Games that Teach (not Preach)
Well, I just lost about half an hour of my morning to learning about sweatshops. And I never even opened a single blog, Wikipedia article or YouTube video documentary. Instead, I dove in head first to Sweatshop, Channel 4’s newest games for youth project. It is addictive – as all games should be – so you have been warned.
I had the pleasure and privilege recently of hearing former Editor of Education for Channel 4, Alice Taylor speak about the genesis of games like Sweatshop. Her keynote at DML 2011 was inspiring and eye-opening: the idea that the BBC would turn over an entire television budget to the development of rich, educational games was so outside the norm for the colonies. Imagine having millions of £s to throw at developing content that teaches kids instead of just distracting them!
Just like games such as 1066, Cover Girl and The Curfew, Sweatshop is smart, well-produced and highly engaging. It doesn’t hit players over the head with information but the learning is still there. Most importantly, it treats the player like a young person of the modern world – so much so that it’s not so far below an adult level that it’s clearly a “kid’s game.”