Three Online ‘Edutainment’ Games that Destroy Your Brain
Edutainment. The very word conjures up images of soulless corporate game titles, sold to naive school-boards en mass in hopes of actually cramming a few facts into your media addled brain. They were games that were meant to teach you something (other than the logic, math, reading, and research skills that normal games teach, but I digress), but frequently left you bored and drained of life. However, some indie developers have used the specter of edutainment software to craft some truly unique experiences.
For your edification and amusement, I present to you three ‘edutainment’ games too demented for any classroom. And as a bonus, you can play them all with a simple click.
Such lowly beginnings for the…well, that would be spoiling it.
Frog Fractions is an interesting little gem by one-man studio Twinbeard. Frog Fractions resembles a math game (take heart! No actual math skills are required), but begins to slowly change into something strange and beautiful . I’d compare this to playing an old Learning Company game on acid, but that wouldn’t be doing it justice. Join your amphibious friend on a journey from the lily pad to beyond the stars!
This dull wrapper hides a unique type of madness. Like a Tootsie pop with a live wasp at the centre.
Created by self-described “queer tranarchafeminist”, developer, and columnist Porpentine, Ultra Business Tycoon III is designed to resemble an older text-based title. What it lacks in graphics, it makes up with surreal mental imagery, a story within a story that is truly startling, and puzzles that involve messing with the options. As a talented businessman, you must earn a million dollars to pass beyond the Gates of Mammon, but beware the cops and the bees! The game also has a NFO file of the kind that used to be distributed with cracked games. You may find it useful.
Icarus Proudbottom Teaches Typing
The eyes of an innocent puppy dog or a serial killer.
Typing trainers have have a bad reputation and I have no love of them myself. However, this one is an actual game. Although it requires some actual typing ability, it is quite intense and easily rivals some modern action games for pure adrenaline. I’ve played this one through twice, and I’ll never look at typing the same way again. Icarus Proudbottom Teaches Typing was developed by Holywow Studios, and they have used its main character in other games.
I hope you enjoy these titles, and explore the other games these excellent indie designers have available. I’ll have some more quality finds for you soon!
