Six games that are making learning fun

Video games have a bad reputation especially among parents who blame it for everything from poor grades to violent outbursts. However, if you scratch the surface, a lot can be learned from gaming. We aren't just talking about fast reflexes or better memory, but real-life skills like drumming, dancing and even rocket science. Read on to learn more.

Portal 2
Skill: Physics
Portal 2 and a lot of the newer games on the market feature engines that mimic real world physics in the digital world. Thanks to these built-in engines the game world functions like they do in real life. For example, if you slam a ball against a wall, it will bounce back in the same way it would if you physically did that. A few years ago, a US high school teacher named Cameron Pittman produced a series of videos for his students using Portal 2 Puzzle Maker to demonstrate real physics. The videos are still online for anyone to watch.

Rocksmith
Skill: Guitar and bass
Learning the guitar or bass is hard; it takes a lot of practice and the exercises can be very boring. Rocksmith eliminates that problem and gets you playing a guitar in no time, you will however need to buy a guitar first. Unlike Guitar Hero and other button mashing music games, Rocksmith uses an actual guitar. The game takes you right in to a song from the very beginning and learns to push you as you get better at playing. That's not all, even practising and training is made fun with simple arcade games.

Assassins Creed
Skill: Language and history
Assassin's Creed creators take care to make sure their games are representative of the time period they are set in. The game has been set in various locations over the years, the latest being ancient Egypt. This version features an in-built tour, so you can see Egyptian cities with curated historical data about living in ancient Egypt. The games are so accurate that schools and colleges are using them to help students understand the ancient way of life. In fact, Simone Bregni, a professor at Saint Louis University in the USA, uses the game to reinforce the vocabulary and grammar in his Italian Renaissance literature course.

Rock Band
Skill: Drumming
Rock Band traditionally comes with instruments that are empty shells with buttons, but this is not the case with its drums. If you can master the drums in the game at an expert level, there is a high probability you will be able to play an actual drum kit. In fact, a post on gaming website Destructoid by professional drum teacher, Andy Zyoiker, demonstrated how his student learned the drums faster by practising on Rock Band. Game developer Harmonix had enlisted the help of the Berklee College of Music for training in Rock Band 3.

Kerbal Space Program
Skill: Astrophysics and rocket science
Astrophysics and rocket science may sound like subjects that are beyond understanding, but with Kerbal Space programme, you can learn the basics. The first part of the game involves creating a rocket that can make it to space. As you progress, you are given better rocket configurations and more advanced missions. Kerbal has been endorsed by NASA and they have an asteroid redirect mission that has real world implications. The videogame has an active education programme for people who want to teach using the game.

Just Dance
Skill: Dancing
Dancing can be difficult, especially when it involves complex choreography. Just Dance makes this complicated process simple. By tracking you, the game encourages you to copy the dancers on screen by rewarding you with points. For the most benefits, you might want to get an Xbox with a Kinect, but you can dance with just the game and a smartphone. The latest version gives you access to all the old songs included in previous versions for a small extra fee. You can first try the game online, where you are allowed to play a few songs for free.

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