Playing to Learn
From SVHSWiki
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Topic Assignments
Play with Social Issue Games
Play with these popular, professionally developed games for social change. Try a game from each genre. Which do you like best? Which are most successful in getting you to think and learn new information about a social issue?
Genre 1: Shooter A shooter game simulates the strategic use of projectile weapons from the first-person or third-person perspective.
September 12th A game-like simulation that powerfully shows how violence only instigates more violence. It was created in Shockwave, which, like Flash, is a multimedia development program from Adobe.
Genre 2: Role Playing Game (RPG)
In RPG games you take on the identity of a game character or "avatar" and act, play and make decisions based on the traits and objectives that define your "role".
Climate Change A Flash game where you are president of the European Nations. You must tackle climate change and stay popular enough with the voters to remain in office.
What Would You Do? is a Flash game that presents you with various social situations where you have to make a difficult situation, giving you all the details, then asking you how you react.
Genre 3: Life Simulation
In Life Simulation Games you control the life of one or more characters, typically by affecting the choices they make and/or the environment surrounding them.
Darfur is Dying. This Flash game provides a window into the experience of the 2.5 million refugees in the Darfur region of Sudan. Players can also learn more about the genocide in Darfur that has taken the lives of 400,000 people, and find ways to get involved to help stop this human rights and humanitarian crisis.
The Cost of Life The Cost of Life is a Flash game that challenges its players to manage a rural family of five in Haiti over four years and keep them healthy, get them educated, and help them survive.
Genre 4: Strategy
Strategy games require you to engage careful decision-making in order to achieve a long-term objective. There is less action and typically more time to "plan" in strategy games.
Pick Twelve Pick Twelve is a Flash game where the player assumes the role of a prosecutor or defender for a civil or criminal case and must pick twelve jurors based on their identities that the player feels will by sympathetic to his or her case.
Genre 5: Construction and Management Simulation Games (CMSs)
CMSs are a type of simulation game which task players to strategically build, expand or manage fictional communities or projects.
Stop Disasters is a Flash-based disaster simulation in which you choose a scenario (which disaster and difficulty), and try to reach certain goals to stop the disasters' impacts.
3rd World Farmer This Flash game lets players manage a small farm in a developing country, and thus experience the hardships and dilemmas faced by the poor.
Genre 6: Educational Games
Educational games tend to be designed so that the acquisition and retention of information is foregrounded.
Consumer Consequences asks you for a little info about how you live your life, and tells you how many planet Earth's we would need if everyone lived the same way you did.
Image Detective Image Detective asks players to study a historical photograph, ask questions, learn facts, gather clues and formulate conclusions about the image like an investigative historian.
Play the News Play the News is a Flash game that asks players to study the circumstances of a current event, then to choose a role as an actor in the news by positing what they think should happen and what they think will happen in the still-to-be determined outcome of real-life news stories.
Genre 7: Platform Game Platform games are action-oriented games that give the player forward-moving capabilities within a 2D environment.
Katrina: Tempest in Crescent City is a Flash game that puts you in the position of a young girl who's mom is trapped in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina struck.
Genre 8: Action-Adventure Game
Action adventure games are typically structured by long-term narrative objectives, with smaller "action-based" challenges along the way.
Medical Mysteries MedMyst, short for "Medical Mysteries," is an Internet-based, Flash adventure in which you are on a mission to discover the causes of diseases. As you follow clues to solve the mystery, you also are given the opportunity to explore -- chemistry, pharmacology, neuroscience, medicine, public policy, history, and more.
Genre 9: Quiz Game
Quiz games are characterized by a question-and-answer format.
Free Rice is a simple HTML webgame where you're presented with a word, and four possible synonyms, and have to select the one that most closely matches the meaning to the word. For every one you get right, 20 grains of rice are donated to fight hunger.
Pirates of the Preamble Pirates of the Preamble is a fun quiz-game where you have to answer questions related to American history and civic knowledge in order to find all the missing pieces of the Preamble.
NewsMania NewsMania is a quiz-show themed game that test your knowledge on current events, and asks you to predict their outcome.
Play with Games Created by Globaloria Students
The entertainment, educational and social change games on the MyGLife Resources Website are a mix of Flash-based games and creativity tools made and donated by Globaloria students and professional developers.
Entertainment Games - Games and puzzles donated by students and professional developers to entertain and challenge you.
Educational Games - Games about math, science and other core subjects donated by students and professional developers to help others learn through play.
Social Issue Games - Games on social topics like nutrition and endangered species donated by students and professional developers who want to bring attention to an issue they care about.
Try games in each category. Explore them like a Game Maker: What does each game do? How was it made? Read the Producer Notes for insights. Tackle the 'Try This' challenges to learn key programming and design techniques. Download the .FLA file and explore the source code!
Review Two Games
Pick two games you played before and write a review about each of them. Choose one Social Issue Game from Assignment 1. Choose one game made by a Globaloria student from Assignment 2.
Make sure you include the following points in your review:
- Name and purpose of the game
- Describe it from a learner's point of view and a developer’s point of view
- Design Analysis (Does it look good? Does it clearly illustrate the scientific the concept?)
- Usability Analysis (Is it clear what you need to do as a user? Does it work well?)
- Suggestions for improvement
- 2-3 things that you would like to learn how to do (in terms of functionality, design or content)
Update the Wiki
- Add your game review assignment to your Projects page on the wiki (a link to your projects page can be found on the top of your profile, it's called "My Projects".)
Update the Blog
Suggested Post Idea
- Write a Blog post about the games you played. What did you like and why? What didn't you like? Link to these games on your blog and express your opinion!
Comment on one of your classmate's blogs!
