Educational games have a dubious reputation as lame in-school teaching tools (The Oregon Trail aside, of course), or mobile games for preschoolers. After a day of school (and possibly more homework at home), the last thing older kids want do is play an educational game.
Thankfully, there are plenty of great games that also happen to be educational! Here’s a list of modern PC and console games that can teach kids and teens something that sticks with them.
ARK: Dinosaur Discovery
Ark: Survival Evolved (and HD remake, Survival Ascended) is a popular survival-crafting sandbox where players harvest resources and build bases on an island full of dinosaurs.
ARK: Dinosaur Discovery is a kid-friendly, educational spin-off that keeps the dinosaurs, but gets rid of all the danger, crafting, and survival elements.
Players are encouraged to explore the island and discover new dinosaurs. With each dinosaur they find, the unlock a guidebook with real science facts. But the real reward comes when you complete a dinosaur’s request (such as finding a missing egg): dino-riding!
Although ARK: Survival Ascended is on PC, consoles, and mobile platforms, Dinosaur Discovery is exclusive to the Switch version. It can be purchased separately, as well as bundled with the main game.
What does it teach: Dinosaur facts
ESRB Rating: E for Everyone
Assassin’s Creed Discovery Tours
Back when Assassin’s Creed: Origins released, Ubisoft realized they had crafted a gigantic, life-like historical world that’s worth exploring — even without the “Assassin’s Creed” part. Enter the Discovery Tour, a way to experience these amazingly detailed periods of history without combat, danger, or story.
Discovery Tour is included as a special educational game mode within Assassin’s Creed: Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla. The Discovery Tours are also available as separate downloads.
The main games can also be educational with history and locations (with some liberties when it comes to characters and stories). But the Discovery Tour mode allows players to experience the world at their own pace, and enjoy fun little guided tours that highlight important locations, moments, artifacts, and characters.
What does it teach: Specific historical periods (Origins – Ancient Egypt, Odyssey – Ancient Greece & Greek Mythology, Valhalla – British Isles in the Middle Ages)
ESRB Rating: T for Teen (the Discovery Tour modes are unrated)
Civilization VI
The granddaddy of 4X turn-based strategy games is still spry after all these years. The entire Civilization series does a wonderful job distilling human history, technology, and cultures into a refined gameplay experience.
In Civ 6, players embody a historical leader, such as Cleopatra, Gandhi, King Phillip II, or Queen Victoria, and expand their empire through researching technology, exploring randomly generated maps, expanding infrastructure, and dealing with neighbors — either with diplomacy, subterfuge, or warfare (or all three!).
It’s not exactly a human history simulator, but a fun exercise in a series of What-Ifs, and playing with all the tools of history mixed together in a giant toy box.
In the eight years since its release, Civilization 6 includes two major must-have expansion packs and numerous smaller downloadable content that adds new leaders and wonders. And recently announced Civilization 7 is releasing on February 11, 2025!
What does it teach: History, technology, culture
ESRB Rating:
Kerbal Space Program
If you like space travel — like actual realistic NASA space travel, look no further than Kerbal Space Program. The original space shuttle builder uses realistic physics, aerodynamics, and literal rocket science to take their ironic little green Kerbals beyond their planet and into the stars.
Although it doesn’t take place in our galaxy, the Kerbal’s solar system is much like our own, with multiple planets and moons to reach. Players can complete missions, go on EVA outside the spacecraft, or witness it all explode and come crashing down. One of the modes is even called Science mode, forcing players to unlock additional, more advanced parts by collecting ‘science’ through new discoveries.
Unfortunately, the less we mention the ill-fated sequel, the better. Kerbal Space Program 2 has been stuck in Early Access limbo since developer Intercept Games was closed earlier this year.
What does it teach: Space travel, rocket science, aerodynamics, physics
ESRB Rating: E for Everyone
Minecraft
A game that needs no introduction, Minecraft is still one of the most popular and recognizable games in the world — but especially among kids.
The original survival-crafting game gives players an astonishing amount of creative freedom to explore and design their own randomly generated blocky world. It’s a bit like LEGO, but with monsters, hunger, health bars, and resources.
There is a Minecraft: Education Edition, but we don’t actually recommend that for personal use. It’s great for classrooms and designed for educators to teach specific aspects, such as coding, but regular Minecraft should be fine for personal use (and includes the popular survival mode).
Minecraft is also a popular game to play cooperatively with friends, adventuring, gathering, and building collaboratively.
What does it teach: Creative building, managing resources, tool use, collaboration (in multiplayer)
ESRB Rating: E10+
Planet Zoo
Frontier Developments have helped popularized the management sim genre with games such as Planet Coaster and Jurassic World Evolution. Planet Zoo is one of our favorites, tasking players with building, managing, and customizing a modern zoo.
Planet Zoo features realistic animals that respond to their environment, emulating real-world animals. In addition to scenarios and free-form building, Planet Zoo encourages animal conservation by rewarding players for successful breeding programs.
The sim includes over a thousand pieces for building a custom zoo, including exhibit designs, and players can download and share their building designs, as well as entire zoos.
What does it teach: Animal behavior, conservation, zoo management, creative building
ESRB Rating: E10+
