The first thing I did when I found out Adobe had blocked all Flash content from running in Flash Player in January 2021 was lament the loss of one of my favorite childhood games, ElectroCity.
(It was way better than that agar.io and slither.io slop. Up there with Fireboy and Watergirl in the Forest Temple.)
ElectroCity (2007) was developed for major New Zealand energy retailer Genesis Energy as part of the Schoolgen project aimed at raising awareness for renewable energy sources. The core gameplay loop revolved around building green energy infrastructure to support an ever-growing population.
I wasn’t allowed to play games as a kid, and my family didn’t even own a console until I was in 6th grade. So, ElectroCity (and other educational games) were my introduction to gaming. That’s probably why educational games still hold a special place in my heart.
But just because I love them doesn’t mean they’re good at accomplishing their stated objectives. Educational games are poor education tools.
It’s incontrovertible that the gamification of learning makes it more engrossing, and sure, student engagement with material is an issue in education. But the material being more engrossing doesn’t mean it’s more educational; the Manga Guide series is a good example of this (https://www.ohmsha.co.jp/english/manga.htm). What ends up getting remembered isn’t the actual content, it’s gamification itself. It’s like how neo-nazis watch Lord of the Rings and think “wow, Aragorn is just like me fr fr” and come away with the understanding that Aragorn’s ability to kill “the bad guys” is what makes him a hero (rather than what actually makes him a hero: his willingness to kiss the homies).
Gamification does have its place in society. It’s a useful aid for mundane tasks that are dull but essential and for skills where repetition, rather than comprehension, is the key to progress. This is the category typing games fall into.
Typing games are sort of the poster child for successful educational games. Student plays game, student learns skill, everyone is happy. But this is precisely the distinction I want to draw. Games that teach skills are effective, games that teach knowledge are not. For proof, look no further than the recently released Steam Demo Final Sentence, a typing battle royale that hit higher player count peaks this past October than the demos of legendary games such as Balatro and Doom.
