It can be hard to find quality games on mobile, especially in the educational genre, which contains a large amount of low quality shovelware titles designed to trick kids and parents alike in order to make a quick buck.
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On the flip side, the mobile gaming market has grown to become the biggest media industry with its accessible control scheme and the mass-adoption of smart devices globally. There are lots of apps with gamified elements designed to teach in an accessible manner, but there are also dedicated games that educate through the active mindset of play.
Anyone familiar with educational games on mobile have probably heard of Toca Boca. But for those unfamiliar, this studio creates job simulator games for kids to live out their fantasies in a safe environment.
Apart from advertising a wide spectrum of job opportunities, the mini-games layered throughout each experience help develop social, reading and critical thinking skills. Each series also has a unique art-style and allows for expressive character customization options that make learning appealing to a younger audience.
While there were a lot of flawed edutainment titles created in the past to capitalize on the toy-like nature of video games, the sheer amount of related releases made way for some bonafide classics that hold up surprisingly well.
Zoombinis is a point and click adventure that revolves around a race of small, blue furry creatures trying to overcome logic puzzles to make their way home. The remastered visuals, quirky dialogue and surprisingly stunning animations makes Zoombinis' simple math problems a joy to play through.
On the surface, this collection of cooking themed minigames may look like any other arcade time waster, but Cooking Mama initially pioneered a niche subgenre with its unique art style and the ability to create food based on real-world recipes.
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The act of 'swiping down' to cut onions for a hotpot does such a good job at replicating prep-work, so much so that people have been able to create mouth-watering dishes based entirely off Mama's instructions. Unfortunately, Let's Cook, the free alternative that's also available on Android, strays from these educational roots in favor of addictive mobile game design.
Minecraft's hands-on approach to creation has satisfied the often overlooked minds of kinesthetic learners in a digital play space.
This educational edition of the indie hit doubles-down on the game's unique inherent teaching qualities by letting you experiment with impressive new features like a fully functioning chemistry set and a node-based programming tool. This experimental approach to teaching was adopted by classrooms for a time and includes lots of accessibility options for players of all ages.
The mobile platform is home to some of the best brain-bending puzzle games on the market, but a surprisingly low amount of these quality titles contain logic puzzles. Originally launched back on the DS alongside Brain Age and Big Brain Academy, Professor Layton stood out among its peers with a charming storyline set all around a mesmerizing steampunk world.
Make no mistake, these games will test the wit of even the most hardcore mathematicians and wordsmiths with an abundance of riddles. But the beauty of the Layton games is that audiences of any skill-level can still get to the end of these thrilling mysteries.
Coding has become one of the biggest job prospects in recent times as almost every modern workplace needs a suite of dedicated programs in order to function in a productive manner.
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Programming is a tricky thing to teach for educators that didn't grow up with a computer, but this quirky puzzle game teaches basic programming functions using appealing and understandable visuals. The workplace setting showing automated jobs in action helps ground the fundamentals of code for anyone unfamiliar with the topic.
Kahoot is essentially Jackbox for kids but with the added ability to create your own quizzes. Players connect to the game through multiple smart-devices and compete against each other for a high score.
It should be stated that this creating quizzes comes at a pretty hefty cost due to the game's primary implementation as a classroom teaching tool. But there are plenty of inbuilt games created by well-known educational entities like National Geographic and PBS to help develop minds of all ages.
Out of all the mobile gaming trends, Wordle could very well be the most productive mass-adopted freeware game on the market. The game's simple code-breaking gameplay could easily be used to teach English to people that find the language difficult to comprehend.
Keeping brains active during lockdown, Wordle's ever-changing answers to simple linguistic problems continues to have people addicted. During its heyday, the app was updated to include additional modes that add quick-thinking and word association challenges to tax the brain.
The internet is a haven for scams and addictive practices designed to take money from unsuspecting victims. The subtle and confusing tactics these methods employ trick many adults on a daily basis.
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Navigating the online space can be particularly tricky for kids, but Money Wise Game teaches online safety and money management skills through a stylized and accessible visual novel. The story goes through realistic situations and comparisons that break down these complex topics into a digestible format for all ages to enjoy (though it does require the ability to read competently).
One subject that video games have always taught well is history. Whether it's experiencing wars in Call of Duty or learning about historical figures in Assassin's Creed, there's always been a close relationship between history and big-budget games due to the amount of research these titles require to develop.
The Civilization series pushes this boundary by showing how real-world settlements formed over hundreds of years. This tactical strategy game uses historical figures to teach about diplomatic relationships that form the societies we live in today. While it'd be hard to recommend to kids, Civilization is far more accessible than other strategy games that teach similar lessons.
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