Things you learned from video/computer games, not just related to playing same

Cafe Society
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I know I’ve surprised a few people before by citing a computer game as where I learned some bit of knowledge. Despite what they may have thought, not all games involve endless shooting & fighting or solving bizarre logic puzzles in fantasy worlds. Not that there’s no value or nothing to be learned from those things, but this thread is in appreciation for the sort of games that taught the same sort of knowledge you might have been expected to learn in school.

Some games were clearly meant to be educational, but often other games have included such realistic detail that they could almost be used for teaching. Almost. Still, it’s nice to have gained something from games more than “hacking is surprisingly dull and tedious” (Hacker) or “rich people are weird” (Jet Set Willie) or “aliens, failed genetic experiments and/or Nazis are bent on your destruction”.

Here’s my list of the most educational games for me :

The Cosmology of Kyoto - I haven’t completely played through this, but even by dying a lot[sup]*[/sup] you learn much about Buddhism & Japanese folklore. The included reference guide has much more.

[sup]*[/sup] Dying a few times is something of a requirement in this game.

Traitor’s Gate - I think I could tolerably well find my way around the Tower of London without a tour guide now. I also learned a tiny bit about British royalty.

Europa Universalis (2) - A lot of European historical events that I didn’t know (the historical power of Poland/Lithuania, for one), plus a little historical geography. I also have a much better understanding of inflation (even if the game model is simplified).

Heart of Africa - Much more African geography than I knew at the time.

Where in the USA is Carmen Sandiego? - useless state trivia. The only one I remember for sure from her is what the Old Man of the Mountain looked like on an Apple II - though he’s gone, now.

Agent U.S.A - State capitals. That was the point of the game, so they succeeded, even if after a while all I did was try to infect as many people as possible.

Fahrenheit 451 - You actually had to complete the quote to talk to some books (=people). These days that’d be a pretty quick internet search, but I really did enjoy going to the library back then. This game got me to read Pope’s “Essay on Man” for the first time.

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I didn’t know what a “sortie” was until I played Choplifter.
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…that’s all I got. :frowning:

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I learned a lot of mythology indirectly by looking up the origins of things in fantasy games.

Many games repeat real-world myths fairly accurately. I remember Sierra’s Conquests of Camelot did that quite well, with various goddess myths. That’s allso where I learned the phrases “memento mori” and “in vino veritas,” as well as some of the local legends around Glastonbury Tor, and a lot of other things besides.

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Despite no longer owning the software, I still have the documentation to my copies of Sierra’s Red Baron and Gold Rush because they have so many great historical details on their respective eras.

The Civilopedia from the various incarnations of Civilization is always fascinating. Alpha Centauri, too. How many other games quote Kirkegaard? Well, maybe the original Deus Ex.

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Massive amounts of European history (1419-1800) from Europa Universalis II.

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Hmm… so I suppose the military strategy I learned in games from Civilization down to Starcraft doesn’t count?

Nor does the vitally important driving skills to avoid using, learned in games like Demolition Derby, or any number of other racing games.

I suppose my organizational skills and long-term planning skills, gained from playing all those RPG games with the tons of fiddly items to deal with doesn’t count either.

Hmm… why did I go to school again? q;}

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The geography of the Carribean from Pirates!.

From all 1st person shooters: fall back and shoot from cover is almost always a good plan. Stand there with guns blazing away is not.

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Geography of Europe and Japan and England from the Total War series. Plus a little about history.

Did you know that Egypt conquers the world about 9 times out of 10 if they really try? Seeing Muslim Temples in Norway is always an amusing sight.

That and Mongols are really a pain in the ass.

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Much of my Knowledge of WWI comes from the Red baron. And most of my geographical awareness of the Cribean comes from Pirates!

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cribean= Carribean :smack:

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Well, Alpha Centauri inspired me to find out exactly what they’re talking about when the Chinese guy says “Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice with the Universe, the dice are loaded”. Unfornutately, I still have no idea what he’s talking about.

GTA 3 and Vice City have taught me many strategies for running from the cops with the army after you and all 4 tires flat. It’s also taught me that when trying to escape from a junkyard with the enemy gang’s cars chasing after you, if you get in a garbage truck they won’t be able to ram you and set your car on fire :smiley:

Seriously though, Vice City has helped me learn Spanish through Radio Espantoso (Thanks to “La Vida es una Lenteja”, I now know what Lenteja means. It means “lentil bean”!)

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Well they are of course refering to the Einstein quote of “God does not play dice”. Supposedly they just found a tech that refutes that showing god plays dice and cheats while he’s at it.

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I went through a heavy flight-sim phase a few years back, and came out of it knowing quite a bit more about general aviation–and found myself enormously more comfortable traveling by plane afterwards.

Hmm. Lemmings taught me that sometimes, you just can’t save everyone. That’s a valuable life lesson!

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I learned that when confronted by a viscious beast, all I have to do is wrap a towel around my head. It seems that he will reason that if I can’t see him, then he must not be there. It’s worked every time so far.

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I learned the constellations from Star Control 2 (though later I had to learn which ones of those were real). I also learned a few geography terms talking to the Mycon in that game.

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Since I’ve gotten back on this kick, I learned pretty much everything I wanted to know about 15th century Germany fro Darklands. Geography, culture, the lives of the saints, alchemical symbols (the copyright protections were alchemical symbols from the guidebook), and Christian apocalyptic theology.

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I learned quite a lot about railroading from Railroad Tycoon, even if I’ve forgotten most of it–other than that tunnels are really expensive.

All I ever learned from the Civilization series is that spearmen can be an effective defense against a tank brigade :rolleyes:

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After playing Mech Assault every night, online, for several months I learned all about carpal tunnel syndrome and the treatment thereof.
Ouch!

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Sim City 2000 taught me that taking out a bond (a loan to the city) is always a bad move in the long run.

Since then, I have voted “no” on every single bond measure in every public election.

20

From an air traffic control game, I learned the ICAO (sp?) alphabet, which aided me when I…

Played flight sims so much, I decided to go for my private license.

My instructor was very puzzled when I already knew the alphabet, and could fly great, but not land to save my life. (Heh.) You see, flight sims back in the late eighties couldn’t simulate landings very well.

I learned tons about U.S. and Soviet military equipment from the manuals of the Microprose games.

Red Baron rocked. I learned all about WWI aces from that. The AI in the game was the best I ever saw, even to this day, in a combat flight simulation. I nearly gave myself heart attacks dogfighting Verner Voss for 10 minutes at a time. We were very evenly matched. The Red Baron himself was a one-trick pony.