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Educational Lists

These relate to games with different educational benefits. Along with games that are designed to be educational, this includes games that can inspire learning and knowledge because of the worlds and stories they create. The collateral learning uncovered here is a glimpse into the ways games can help children learn about themselves, their community and the world.
 

Being able to discern between reliable sources and unreliable sources of information is an important skill for children to develop. This starts with questions of trust and authority but then leads to decisions about how we use and share information ourselves.

 
01/01/2021 / 3 years ago

These games have an educational element to them, but also offer experiences that are good games in their own right. This isn't busywork to trick you into learning, but clever and innovative ways to encounter history, physics, engineering, maths, geography and language subjects without feeling like you are in school. They also teach softer, deeper skills like long term strategy, planning, balancing systems, emotional intelligence, compassion, team-work and self-care.

 
23/03/2020 / 3 years ago

Video games are often thought of as turning children into small cogs in a machine. Unchangeable, uncreative and demanding repetition of players. However, there are many games that offer players a chance to be the creators, inventors and instigators of some of the most marvellous machines.

 
16/06/2021 / 2 years ago

The spaces and places that video games create are often designed with a particular interaction or way to progress through them. However, because games are open to the player, how you play, the direction you move and what you do in the game is up to you.

 
11/01/2021 / 3 years ago

Automation is hailed as the future of work and industry is set for economic rebound. As a result, growing, managing and relating to machines are and will be important skills for children to develop.

 
09/12/2020 / 3 years ago

Video games are usually thought of as competing with family mealtimes and healthy eating. However, there are many games that develop a good relationship with food and cooking. The games in this list have been selected because cooking is an element of the gameplay or because they are set in a context where meals and mealtime are important.

 
26/01/2021 / 3 years ago

Success in video games is often framed at the personal level: the last person standing in Fortnite, achieving high viewership on a Twitch stream, the best player in Rocket League. However, many video games choose to focus players on a wider view, on working for the greater good of the world in which they live.

 
09/06/2021 / 2 years ago

Video games are mostly inside experiences. However, they offer experiences that can connect players to a love of gardening and the outside. The games in this list have a garden aspect to their story, gameplay and interactions.

 
01/02/2021 / 3 years ago

We spend our lives in buildings every day. Our homes, offices, shopping malls, cathedrals, stations, bridges and even public toilets have all been designed. Video games mirror and magnify this built environment in different ways.

 
02/08/2021 / 2 years ago

The dream of being able to fly seems to be a universal human desire. It's not surprising then, that many video games are popular because they grant the player the ability to soar through the air.

 
16/06/2021 / 2 years ago

Video games are sometimes criticised for pillaged historical cultural contexts as places to pitch their shooting battles. Many games do treat historic periods or military battles to embellish the visuals without realism.

 
16/11/2021 / 2 years ago

Video games contain a lot of maths. Children are often working with complex mathematical concepts without realising it. The temptation is to leverage this maths play to make learning games for the classroom. However, as we do that we often unintentionally break what made the experience playful in the first place.

 
05/10/2021 / 2 years ago

Science can be a subject that many of us see as something for other people. Physics, Chemistry and Biology is something for the nerds, geeks and highly intelligent children at school and not for us or our children.

 
12/08/2021 / 2 years ago

It’s easy to assume that video games are all about building big cities or running successful economies. There are, however, many games that offer quite the reverse. These games encourage players to consider the impact of their actions on the environment, as well as their interconnectedness to the world in which they live.

 
19/06/2021 / 2 years ago

Online games are often about immediate communication either spoken or typed in the heat of battle or survival. There are some online games that encourage communication much more like writing a letter to someone.

 
06/01/2022 / 2 years ago

Of the different senses, it's easy to overlook the importance of hearing. We encourage children to read, watch and observe. But just as important is to develop more than just cursory listening.

 
05/08/2021 / 2 years ago

Many games use rhythm as a mechanic to involve the player. But this list is devoted to the games that go one step further, and make you feel like you are creating music while you interact with the game. This may be the singing to other characters in Wandersong or Fe, or be contributing to the orchestral soundtrack in games like Flower or LocoRoco.

 
04/04/2020 / 3 years ago

Many video games let children try outside activities and sports. This can be a great way to not only find something new to do outside but also start to gain some expertise that you can then try in the real world.

 
07/01/2022 / 2 years ago

Video games often create spaces like beautiful paintings. Designers and artists spend years crafting worlds that invite us to interact with realistic or stylised brushstrokes. The games in this list let the play take part in that painting process.

 
07/04/2021 / 2 years ago

We have partnered with the National Literacy Trust to create this resource of video games that encourage and enable reading and writing skills.

 
07/12/2021 / 2 years ago

Studies show that for inhabitants of the Western world, life in the modern age has gotten progressively less dangerous and more comfortable with each passing generation. So why as parents do we all seem so afraid for our children? And how do we overcome this fear and let our kids take the necessary risks they need to take in order to thrive?

 
20/10/2021 / 2 years ago

It can seem that all children do these days is stare at their screens and play video games. We worry about screen time and what violence, addiction and gambling are doing to their brains.

 
12/10/2020 / 3 years ago

Video games are exciting for children. Like anything popular for youngsters, many dream of being able to work in the video game industry when they get older. However, as a relatively new media, it can be hard to know how to help a child inspired to move from a hobby to a career.

 
25/02/2021 / 3 years ago

Video games are often praised for how good they look. Some games let you use these beautiful spaces to take photos. It's a feature that's growing in popularity both in terms of how often it's provided and how much people are using it.

 
04/11/2022 / 16 months ago

Sailing is something not everyone has access to. If you grow up with parents who are into sailing, you will likely have a way into the exciting activity. If you didn't however, it's unlikely you have spent much time on the water.

 
22/12/2022 / 15 months ago

For those learning to read, or learning to read English as a second language, video games offer an opportunity to play and interact with the meaning of words. Many games include written dialogue or subtitles of spoken performances, but more interesting in this context are games that use words and sentences as a form of interaction.

 
15/01/2021 / 3 years ago

It can seem like making a video game is only possible with a degree and lots of complicated equipment. The games on this list let you design and share your own levels just using your controller and tools like Scratch.

 
22/06/2020 / 3 years ago

Sometimes you play a video game and it reminds you of the intense connection and emotion of a favourite novel. Sometimes you read a book and wish you could wander off and explore the world it created. This is a list of the perfect video game and book pairings.

 
14/07/2022 / 20 months ago

Video games and work don’t usually go together. Not, that is, unless you work in the video game industry. The Safe In Our World charity addresses this world of work and video games to foster positive mental health well-being and deliver support for players, developers, publishers and retailers.

 
07/10/2020 / 3 years ago

Video games are known for finding some small (often peculiar) part of life and turning it into a game. The moment of firing a gun, jumping over a ditch or even cooking the perfect meal have all been the subject of successful games. However, there are some games that go in the opposite direction and turn their attention on the largest aspects of life.

 
30/10/2023 / 4 months ago

All games make you think in some way or other. However, some are designed to stretch your puzzle know-how more than others. There are games that don't lean on reactions or visuals to tell a story. Instead, they offer a conundrum to get you thinking.

 
23/09/2022 / 18 months ago

Games often offer us the chance to step into the shoes of powerful and fantastical characters. These power fantasies are exciting and exhilarating. There are many games that invite us to step into the shoes of the disempowered.

 
08/12/2021 / 2 years ago

Taming Gaming Book Written by parents for parents, the database complements the in-depth discussion about video game addiction, violence, spending and online safety in the Taming Gaming book. We are an editorially independent, free resource without adverts that is supported by partnerships.

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