FLEET

Created by the American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE), FLEET helps students explore the complexities of both shipbuilding and operating ships on the open ocean, where they complete various missions including Search and Rescue, AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) Retrieval, Supply and Logistics, Combat Practice, and Heavy Seas Operations. Students begin by building ships specific to their current mission, following the required specifications and emphasizing maneuverability, speed, cargo, weapons, budget, or other aspects, as applicable. Students must include a hull, engine, rudders, propellers, and other options such as cargo, rescue boats, weapons, helicopter fuel, and more. Once built according to the specifications, their ship is put through a stability test in the dry dock area. If it fails, students must study the ship's engineering stats and make modifications until it passes. Next, they can test it on the open water in speed and maneuverability tests, and finally, take it on missions. To ramp up the difficulty, missions can be completed in sunny, foggy, or stormy weather.

The game is a little tricky to use without some prep, so the user guide (available on the website) can be a handy intro for all students, as some of the features aren't intuitive. Most of the game action takes place during the missions, but the science of building a ship to spec and in a way that's suited to a mission adds to the educational aspect. The website looks like it could use a significant refresh, but if you ignore the outdated look and feel, there's some real learning to be had here.

With FLEET, students will choose a mission from Mission Headquarters and build a ship according to those mission specs. As they build, they can study and adjust where the center of gravity of the ship is, the buoyancy and floatation, and plenty of other data, learning and reinforcing STEM skills in a real-life scenario.

Though there aren't too many options for building each type of ship, students' choices still affect the speed, efficiency, and maneuverability of their ship. When they take it on the open ocean for test runs or to complete missions, students will have a fairly authentic experience with the undulating waves playing a large part in their ship movements; there's likely a decent physics engine behind the ship and ocean movements. Additionally, being able to create inclement weather means there are plenty of difficulty levels for those who master the missions during clear skies.

The game doesn't include much guidance for how to best design ships for each mission, so a healthy dose of trial and error might be required unless students already know about ship components and placement. The game also allows students to build an incorrectly configured boat for missions without giving any kind of error, such as building a search and rescue ship without a helicopter or rescue boat. It's up to the students to know what they're supposed to do.

While there are definitely plenty of science and engineering concepts to be learned here, students will need to go out of their way to learn them, or use the game in the context of larger classroom lessons. Otherwise, FLEET only feels like a series of simulated missions.