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Best Summer Learning Games
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PBS KIDS Kart Kingdom
Lively, colorful exploration app teaches strategy, tool-making
Bottom line: Exploration, resource gathering, and crafting will teach students how systems work while they have fun navigating the world.
Grades: 1–4
Price: Free
Busy Water
Solve, create, and share puzzles that gush with STEM learning
Bottom line: This challenging yet kid-friendly set of logic puzzles wonderfully allows kids to solve problems and experiment with light science concepts.
Grades: 1–5
Price: $3.99
Magnus Kingdom of Chess
Gentle chess puzzle game ideal for young newbies
Bottom line: For kids who are new to chess but want to learn how to play, this fun intro to the game provides a well-done tutorial combined with a light overarching storyline.
Grades: 1–8
Price: Paid $7.99
The Infinite Arcade by Tinybop
Simple game-design app has endless creative potential
Bottom line: Letting students design, play, improve, and share their own games opens up opportunities for learning potential in many subject areas.
Grades: 2–6
Price: Paid $2.99
Contraption Maker
Solve problems, puzzles, brain teasers while creating wacky machines
Bottom line: Hands-on problem-solving leads to great fun and independent learning with the right curricular wraparound to connect what kids are doing with what they need to know.
Grades: 3–8
Price: Free, Paid The game costs $9.99. Teachers can receive free copies; see here for more information: http://contraptionmaker.com/education/.
Bridge Constructor Portal
Engineering game is a blast to play, needs extensive teacher guidance
Bottom line: It's a solid game not designed for education, but in the right hands it could be a great hook for an engineering unit.
Grades: 3–12
Price: Paid $9.99
Minecraft
Spiraling sandbox of adventure and creation gets kids to dig deep
Bottom line: An irresistible and seemingly limitless incubator for 21st-century skills that, with a little guidance, can chart new courses for learning.
Grades: 3–12
Price: Paid $26.95 for desktop, $19.99 for consoles (except Wii U at $29.99)
WordWhile: Casual Literary Fun
Clever fill-in-the-blank game playfully promotes literature
Bottom line: A different spin on reading the classics can engage students in the short term, but teachers should find ways to extend learning.
Grades: 3–12
Price: $4.99
Adventure Time Game Wizard - Draw Your Own Adventure Time Games
Terrific option to teach basic game design in-app or on paper
Bottom line: A highly engaging hook, along with the ability to design games on paper, make this a great option for STEAM teachers.
Grades: 4–8
Price: Paid $4.99
Elegy for a Dead World
Compelling sci-fi world imagined -- and written -- by its players
Bottom line: With some teacher guidance, Elegy offers an opportunity unlike anything else to get students to write stories and stretch their creative muscles.
Grades: 4–12
Price: $14.99
W.E.L.D.E.R. Swap
Mashup of Boggle and Candy Crush gets kids forming new words
Bottom line: Students, especially word geeks, will dig this strategic game, but it's unclear how much it'll impact learning.
Grades: 4–12
Price: Free to Try The app is free to download with limited access. Full access to the app is $7.99. There's also a subscription available to all Touch Press games for $4.99/month or $49.99/year.
Journey
Gorgeous, moving adventure -- a jewel of social and emotional learning
Bottom line: Journey is a must-play experience and a shining beacon of the good that games can do.
Grades: 5–12
Price: $14.99
Never Alone: Ki Edition
Illuminating native Alaskan folktale supports SEL skills
Bottom line: A beautiful achievement developed in cooperation with indigenous folk that offers players valuable SEL skill building and a respectful window into Inupiat culture, ways of life, traditions, and stories.
Grades: 5–12
Price: 4.99
Scribblenauts Unlimited
Stimulating and creative adventure helps kids grow their vocabularies
Bottom line: This game encourages kids to expand their vocabularies and practice spelling.
Grades: 5–12
Price: 59.99
Algo Bot
Simple coding game a fun intro to algorithms
Bottom line: This coding game is a fun and helpful introduction to basic algorithm development, but other resources will be needed for more depth.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Paid $9.99
Construct 3
Ideal 2D game builder supports students to create, innovate
Bottom line: Limitless game options, reasonable cost, and extensive support make this programming environment perfect for an educational setting.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free to Try, Paid There's a free edition to try. Educational licenses are $12.99 per month or $39.99 per year.
Epistory - Typing Chronicles
Practice typing by exploring and defending a world made of paper
Bottom line: Great for practicing touch-typing skills, this adventure game draws players in with a slowly revealed backstory.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Paid $14.99
FTL: Faster Than Light
Failure is frequent and fun in this strategic starship sim
Bottom line: This starship simulator isn’t easy, but gritty kids will learn from failure and practice systems thinking.
Grades: 6–12
Price: $9.99
Hack 'n' Slash
Zelda-inspired puzzler lets players peek behind the code curtain
Bottom line: A great intro to variables and how algorithms work, this game would shine as a supplement to a larger unit on programming.
Grades: 6–12
Price: $13.37
Human Resource Machine
Addictive, unique way to supplement coding instruction
Bottom line: A novel way to learn programming that will require student collaboration and extra adult support.
Grades: 6–12
Price: $4.99 (app), $9.99 (Steam)
Papo & Yo
Powerful tale of alcoholism uses puzzles and metaphor to build empathy
Bottom line: A beautiful game that's sure to build students' empathy skills and provoke deep conversations about alcoholism and abuse as well as metaphor.
Grades: 6–12
Price: 14.99
Professor Layton and the Curious Village
Brilliant, charming puzzler challenges kids' ELA and math skills
Bottom line: It's on Nintendo DS so it's not easy to weave into a classroom, but it's worth it, bridging ELA and math in complex puzzles guaranteed to absorb students.
Grades: 6–12
Price: 30
SimCity
Exciting city simulator great for online play
Bottom line: SimCity does a great job teaching kids about cities by putting them in control of designing them, but this game needs a constant Internet connection.
Grades: 6–12
Price: $59.99
Valiant Hearts: The Great War
Heartfelt story-as-history-lesson humanizes World War I
Bottom line: Part history lesson, part action, part puzzler, all wrapped inside a sincere and emotional story that builds skills, historical knowledge, and empathy.
Grades: 6–12
Price: 14.99
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
Unique cooperative adventure with lasting social and emotional impact
Bottom line: With good support, an extremely powerful game to build empathy.
Grades: 7–12
GameMaker Studio 2
One of the best creation tools available for aspiring game developers
Bottom line: Provides teachers with the best choice for a full unit or class on game design, and gives students a tool to help them realize their game-making dreams.
Grades: 7–12
Price: Free to Try, Paid A free version has limited features. Educational licenses range from $30 per seat per year for desktop creation to $130 per seat per year for UWP and mobile.
Geocaching
Leave and locate hidden packages in a real-world treasure hunt
Bottom line: Kids learn problem-solving, teamwork, and mapping skills, but the site doesn’t provide instruction or explanations for most of those topics; educators will have to fill in the gaps.
Grades: 7–12
Price: Free, Paid Basic membership is free. A premium subscription costs $2.50 a month and gives users extra options, such as downloading multiple geocaches at once.
Sid Meier’s Civilization VI
Best entry in classic strategy series might not be best for classrooms
Bottom line: As with all games in this series, Civilization VI is a great learning experience with the right support, but older, cheaper versions may be more practical for classrooms.
Grades: 7–12
Price: $59.99
Surviving Mars
Colonizing Mars is in our future, but why wait?
Bottom line: Lots of potential and perhaps much better in a year or so of updates; use this in a class about space exploration and the harsh realities of colonization.
Grades: 7–12
Price: Paid $39.99
Where the Water Tastes Like Wine
Slow but alluring game uniquely depicts how folklore shaped America
Bottom line: While it's not perfect, it could serve as a nice complement to a unit on American folklore or as a way to inspire students to write their own tall tales.
Grades: 7–12
Price: $19.99
Garry's Mod
Complex physics sandbox is daunting but rich
Bottom line: This physics sandbox ramps up the complexity but not the usability, leaving it up to the right teachers and students to unlock its benefits.
Grades: 8–12
Price: $9.99
Political Animals
Charming political campaign sim mixes data analysis and civics
Bottom line: It's a highly entertaining and surprisingly deep way to help students see the strategy -- as well as ethical choices -- involved in elections.
Grades: 8–12
Price: $14.99
Walden, a game
Thoughtfully designed game illuminates Thoreau's writing, philosophy
Bottom line: It's rare to be so moved and permanently transformed by a work of art; that this game manages to (re)create these experiences is a triumph.
Grades: 8–12
Price: Free, Paid Teachers can request a complimentary copy of the game.
Gone Home
Compelling narrative game fosters empathy, self-reflection
Bottom line: If you're searching for a unique way to analyze storytelling from a social and emotional angle, look no further.
Grades: 9–12
Price: $14.99
Kerbal Space Program
Design and launch a rocket into space in realistic astrophysics sim
Bottom line: This accurate rocket sim encourages trial-and-error learning and makes for great (and often explosive) physics and engineering experiments.
Grades: 9–12
Price: Free to Try, Paid $39.99, free demo
This War of Mine
Strategy game offers superb, mature take on war and civilian survival
Bottom line: A stark portrayal of civilian life in a war-torn city that requires strategic thinking and invites repeated plays.
Grades: 9–12
Price: $19.99
Everything
Philosophical game invites students to ponder everything's existence
Bottom line: Meaningful and humbling take on interconnectedness, but in that existential sort of way that's highly individual and potentially hit or miss.
Grades: 10–12
Price: $14.99
