25 Video Games You Can Teach With Tomorrow
by Terry Heick
Realistically, a ‘with it’ teacher can teach almost anything using almost anything. I’ve been taught trigonometry using a paper clip, and expository structure using paint. Tech is great, but nowhere close to necessary. But if the underlying learning process is well-thought-out, tech can provide powerful common ground for teachers and learners.
So then, video games.
Video games do not represent a ‘rising medium,’ but rather one that’s established, potent, and ready for application in any content area at any grade level. While their application may not be as immediately apparent as the Declaration of Independence, an essay by Wendell Berry, or Google Earth, they truly are a goldmine of edu-content.
We’ve talked before about the concept of gamification, which refers to applying game mechanics to any non-gaming process. Below are six games that can be used not to ‘gamify’ a classroom, but as primary learning resources.
These games can serve not only to introduce teachers to the concept of using video games as something beyond a gimmicky way to ‘engage learners,’ but demonstrate that video games are a platform worthy of any classroom dedicated to any content area at any grade level. While it will take more than a single post to learn how to effectively use Fallout 4 to teach T.S. Eliot, the videos below are nonetheless good starting points to introduce teachers to the idea.
As with any medium, to teach with them deeply, you’ll likely have to play them yourself. It’d be difficult to teach a poem without understanding it personally, and the same applies to video games. But what if you wanted to know where to get started?
Need a mini-lesson on narrative perspective, or a way to demonstrate the potential of collaboration? If you teach grades 4 through university, see below.
25 Video Games You Can Teach With Tomorrow
1. The Last Of Us and The Last Of Us Part 2
Developer’s Description:
Grade Levels:
Platform(s):
Ideal Content Area(s):
9-12+ (mature content and themes)
Appropriate Grade Level:
Platform:
One-Sentence Description:
Ideal Content Area(s):
2. Animal Crossing
Developer’s Description:
Grade Levels:
Platform(s):
Ideal Content Area(s):
3. Paper Mario: Origami King
Developer’s Description:
Grade Levels:
Platform(s):
Ideal Content Area(s):
4. Story Of Seasons: Friends Of Mineral Town
Developer’s Description:
Grade Levels:
Platform(s):
Ideal Content Area(s):
5. Kentucky Route Zero
Developer’s Description:
Grade Levels:
Platform(s):
Ideal Content Area(s):
6. Age of Empires II
Developer’s Description:
Grade Levels:
Platform(s):
Ideal Content Area(s):
Developer’s Description: Space Engineers is a sandbox game about engineering, construction, exploration and survival in space and on planets. Players build space ships, space stations, planetary outposts of various sizes and uses, pilot ships and travel through space to explore planets and gather resources to survive.
Grade Levels:
Platform(s): PC
Ideal Content Area(s):
Developer’s Description:
Grade Levels:
Platform(s):
Ideal Content Area(s):
9. Red Dead Redemption 2
Developer’s Description:
Grade Levels:
Platform(s):
Ideal Content Area(s):
Appropriate Grade Level: 8-12+ (some mature content/themes)
Universal: Problem-solving, Resource Management, Various Thinking Strategies
ELA: Inferencing, Audience, Characterization, Purpose, Media Form, Tone, Mood, Theme, Perspective, Point of View, Style, Metaphor, Symbolism, Propaganda, Rhetoric, Various Thinking Strategies
10. Civilization VI
Developer’s Description:
Grade Levels:
Platform(s):
Ideal Content Area(s):
Appropriate Grade Level: 6-12+ (complexity)
Universal: Problem-solving, Resource Management, Collaboration, Various Thinking Strategies
Government, History, Social Studies, Geography: Diplomacy, Impact of Geography on Policy, Hoarding and Trade, Political Tactics, Communication
11. Fallout 4
Developer’s Description:
Grade Levels:
Platform(s):
Ideal Content Area(s):
Appropriate Grade Level: 8-12+ (some mature content/themes)
Universal: Problem-solving, Resource Management
ELA: Inferencing, Characterization, Audience, Purpose, Media Form, Tone, Mood, Theme, Perspective, Point of View, Style, Metaphor, Symbolism, Propaganda, Rhetoric, Various Thinking Strategies, Government, History, Social Studies: Cold War, Scare Tactics, Propaganda
12. Portal 1 & Portal 2
Developer’s Description:
Grade Levels:
Platform(s):
Ideal Content Area(s):
Appropriate Grade Level: 4-12+
Universal: Problem-solving, Collaboration, Visualization, Various Thinking Strategies
ELA: Irony, Tone, Collaboration
Science: Physics
13. Armadillo Run
Developer’s Description:
Grade Levels:
Platform(s):
Ideal Content Area(s):
Appropriate Grade Level: 4-12+
Universal: Problem-solving, Project Management, Collaboration
Science: Physics
14. Detroit Become Human
Developer’s Description:
Grade Levels:
Platform(s):
Ideal Content Area(s):
Appropriate Grade Levels: 10-12+ (some mature content/themes)
Universal: Various Thinking Strategies
ELA: Narrative Style, Tone, Mood, Characterization, Point of View, Setting, Perspective, Style
15. Deus Ex
Developer’s Description:
Grade Levels:
Platform(s):
Ideal Content Area(s):
16. Red Dead Redemption 2
Developer’s Description:
Grade Levels:
Platform(s):
Ideal Content Area(s):
17. Assassin’s Creed (any from the series)
Developer’s Description:
Grade Levels:
Platform(s):
Ideal Content Area(s):
18. Plague Inc.
Developer’s Description:
Grade Levels:
Platform(s):
Ideal Content Area(s):
19. Minecraft
Developer’s Description:
Grade Levels:
Platform(s):
Ideal Content Area(s):
Developer’s Description:
Grade Levels:
Platform(s):
Ideal Content Area(s):
Developer’s Description:
Grade Levels:
Platform(s):
Ideal Content Area(s):
22. Bioshock
Developer’s Description:
Grade Levels:
Platform(s):
Ideal Content Area(s):
23. Rome: Total War
Developer’s Description:
Grade Levels:
Platform(s):
Ideal Content Area(s):
Developer’s Description:
Grade Levels:
Platform(s):
Ideal Content Area(s):
Platform(s): PC, Xbox One
Developer’s Description: Multi-tiered and challenging simulation: Playing as the mayor of your city, you’ll be faced with balancing essential requirements such as education, water electricity, police, firefighting, healthcare and much more, along with your city’s economy. Citizens within your city react fluidly, keeping you on your toes with ever-evolving demands.
