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The Educational Games of Our Youth

Ah, sweet memories!

via Giphy

Previously, we’ve covered some shiny new educational games and gaming organizations that help build 21st century (future-facing) skills. From content creation to project-based learning, video games teach skills that are useful for a wide variety of careers. To further investigate how video games help us all grow, we asked our team to tell us about games from their childhood that helped them learn vital skills and discover their passions and interests. Take a trip down memory lane as members of our staff recount the games that sent them down the path they are on today!

Nicole Remily, Marketing Assistant

“Hooked on Phonics! My dad used it to teach me how to read and I knew how before I started kindergarten!”

via amazon.com

Lydia Symchych, Game Designer

“JumpStart Adventures 3rd Grade Mystery Mountain. I presented it to the design team earlier this year. A lot of the facts and information from the science/social studies activities are still stored in my brain somewhere.”

via u/RenegadeReddit on Reddit

Alex Yaeger, Visual & Interaction Designer

“I have always enjoyed city-building games. Even RTS games inevitably became de facto city-builders to me. Through them, I gained a comprehension that taxing a populace to oblivion does not increase revenue, stunts growth, and inevitably leads to decay and long-term ruin. The temptation to extort my citizens for some grand public-works project was short-sighted and started me on the road to understanding that centralized command-economies are doomed to fail.”

via Giphy

Allison Salmon, Senior Game Designer

“I played a lot of a Commodore 64 game called Agent USA. It taught me a lot about US geography, names of state capitals and a love of train travel.” 

via C64-Wiki

Brandon Pittser, VP of Marketing and Funding Development

“It’s not directly a learning game, but mine would be Timelapse! You could fairly say that it wears its Myst influence on its sleeve – well okay, it’s basically just Myst. But the difference is that Timelapse is set in fictional settings inspired by actual ancient civilizations, so you learn about Ancient Egypt, the Maya civilization, and the Anasazi civilization. The story starts on Easter Island, and the setting was so cool and otherwordly to me that I was totally blown away when I discovered that it actually exists! I’ve maintained a lifelong fascination with Easter Island and its Maori statues, solely because of my exposure to this game.”

via myabandonware.com

Are there any games on this list that you recognize? If you’re feeling inspired from all the nostalgia, and you or your organization is interested in exploring the possibility of creating a custom educational game or app of your own, be sure to reach out!

More on educational games of times past:

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