Category Archives: casual games

HighScore House – Gamifying chores – update

Posted on 30 August, 2012 by colsim

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I was going to try out HighScore House – an online system for tracking and rewarding kids (and parents I guess) for household tasks. We’re still tweaking the system – and it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in activities, alternate reality games, ARG, casual games, epistemic games, fiero, fun, game design, games based learning, gamification | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

A chat about games in learning and the line between fun and learning

Posted on 18 January, 2010 by colsim

I had an interesting discussion over Google Talk this morning with Leonard Low, one of my edu colleagues here in Canberra about games and education that started by discussing games on the iPhone. Hope you don’t find the chat-speak too … Continue reading →

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Plants vs Zombies – lessons from casual games

Posted on 7 May, 2009 by colsim

Casual gaming wunderkinds Popcap have just released their latest game, Plants Vs Zombies. It takes the classic Tower Defense game mechanism of placing a variety of offensive and defensive objects in a space to prevent enemies from making it all … Continue reading →

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Creating the First Person Learner: Educational Applications of the First Person Shooter game genre (Me, 2008)

Posted on 27 June, 2008 by colsim

Creating the First Person Learner: Educational Applications of the First Person Shooter game genre. Abstract Many students’ initial experiences of Vocational Education and Training (VET) involve spending large amounts of time methodically developing foundation skills and knowledge in their chosen … Continue reading →

Posted in activities, activity, casual games, collaboration, controllers, education, elearning, experience, first person learner, first person perspective, first person shooter, game design, immersion, interaction, language, missions, multitasking, research, second life, simulation, structure, training, VET, violence, what is a game, writing | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Quick project update

Posted on 11 June, 2008 by colsim

This project is doing my head in a little – but in a good way. The simple premise that I started with – that I want to see how it might be possible to use FPS style games for learning … Continue reading →

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Questions for the First Person Learner project

Posted on 24 May, 2008 by colsim

I’ve spent a good part of the day exploring the fascinating Fuchs-Eckermann project (more on this soon) and I know it’s been good because it’s brought up a number of questions that I think are going to be important to … Continue reading →

Posted in activities, casual games, education, elearning, first person learner, game design, information, language, missions, research, structure | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Playing: Skyrates

Posted on 14 December, 2007 by colsim

After reading about the game, I have to say I’m a little interested, so I’m signing up and taking off. I’ve created my avatar (which I can’t seem to find to share with you but it’s a rather groovy looking … Continue reading →

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