Don't forget the fun factor in educational games
Too often, educational games are neither fun nor educational, and
there are plenty of educational games that fail on both those counts.
Without an exhaustive study of games and game designers, it’s hard to
pinpoint why. Do those making educational games have little experience
in game design? Or do those making educational games have little
experience in instructional technology? Or has the bar just been set
incredibly low?
Perhaps it’s that educational game designers have
been targeting school districts or teachers as their audience, and as
long as they’re more exciting than classroom worksheets, kids really
haven’t complained.
But the audience is changing for educational
games, in part because of the explosion of mobile and Web technologies.
Parents are buying more educational games, and kids now have a larger
say in what they want. And as a result, games are becoming more
engaging, more whimsical — more fun.But the audience is changing for
educational games, in part because of the explosion of mobile and Web
technologies. Parents are buying more educational games, and kids now
have a larger say in what they want. And as a result, games are becoming
more engaging, more whimsical — more fun.
