These games are fun and challenging and, when played in moderation (and not during class), they are part of a productive and constructive gaming diet.
"Gaming can be productive, educational, and time well spent," says Gramble CEO and co-founder Adam Palmer. "We all know students will spend many hours on their devices playing games anyway, so we are happy to offer some ideas for games that are not only fun but can also help make you a little smarter."
Here’s Gramble’s top-ten list of social and mobile games to learn from:
Apparatus (Engineering/Math/Problem Solving)
Using the laws of mechanics, players build complex machines to perform simple tasks. (Warning: Do your homework first – this game is addictive and can gobble up many hours!)
Words with Friends (English/Grammar/Spelling)
Players take turns forming words horizontally or vertically on a Scrabble-like board trying to score as many points as possible for each word.
Bridge Constructor (Engineering/Physics)
Players build virtual bridges over valleys and rivers. Stress tests determine whether the bridges you build can withstand the weight of cars and trucks.
Draw Something (Art)
Players take turns drawing a picture to help their partner guess a word. The person drawing is provided three random words, ranked by difficulty, earning them one to three coins if their partner guesses correctly.
Oregon Trail (History)
Set in 1848, players take on the role of a wagon leader guiding a party of settlers along the Oregon Trail from Independence, Missouri to Oregon’s Willamette Valley.
Immune Attack (Science)
Players navigate a nanobot through a 3D environment of blood vessels and connective tissue in an attempt to save an ailing patient by retraining their non-functional immune cells.
Sim City (Political Science/Urban Planning)
Players build and design cities by zoning land, adding buildings, changing tax rates, and building power grids and transportation systems, enhancing their cities over time.
Math Blaster (Math)
A math-themed virtual world where kids ages 6-12 can play arcade-style math games and race though missions where they will encounter aliens and high-tech gadgets.
Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? (Geography)
A franchise of geography-based games, which launched a Facebook version in 2011, takes kids around the world and teaches them about geography as they follow the adventures of spy Carmen Sandiego.
SongPop (Music)
A fun music trivia game where players listen to song clips and test their music recognition.
Honorable Mentions:
Jeopardy (A bit of everything: History/Art/Sports/etc.), Farmville (Agricultural Science/Political Science), MoonGazers (Astronomy), Mavis Beacon (Keyboard/Typing Skills)
Launching in October, Gramble is a cross-device social gaming network that will allow players to donate to charities by playing games, and it’s creating the most developer-friendly environment in the social-gaming space to date. Gramble is looking for new games to add to future top-ten lists and has put out the call for do-good developers to contribute educational games as well as social/mobile games of all kinds.
