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Although gaming’s main purpose is simply to entertain, there have been numerous releases over the years that aim to educate children in effective and engaging ways. The educational video games on this list all find a great balance between being fun to play while also educating in a way that will engross most children.
Updated on December 25th, 2022, by Jack Pursey: Thankfully, there is no shortage of excellent educational video games for not only children but teenagers and adults too. Many of the educational games on this list ensure that players have fun while learning, while some of the others aren’t branded as educational games but can certainly be treated as one; whether that’s due to their historical insight, demand for critical thinking, or something else. We’ve updated this list to include some more excellent educational video games for kids.
16 Professor Layton Series
The Professor Layton series began in 2007 with Professor Layton and the Curious Village, a game that immediately drew audiences in with its great art design, charismatic characters, and, of course, captivating puzzles. The series is packed with ingenious puzzles and brain teasers that will work the minds of both children and parents.
The Professor Layton series consistently performed well with critics, exemplified by six of the series’ eight games having an above 80 score on Metacritic.
15 Zoombinis Series
Zoombinis is a trilogy of educational games that includes 1996’s Logical Journey of the Zoombinis, 2001’s Zoombinis: Mountain Rescue, and 2002’s Zoombinis: Island Odyssey. The educational games are aimed at children in elementary and middle school and predominantly aim to teach deductive reasoning, hypothesis testing, and mathematics.
The first game, Logical Journey of the Zoombinis, is regarded as the series’ high-point and tasks players with helping the Zoombinis find a new home.
14 World Rescue
World Rescue, as the name suggests, centers around protecting the world from a wide range of serious issues. The issues are all true-to-life, making World Rescue a great option for teaching children about real-world problems in a way that isn’t too heavy-handed or scary.
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The game markets itself as being inspired by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, a series of 17 goals from the intergovernmental organization that include Zero Hunger, Climate Action, and Gender Equality.
13 Endless Alphabet
Endless Alphabet is a mobile game for young children who are learning the alphabet and trying to build their vocabulary. The game features a range of simple words with colorful characters offering animated descriptions as to what they mean. It also has puzzles for children to learn letter shapes and plenty of audio to help with how letters and words sound.
Endless Alphabet was developed by Originator and was runner-up for the 2013 App of the Year award.
12 Animal Jam Classic
Animal Jam Classic (formerly Animal Jam) was developed by WildWorks (formerly Smart Bomb Interactive), a Utah-based company that is also known for its work on the Bee Movie Game and the kart-racing game Pac-Man World Rally.
Animal Jam Classic is a massively multiplayer online game that was made in collaboration with the National Geographic Society. The game intends to teach children about Zoology, predominantly through puzzles and mini-games.
11 Cities: Skylines
Cities: Skylines is one of a handful of games on this list that isn’t branded as an educational game, but like the Civilization series (more on that later), it can be a fantastic learning tool nonetheless.
Cities: Skylines gives players a vacant plot of land as a blank canvas that they are tasked with building a thriving city on. The game is excellent for teaching players about city infrastructure, as they’ll have to take into consideration aspects like road planning, emergency service placement, pollution, employment, and budget.
10 The Magic School Bus Series
The Magic School Bus was a television series that ran in the 90s before returning in 2017 under the name The Magic School Bus Rides Again.
However, the franchise isn’t just known for its TV appearances, as the show transitioned into the gaming industry on numerous occasions throughout the late 90s and early 2000s with games like The Magic School Bus Explores the Solar System and The Magic School Bus Explores the Rainforest. As the names suggest, each game takes an educational look at various topics, with a great balance between fun and learning that makes the series a classic in the educational genre.
9 Prodigy
Of all the games on this list, Prodigy does arguably the best job of encouraging kids to continue playing and learning. This is accomplished by the game’s use of common gaming mechanics, in particular leveling up.
Prodigy puts players in a fantasy world and tasks them with embarking on adventures that will require them to solve maths questions. Maths can often be one of the toughest subjects to make interesting for children, making Prodigy an excellent option for teaching the subject.
8 Wordscapes
Wordscapes is a great choice for when children want a bit of light entertainment. The game gives players a crossword puzzle to solve, though clues aren’t given via questions or abstract hints like most crosswords.
Instead, players are given a selection of letters that they must combine to find words that will fit in the spaces. Consequently, Wordscapes is a great way to teach words and spelling, while the in-game dictionary will help expand the player’s vocabulary.
7 Democracy 3
Democracy 3 is ideal for older children who are starting to show an interest in politics. The game doesn’t take its time getting started, throwing players straight into the role of President or Prime Minister of their chosen country. The player will then be tasked with solving real-world problems, such as balancing budgets, keeping crime levels down, and making law changes.
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Although the game touches on heavy and complex subjects, it is presented in an accessible and easy-to-understand manner, making it a great way to get older children to gain an understanding of politics.
6 Scribblenauts Unlimited
Scribblenauts Unlimited was initially released in 2012 on Nintendo 3DS and Wii U before coming to PC, iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox One in the years that followed.
The game is the fourth entry in the Scribblenauts franchise, which began in 2009 and stood out in the sandbox genre with its emphasis on puzzle-solving. The puzzles will improve the child’s cognitive skills, as the player can summon a ton of different objects and apply adjectives to them in hopes of completing the different tasks.
5 The Oregon Trail Series
The Oregon Trail series began all the way back in 1971 and has had a plethora of entries since. The games were specifically designed for teaching 8th-grade children, making it a great educational pick.
As the name suggests, the games take players back to the early 1800s, when the Oregon Trail was in use. The player takes the role of a wagon leader, who must safely guide their party from Independence, Missouri, to Willamette Valley while avoiding numerous hazards and keeping their party safe from hunger and diseases.
4 Endless Ocean
Endless Ocean is a great choice for anyone wanting to learn about marine biology. The game offers minimal limitations to the player, letting them explore the ocean around them at their own pace.
While down in the sea, players will encounter a huge variety of sea life that will be accurately named and categorized once players discover them. A sequel, titled Endless Ocean 2: Adventures of the Deep, was released in 2010 and is also worth checking out.
3 National Geographic Challenge
National Geographic Challenge teaches geography to players in a classic gameshow format. Players are predominantly provided with general questions, pictures, or video clips that will test their geographical knowledge.
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National Geographic Challenge has a handful of different game modes, including a campaign-like explorer mode that will take the player around the world, asking them questions about a variety of subjects involving numerous different countries.
2 Civilization 6
It’s worth pointing out straight away that Civilization 6 leans far moretowards entertainment than education. However, this has its benefits, as it teaches players in a way that never feels like heavy-handed education, making it a great game to trick children into learning.
Civilization 6 takes players to the Ancient Era of 4000 BC and tasks them with building an entire civilization through the ages until 2050AD at the latest. In this time, players will build cities, research topics, build wonders, and more. The research subjects, wonders, world leaders, and city names are historically accurate and will consequently teach players a ton of history on each playthrough.
1 Big Brain Academy
Big Brain Academy was originally released in Japan back in 200, before releasing in the rest of the world the following year. The Nintendo DS game is centered around the concept of measuring the player’s brain mass.
Big Brain Academy gives players a set of questions to ask and problems to solve, such as color coordination, shape matching, image identification, and more, before scoring their performance. A sequel was released on the Nintendo Wii in 2007 titled Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree, which is also worth considering.
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