I was in grade school when PCs began infiltrating schools. I remember playing Oregon Trail, Amazon Trail, Heart of Africa [god, how I would love play that game again], the original Sim City, Montezuma’s Revenge, Save New York and many others on an old C64.
My kids are in gradeschool now and unfortunately I’m not very computer literate (as in, not at all). I would like to use learning games with similar themes (adventure, exploration, problem solving) that would allow my kids to get familiar with computers and learn something in the process. I can’t help them much and have no clue what games teachers utilize today, if any.
Anybody have any recommendations for good, kid-centric learning games? I have a win7 and an XP machine,although I’ve never been able to get games to play on the XP machine (dont know why, as I say I don’t know squat about computers).
Maybe not quite the same thing, but maybe the old LucasArts adventure games? You could also do Sierra, but sometimes those were sadistic (get stuck on room 96 because you forgot to grab something on room 8). You would be doing a very good service to mankind if you introduced your kids to Monkey Island. Nothing too objectionable, but some jokes could go over their heads. If they like POTC, you could phrase it as the game series that the movies borrowed some from.
If adventure, exploration and puzzle-solving is what you want, I suggest at least Myst. Riven would probably completely break their heads but I know I had a blast playing Myst in grade school.
The first two Monkey Island games are on Steam, and they come with upgraded graphics. For LucasArts games (and a few others) ScummVM is usually a required program to run on modern PCs. Not an issue if on Steam.
Mist is not on there. You could also try places like gog.com for older stuff, too. I think some Dopers have said they like the place. It’s all digital distribution. If you want CDs/3.5 floppies, eBay is probably the best bet.
Grim Fandango is awesome too, although I can’t remember if it’s more advanced in content.
NIGEL’S WORLD!! That and Oregon Trail were considered sufficiently educational by my school when we got computers in 4th grade. I hardly remember anything about it except it had to do with geography, and I liked it a lot.
Oregon Trail is still available in an updated form, I believe, for modern computers. Other ones in that series, like Yukon Trail, are probably available as abandonware.
Wait, I thought that Washington’s tonsil was stolen from Mt. Rushmore.
(I remember once in the game, the theft was of the Christ of the Andes, but when you went to Argentina, you could still see it right there in the graphic)
There’s a new Carmen Sandiego game for Windows 8, but it’s kinda buggy. It’s a port of a Wii game, so maybe. It’s in the Windows Store.
And while it’s not quite what you have in mind, there is a shooter version of Oregon Trail: Super Amazing Wagon Adventure.
BTW, I’m not sure what most people call adventure games is what you want–as adventure games as a rule are not educational. Some of the newer ones teach problem solving, but most of the older ones just teach you how to think in the esototeric way of adventure game designers.
If you want those types of games, I’d recommend the Phoenix Wright series. Unfortunately, they aren’t for PC, but the DS or Wii. (There’s also an iPhone/iPad version of the first game.)
I hardly remember anything about it except it had to do with geography, and I liked it a lot.