Re: [kidsgames] first_math

[Steve Baker <sjbaker1@airmail.net>]

I've been thinking about the distinction between kidsgames and SEUL/edu,
of course the latter group are thinking ONLY about educational material.
I also feel the need for games that are pure fun - possibly with little
or no educational value that are suited to children.

We bought a bunch of Loki games for Linux just before Xmas - and really
of the six or seven games they make, only one is remotely suited for
kids under the age of about 10 - and that's RailRoad Tycoon - even
that is really difficult for my 9yr old.

Heretic, Civilization and Quake are REALLY unsuitable.

If you want something non-violent and reasonably engaging, it's
really hard to find anything for kids that'll run under Linux.
Some that I can think of are:

Pingus      - excellent - not finished to the point where it's playable.
Tux_AQFH    - not finished - but enough to be playable.
The Penguin Machine - lots of promise - but hardly even started yet.
FlightGear  - excellent - finished enough to be interesting.
glTron      - interesting - but limited.
CircusLinux - I havn't downloaded this yet.

...then there are 18 different Tetris clones (yes, really!) and
a bunch of old games from the 1980's that have been revamped and
cloned...but that's about it. (Unless you know different)

Perhaps that's where the logical split is between the mission of
kidsgames and SEUL/edu?   Games (possibly with educational content)
versus Education packaged to look like a game?

-- 
Steve Baker                  http://web2.airmail.net/sjbaker1
sjbaker1@airmail.net (home)  http://www.woodsoup.org/~sbaker
sjbaker@hti.com      (work)


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