Review by David Thomas, Common Sense Education | Updated December 2013

The Radix Endeavor

Online fantasy world is a platform for STEM skills

Subjects & skills
Subjects
  • Math
  • Science
Skills
  • Character & SEL
  • Critical Thinking
Grades This grade range is a recommendation by Common Sense Education and not the developer/publisher.
8–12
Common Sense says (See details)
Teachers say (4 Reviews)
Price:  Free
Platforms:  Mac, Windows

Take a look inside

5 images
Explore the strange and fascinating world of Ysola.
It's a rich world with colorful visual design.
Avatars are customizable.
Maps make it easy to find the next quest.

Pros: Manages to weave in valuable STEM skills.

Cons: Difficulty needs tweaking as some quests prove too difficult.

Bottom Line: The Radix Endeavor strikes a rare balance between game mechanics and learning outcomes, satisfying both students' love of play and teachers' curricular requirements.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

Kids can go on learning adventures, alone or together, and earn points in the meantime while teachers can make sure each student is on track. After requesting -- and being approved for -- a teacher’s account, teachers can use a tracking and reporting console that lets them monitor and track student progress. This effectively allows the game to be used as its own unit. Teachers can assign in-game quests, track where each student is, and provide on-demand help.  Since the experience is designed for differentiation, it might be helpful to have students come together and discuss and reflect on what's been happening during play, or to contribute to a class blog where they report on what they've done in the game and what they've learned. 

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Standards:

The Radix Endeavor brings 2D online multiplayer gaming into the land of science education, and rather successfully so. Players start by customizing a character then explore a rich and colorful fantasy world, stumbling on people in dire need of help. It's up to the players' science skills to solve people's problems.

As players talk to characters, learn about threats, run experiments, collect data, and solve problems, they discover that science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills can come in handy. Whether cross-breeding crops and learning about genetics or collecting and analyzing flowers to help make a medicinal cure, the fun comes from applying real world science within the fantastic world of Radix. 

Don't let the fantasy world fool you, The Radix Endeavor is chock full of STEM learning straight out of standard science and math textbooks. Unlike most textbooks, however, Radix gets students learning/using skills rather than just facts at their own paces. By creating a game-based context in which scientific inquiry and knowledge is useful, and providing students with ample opportunity to apply and practice what they know, it's a good model for how to do game-based learning right.

Overall Rating
Engagement Is the product stimulating, entertaining, and engrossing? Will kids want to return?

Professional production values help sell it as something worth playing, while a somewhat slow pace and at-times difficult quests can dampen the fun.

Pedagogy Is learning content seamlessly baked-in, and do kids build conceptual understanding? Is the product adaptable and empowering? Will skills transfer?

Success depends on mastery of real science skills and competencies aligned to math and biology standards. MMO-style quests designed by researchers meant to lead to learning outcomes.

Support Does the product take into account learners of varying abilities, skill levels, and learning styles? Does it address both struggling and advanced students?

As a new online roleplaying game, Radix has room to grow. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the community, which is just now finding its feet. 

Common Sense Reviewer
David Thomas Director of academic technology
About our ratings and privacy evaluation.

Key Standards Supported

Interpreting Categorical And Quantitative Data

  • HSS.ID.1

    Represent data with plots on the real number line (dot plots, histograms, and box plots).

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Key Standards Supported

Reading Informational Text

  • RI.9-10.1

    Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

  • RI.9-10.7

    Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a person’s life story in both print and multimedia), determining which details are emphasized in each account.

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Key Standards Supported

Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits

  • 3-LS3-1

    Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence that plants and animals have traits inherited from parents and that variation of these traits exists in a group of similar organisms.

  • 3-LS3-2

    Use evidence to support the explanation that traits can be influenced by the environment.

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Teacher Reviews

(See all 4 reviews) (4 reviews) Write a review
Featured review by
Whitney K. , Classroom teacher
Classroom teacher
Lamoille North S.U.
Hyde Park, United States
Great format but flash based so iPad use is tricky.
This a great little game with all the bells and whistles for sophisticated gamers. The field note feature is great. The game is flashed based so we tried it running it through the Photon app. The game worked but it was a bit clunky. If students had used our Windows machines, perhaps things would be more smooth.
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