Bookworm Adventures

Civilization Revolution

The Political Machine

Manhunt

Bridge Builder is a good one. Supposedly there's a version of Full Spectrum Warrior out there that's been modded to be used as a military training tool.

Cosmology of Kyoto. Probably the best edutainment game I've come across.

I've always thought of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego as the ultimate educational game. Not sure if newer ones keep the tradition but the original games were fantastic. It's a great mix of gameplay and education.

The Incredible Machine is an interesting choice, too. It's not strictly educational but it does teach you about various forces of physics as you play.

Great thoughts so far! Right now, my top choices are Bookworm Adventures (because I already own it ) and Crazy Machines 2 (because the mention of The Incredible Machine brought a heavy wavy of nostalgia). Carmen Sandiego would be a great blast-from-the-past, too. As you can tell, I'm trying to make sure this is fun for me, too

Are you mostly looking for entertainment titles, or are you looking for stuff designated as educational? There are several companies that specialize in "educational" titles, although the quality is mixed. That is, sometimes they're not very fun. Remember those old typing tutor "games" out there? That said, I still have a soft spot for Typing of the Dead.

If you're looking for entertainment stuff there's always Civilization in all its incarnations, but especially Civ 3 which has been used in the classroom (and written about extensively). In fact, there are plenty of historically-themed games out there, such as the Total War series or even the Age of Empires titles. They take some liberties, but if nothing else they drum up interest about real events.

There are also self-improvement games, like Brain Age. Ubisoft and EA are even getting in on the self-improvement market, with all sorts of game-like titles that are designed to teach languages, help people quit smoking, etc. It isn't clear if they're really games per se, but many of them utilize the DS platform.

As for kids stuff, check out any of the stuff from Lucas Learning, Humongous (before they folded), or the old Learning Company games. If you want to go really old school, there are titles like Rocky's Boots and Robot Odyssey.

Last but not least, check out http://www.seriousgames.org/index2.html and http://gamesforchange.org/play.

- Alan

I'll second The Incredible Machine and also throw in the original Lemmings. Great problem solving games. Never played Typing of the Dead but I heard it was pretty fundutational.

http://www.virtualapple.org (requires Windows, ironically)

The Fool's Errand - http://www.fools-errand.com/ (It's free. The creator's website has the Mac version which you need to play with an emulator but it's also possible to find the DOS version which is in color and I personally prefer.)

A puzzle game, not directly educational, but it's a personal favorite. There's a little bit of coincidental educational value in the puzzles and story but mostly it's just pure puzzles. I played it a lot as a child and I think it had a formative effect on my intellectual capabilities. I think puzzles teach you intuitively how to learn and approach problems. Heh, kind of like in Lawnmower Man but you don't get crazy super powers.

Doesn't the procedural rhetoric of all games, in a way, teach the player something?

Seconded. Good luck finding it though, it used to be on The Underdogs, but is not anymore. I can upload an image somewhere, just PM me.

I add: Democracy 2. After approximately 20 patches the game is a really good simulation of political decision-making. Moreover, it immediately shows how your decisions (e.g. increasing drinking age) will affect other issues (e.g. binge drinking, alcoholism, unemployment etc.). Plus, its price recently dropped. Try a demo to see how it suits your needs.

You are of course right. I personally consider it quite balanced - not really leaning left nor right too extremely, in a sense of providing bonuses for being too leftist/rightist. Every decision has both good and bad consequences, so there is no easy win, nor nudging towards a certain mindset.

Wordsmythe, were I a better man you would cause me to lose my monocle.