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Games for Building Critical-Thinking Skills
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Minecraft: Education Edition
Stellar collaboration tools, controls make Minecraft classroom-ready
Bottom line: An excellent tool to engage students in learning, collaboration, and critical thinking is now more accessible than ever to teachers.
Kahoot! DragonBox Learn 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.
Crayon Physics Deluxe
Influential physics game is still a draw
Bottom line: Instantly engaging and super accessible to learners of many ages and abilities, Crayon Physics Deluxe fuses conceptual science learning with a brand of playful problem solving that demands creativity.
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.
Zoombinis
Classic logic puzzler gets a beautiful new look
Bottom line: Promote powerful thinking skills, resilience, and decision-making through purely fun gameplay that will keep students begging for more.
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.
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.
Little Alchemy 2
Flex alchemical muscles in amusing, discovery-based puzzler
Bottom line: This amusing puzzle game encourages creativity, perseverance, and systems thinking, and with creative integration it can build interest in math, science, history, and literature.
Geoguessr
"Just one more turn" gameplay jazzes up geography
Bottom line: Game-based platform is a great way to get kids interested in world geography, think critically, and expose them to cultures other than their own.
Quandary
Slick ethics game teaches students to make tough decisions
Bottom line: This versatile game that can teach ethics, argumentation, and civics is light on interactivity but will come alive through discussion.
Scribblenauts Remix
Vocab-building word puzzles inspire creative problem-solving
Bottom line: Wide-open problem solving builds creativity, vocabulary, and spelling skills, but controls can be tricky.
Community in Crisis
Game shows real-world uses for literacy and decision-making skills
Bottom line: A clever, real-world, and civic-minded context to learn and practice ELA skills.
Tyto Online
Ambitious science role-playing game has bright future
Bottom line: Diverse characters, immersive experiences, and useful teacher tools make this life science RPG worth checking out.
Vital Signs
ELA game set in a medical clinic shows the value of literacy skills
Bottom line: Great ELA lessons that realistically integrate literacy skills into the simulated day-to-day of a medical clinic.
Beats Empire
Music producing game balances fun with critical thinking and planning
Bottom line: Students will have a blast with the music production and band-managing theme that carries with it some useful lessons in 21st century skills.
Humankind
Refinement of strategy game formula supports historical exploration
Bottom line: Like any consumer-oriented game, this experience will absorb and delight students far more than "educational" games, but it'll require open-minded and creative teaching.
KIDS
An avant-garde journey of group dynamics sparks discussion
Bottom line: An unusual app that will confuse and entertain classrooms, generating discussion on a number of societal and philosophical topics.
Mars Horizon
Authentic space agency sim focuses on logistics, planning
Bottom line: This sim is backed by major space agencies, so it's a neat and trustworthy way to learn about the challenges of past and future space exploration.
NewsFeed Defenders
Social media simulation builds news literacy skills
Bottom line: This is a great tool to kick off critical discussions about news and social media.
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.
The Pack - NYSCI
Deceptively gentle coding game really packs a problem-solving punch
Bottom line: This gorgeous, immersive programming game encourages novel solutions.
Think Like Churchill
Stunning visuals, thoughtful feedback bring critical decision points to life
Bottom line: An excellent tool for studying the events and ethics that guide pivotal moments in history.
7 Billion Humans
Amusing puzzler challenges kids, teaches programming principles
Bottom line: This high-quality puzzle game is a fun way for students to learn effective and efficient programming skills.
BBC iReporter
Spot real stories, dodge fake news in cheeky media literacy sim
Bottom line: A refreshingly modern way for students to explore how to filter and interpret info and media during breaking news events.
Bad News
Modern, minimalist fake news game has players be the villains
Bottom line: Quick, fun, and to the point, this game gets at the social mechanics behind viral falsehoods.
Radio General
WWII game has layers of learning, novel voice-based controls
Bottom line: This is a refreshingly new approach to a WWII game that offers students a more accurate simulation of battlefield chaos.
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.
Spent
Provocative, first-person look at poverty builds empathy
Bottom line: It'll need some scaffolding, but for students ready for the subject matter it's a great -- if sobering -- way to illustrate to students the daily realities and struggles of poverty in America.
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.
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.
Papers, Please
Mature immigration game forces tough ethical choices
Bottom line: It's a provocative simulation about ethics and immigration that could spark debate but might be tough to implement.
Parable of the Polygons
Dynamic interactive helps classrooms explore topics of bias, diversity
Bottom line: A fascinating way to address how communities become segregated due to individual bias.
The Republia Times
Unassuming editorial sim elegantly exposes the business of bias
Bottom line: What this game lacks in pizzazz it makes up for in smarts, and it's certain to get students thinking and talking about bias and media politics.
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.
Fate of the World: Tipping Point
Complex global-influence game in which players’ choices rule the world
Bottom line: Complex multi-issue game succeeds in teaching world politics and global development while building perspective and decision-making skills.