't looked at our rubric it's under the serious game forum rating 1 to 5 axes
1 (least) - 5 (best)
Time Played: 20 minutes

Navigation - 4 axes
(How easy is it to learn game controls or game objectives?)
I found myself sometimes forgetting which controls were which but once you play it a time or two it becomes second nature. The controls mimic a lot of first person shooter games that I've played in the past so I'm guessing that also helped me out as well.
Game Play - 5 axes
(How smoothly does the game flow from one frame to the next?)
I encountered no problems with it.

Graphics- 5 axes
(How aesthetically pleasing are the graphics?)
Very crisp and clean. The game designer's did a good job.

Degree of Immersion- 5 axes
(To what degree, do you feel like you are part of the game?)
I really did feel like I was learning something as well as truly having fun. This is the perfect example of an educational game.

CYTIE Index- 5 axes
(To what degree, do you lose track of time when playing the game?)
This would be great for a homework project for an english class. I would say it would be good for an in class assignment but I have a feeling students would get TOO wrapped up in playing it.

Complexity - 4 axes
(How easy is it to understand the game rules and/or objectives?)
It is a challenging game but that's what makes it fun. I can see a wide variety of people enjoying this game. The controls do take a little getting used to but that's the only drawback that I can see for this game.

[Chris]

Game 4: Classroom Jeopardy http://www.coderedsupport.com/jeopardy/

Jeopardy is a fun flash based game that allows the user to develop their own Jeopardy review game. Simply click make a new game and you are able to quickly create 5 categories with 5 questions each and the answers.

It is a very easy way to develop an ice breaker for your class or to spice up concept reviews. I've used it on my accounting students for terminology and concepts. They liked it better than a pop quiz. :-)

[Chris]

Game 5: Eye of the Donkey http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/chemistry/pcr/game/index.html

This is a Chemistry game about PCR and DNA copying. First part is a lecture on PCR and what it is used for. It consists of a lecture with quizzes interspersed throughout the lecture. It is set up to show how Biology is used in crime scene investigations. So it combines Biology and Genetics with Criminal Justice.

The questions are good and they test your understanding of the lecture plus any outside knowledge you may have gained. So this game can be played by all levels of players. You also have the option to skip the lecture. I had to use my biology classes to answer some of the questions. :-)

Not to spoil the ending, but after the lecture, you are grabbed and thrust into a huge burglary case where you use tour new found PCR knowledge to solve the crime. There are some hints along the way as the easy solution does not work. So you have to go back to the water baths. Quick game play and lots of help make this game a good introduction to PCR and DNA.

[Chris]

Game 6: Spore Creature Creator

Felt like creating fun creatures today and nothing beats Spore Creature Creator. It’s free or at most $10. :- )

I spent a few hours playing with missing links and evolutionary boondoggles. We’ve talked about Spore before. However, we found that one of our fellow faculty members was using Spore in her e-commerce class to illustrate why a company would give a free version of their product. Very cool.

A word of caution, we’ve had reports that excessive playing of creature creator led to being required to purchase the full version by other family members.

[Chris]

Game 7: I felt like a little music today. Playmusic.org is an interactive game that allows you to adjust the makeup of an orchestra. It would be a good class to show new music lovers how different combinations of the group change the sound of the piece. It even goes into specific instruments and has detailed information on them and even has an mp3 that shows the instrument's sound. It also has a broader aspect and goes into the different sections as well.

Very fun way and quickly lets you pick up on the differences was you move strings, brass, and woodwinds in various permutations to pull different interpretations of the same selection of music.

[Chris]

Day 8: World of Warcraft (My favorite game and I'm using it in my classes) :-)

Happy New Year’s … Tonight is all about World of Warcraft. This MMORPG is all about getting together with friends and having gaming fun. Choose your game playing style: caster, tank, rogue, etc and play. They are offering a free 10-day trial that gets you in and started. You can easily get your character to level 15 or higher depending on how much time you spend. If you don’t like it, you can let the account expire. :-)

There are two factions: Alliance (human, dwarf, gnome, night elf, and dranei) and Horde (orc, blood elf, troll, tauren, and undead). You can change some minor features. Once you are level 5, you can choose a profession (crafter or raw materials gatherer). Come and join the game within the game. Guild play opens an entire world for those not interested in leveling or auctioning by yourself. Can anyone say collaborative learning environment.

[Chris]

Game 9: Today I looked at visual literacy. The Audubon game requires that you look at two similar pictures and notice what is different about them. The photos are displayed side by side so it allows easy comparison. You are looking for photoshopping and airbrushing work. Can you match them all?

The URL is: http://audubon.org/gbbc/game/index.php

[Chris]

Game 10: Pathogen Tracker

Just got done playing Pathogen Tracker and it really shows how technology has changed food illness detection. It was a great introduction to epidemiology and utilizing federal databases to confirm your results. The game is difficult for the non-science person. However, the instructions are well written and some of the steps are intuitive. Good for anyone interested in microbiology or wanting to know more about how foodborne illnesses are tracked and the case work that goes with it.

[Chris]

Game 11: Global Navigator

This is a quick Geography game that has you match the capital with your country. It is a very good way to look at world Geography and scores your results. The interface is simple, click on the capital name and then click on the world map. The game gets progressively harder as you move through the level. Of course there is always the Google Earth Cheat. :-)

The URL is: http://search.teach-nology.com/arcade/globenavigator.html

[Chris]

Game 12: Second Life

Was in Second Life yesterday, and was again struck by what a great medium it is for immersive education. SL allows you to generate your own content or utilize existing content. SL can be used as a supplement to your class or it can be a focus of your class. It is really up to you how you utilize it. I would definitely encourage everyone to dust off their avatars and give SL another shot. :-)

The only drawback to SL is the system requirements. As technology progresses, this will be less of an issue. However, this is one of the barriers to implementation in the classroom. Many classroom computers lack the necessary memory and video cards required to run the system.

Some of you may be saying SL is not a game; it’s a virtual world. You are correct and that is why I’ve saved it for last. I’ve added it here to because SL is a simulation that can be considered an extremely long game. All of the games listed in the 12 Days have required very little time investment (15 to 30 minutes at most). SL is a logical progression for those of you looking for continuity between classes. You can start implementing SL in your intro classes and progressively move your students through the simulation while ramping up the difficulty level as students move from class to class.