Poll: Would you buy an educational game based towards adults?

[Smithburg]

Some of you probably played educational games when you were a kid, and maybe it helpedand maybe it didn't. I remember playing games like Oregon Trail, The Island of Dr Quandary and so on, and they actually did help out with some subjects.

But would you want a game based towards learning something as an adult, say a game based on higher math, or learning a language, or say programming for instance? If so, what would you want to learn?

 

[Bostur]

I'd rather play a game that makes me curious to learn more. A game that offers small bits of interesting facts alongside the gameplay is fine though. Civilization always did this, other good examples are Total War and Assasin's Creed.

If I need to learn something I'd rather read old fashioned boring text. I don't like videos either they slow down the learning process. I can imagine very complex technical subjects where trying it out in a simulation may be handy as a supplement.

 

[Screamarie]

You might want to add a "maybe" on the poll because you're probably gonna get a lot of this -

Depends on how the game is played. If I find it fun, certainly. I have nothing against a game being educational. What I'm against is a game being educational and BORING. If I want to be bored then I might as well go out and just buy a book to learn the same damn thing and probably at a much cheaper price.

But if I'm gonna spend the money to learn from a game then I better be entertained.

As for what I would like to learn? Languages. I actually have "My Japanese Coach" for the DS (can't afford rosetta stone) which is mildly entertaining while also informative, though it's got some clearly lacking points in its teaching methods.

Maybe history if the game can present it in a way I like, because I LOVE history, but I'd rather it be told to me rather than have to read it myself, I'm wierd like that. I'm pretty sure some games are already teach history in various ways, but usually they're war strategy games, not my cup of tea. But an accurate historical era sandbox game like Skyrim or Fallout 3...doesn't that sound cool?

I personally wouldn't be interested in math. I'm good at it but algebra is about the only math I enjoy.

 

[Don Savik]

You mean like reboot Math Blaster?

As someone who has played that as a kid, I can tell you its not the way to go. Video games are just a bad medium to make people learn in the traditional sense. If you want to learn about a specfic topic, you can look it up and learn about it more effectively then if you would be point-and-clicking through stupid minigames. Video games can make you use your brain without ever having to tell you something (Portal) and make you learn and adapt to your environments to solve problems. Thats about as educational as your going to get while still staying fun.

 

[Electric Alpaca]

No, because using a game as an educational tool is inefficient. Any time that isn't spent directly gleaning facts is a waste of time allocated to learning.

For merely piquing curiosity games are acceptable - I'm thinking Hearts of Iron and similar. Actual knowledge should then pursued outside of the initial tease.

 

[dimensional]

I have tried some language games and they were pretty terrible their teaching methods left a lot to be desired and the structure was pretty poor.

I would buy an educational game geared towards adults again though if I thought it was good and entertaining, I certainly wouldnt use it as a primary learning tool though but more as something I can relax to when I am feeling burned out from studying so I can still learn a bit even when I game its just not as intense.

 

[Smithburg]

No, because using a game as an educational tool is inefficient. Any time that isn't spent directly gleaning facts is a waste of time allocated to learning.

For merely piquing curiosity games are acceptable - I'm thinking Hearts of Iron and similar. Actual knowledge should then pursued outside of the initial tease.

I dunno, I've seen a lot of things about how games could be extremely good educational tools if they focused more on it. As how much time is spent isn't very relevant, whats important is if it sinks in and is learned, some people take a bit longer to learn things

 

[loc978]

Sure, I'll take a porn game that teaches me Mandarin.

Oh. That's not what you meant by targeted at adults.

All joking aside, probably.
...and I do want to learn Mandarin, I just haven't gotten around to it. I think I'd better hurry, if I want to be ready to greet my new overlords! /half-joking

 

[Aris Khandr]

I'd love a more up to date remake of the Carmen Sandiego games. I've wondered for years why that series just died out.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

But would you want a game based towards learning something as an adult, say a game based on higher math, or learning a language, or say programming for instance? If so, what would you want to learn?

I actually bought My Japanese Coach and it's been...well somewhat helpful. I haven't stuck to it but it does help. I'd love to buy more though too but I don't see them doing well on a console. A Handheld or, computer would be great but I don't see educational games (geared towards adults) doing well on consoles.

 

[Starik20X6]

Depends on the topic, and how it's presented. About the only educational game I ever really liked was The Lost Mind of Dr. Brain. Man that was awesome...

 

[NeutralDrow]

Of course. Actually, I'd love something like that. I already pick up random bits of knowledge from essentially everywhere, and I still remember many of the things I got from early educational games.

Then again, I'm one of those people who read all the historical notes in Age of Empires, so I would say something like that.