Education Games
Strictly speaking none of the games on this site are education games. They were all written for the hobby market. We feel though that they may be used to teach creative writing, brain storming, and critical thinking skills. Matrix Games have been used in education since the 1990's. I personally have used them as a psychotherapy tool for 20 years. They've been used for planning for social service agencies and businesses and by the British and Australian Armies for military planning. The rules are a quick, low tech, low cost game engine that can be applied in many applications.
EDUCATIONAL USES
Dracula is a hobby game but it can be used to teach creative writing. It allows students to build confidence in their imaginations while also teaching them about cause and effect in plot.
Playing Jack the Ripper allows writing students to explore how conflicting goals can combine to create a story.
Frankenstein helps students learn about how to write avoidance and how guilt follows people wherever they go. Creative writing teachers will find it helpful to get students to spice up tired plots.
The Hand of Moriarty is a straightforward murder mystery game. Creative writing teachers can use it to show how clues are found and what they tell. The game also shows how suspicion can fall on several people at once and the dramatic tension it lends to story telling.
Creative writing teachers will find Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde helpful in showing students how to write internal dialog. All the players are part of Jekyll’s brain. Needless to say this is a psychological game.
On a tangent I want to say how happy I am at being able to publish a game based on a work of Robert Lewis Stevenson – one of the original founders of the modern adventure game hobby. The toy soldier games he played with his sons inspired HG Wells’ Little Wars. We owe him a debt of gratitude.
Oswald’s Genie is a modern day fantasy game. Due to it’s setting in the Middle East I recommend against using it in class unless it is used as a tool to aid people to identify stereotyping.
Punch and Judy and Blood and Puppets are games about puppet shows. While they were not written as education game it will lead people to say negative behaviors out loud which could be a jumping off point in discussions of social skills.
Lone Wolf Samurai Action Theater is a game set in 16th Century Japan. It takes two hours to play so it may not fit into standard curriculum but if there is time it might be useful in creative writing. It history teaching potential is limited.
Evil Wizard School is a fantasy game about magic and politics. It is inappropriate for educational game purposes.
Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Dead Duke and Sherlock Holmes and the Fenian Murders are intermediate level games. This means they take two hours to play. If time is available they can be used to teach creative writing and critical thinking skills.
Dead Man on Campus and Arkham Terror: Experimental Therapy are based off the horror writing of HP Lovecraft. They play in two hours so there may not be time for them in a standard curriculum. They are horror stories – not based off classic literature so teachers should carefully gauge community standards before using them. If they are deemed appropriate then these games can teach critical thinking and planning skills as well as ethics.
The Defence of Duffer’s Drift is based off of a classic military training book. Students of military science familiar with the book might find putting it in motion via a game to be very helpful in brain storming tactical responses.
