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G-rated Simulation Games?
jhl at school asks: "I am a Math and Technology teacher at a middle school, in rural Maine, where all of our 7th and 8th graders are given iBooks that they can use. What they are allowed to do with them is kept within strict limits, and it must be educational. I stay with then after school, and during this time they are allowed to use them for fun -- within limits (no violence, and nothing sexually explicit). I bought a copy of 'The Sims', at the kids' request, but the principal says it's too racy (polygamy is allowed, characters can climb into bed together, and so forth). What simulations our out there, where these kids can play in virtual environment, but keep it G-rated as my principal would like. Alternately, might there be some information to help the argument that 'The Sims' has educational value? I've found nothing I thought was objectionable - but this is a very conservative community. Thanks on behalf of my kids, who could use a little fun."
What about Sim City?
Chromatron is a puzzle game of lasers (no, not the killing kind), optics, and geometry. It runs on Mac or Windows. The first 50 puzzle version is free, additional puzzles can be had for very cheap.
:) Give it a try.
It's also *challenging*. If you only have an hour or so per schoolday with the kids, this'll probably last until the end of the schoolyear.
Random and weird software I've written.
I think it's a fun littly game. I am 100% sure there is nothing objectionable in it, educational wise it teaches kids how to run a small business maybe? at the very least there is basic math in it you could point out.
Off the top of my head, some of these may be a bit dated.
Also from Maxis: SimCity, SimAnt
Something from the Test Drive series (its physics! You may want to avoid the "hot pursuit" series)
Conway's Game of Life
One of those universe/solar system simulations - I forget the name.
I'm sure there's plenty more out there. Good luck.
-molo
Using your sig line to advertise for friends is lame.
Railroad Tycoon 2, it's got a ton of history about railroad development. There are a bunch of tycoon games in this one's footsteps, some are better than others.
Alpha Centari, is a different take on civ, there is some battle, (not bloody as I recal but there is some fighting).
If you have an older group I'd suggest wall street raider, especially if they finish a unit on the stock market. Graphics are poor but the game is quite fun. There used to be an excellent risk like game with more updated country borders, the rest of the gameplay was very similar to risk, it was quite fun too.
Degaussing scares the bad magnetism out of the monitor and fills it with good karma.
Definitely not - it's not at all gory or anything like that when lions eat in Zoo Tycoon. I've played Zoo Tycoon with my 5 year old and I'd say it's completely G-Rated, and it's entertaining to boot.
Ambrosia has a line of games that I think would be kid safe; Uplink is fun and challenging, and no violence or nekkid, but maybe it simulates "hacking" too closely. "Nova" is a Space Trader game, so simulates some economic theory. I don't recall anything offensive in it, but you have a pretty low bar, too.
There's also iConquer from KavaSoft, a RISK-alike that is very like.
Also try Apple's Product Finder; it reminds me that there's several good racing/skating games that aren't offensive, and lots and lots of strategy games. There's even a "kids" section from which too chose.
Good luck! And try posting to some of the Apple lists! I think many of us Mac IT folk are interested to know how this thing is shaking out in Maine.
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$tar -xvf
This program is an excelent, free space simulator. Fly the Apollo 11 mission, launch the space shuttle and dock at ISS, or for real fun, launch a probe from earth, have it gravity assist around venus, and go out to the outer planets. The physics seems very realistic and real world. Math will for sure be a huge help in this. The main site is Here, and also check out Dan's ORbiter page, with many great addons and sound updates here. For a great video of orbiter in action (But without any view of the controls or the mathmatics involved) check out video 3 from this page.
Did I mention its all free as in beer?
As mentioned, SimCity would be a good choice. Also SimTower or even SimLife. A few more: - The online Yahoo! game Text Twist would be good for building vocabulary. - Oregon Trail is a classic. - Any of the historical strategy games (Civil War Generals 2, Empire Earth, etc.) - World War II Fighters is a good flight sim with a strong historical component. (And patriotic to boot!) - Number Munchers for math skills? FYI, I actually used The Sims to do a science project in middle school.
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If the truth scares you, cease asking scary questions
Although probably a bit more expensive then you were probably planning on spending, you might want to consider The Wild Divine Project.
From the site: The Journey to Wild Divine is more than a computer adventure. It integrates a personal spiritual quest with an innovative biofeedback interface and high-end multimedia production. The result is an unparalleled and fulfilling "Inner-Active" experience.
Basically, you explore the virtual world and learn to complete tasks that require you to learn to control your pulse and breathing rate using a biofeedback system.
I haven't played it... but it certainly looks cool
Fight or flight its all the same
Live to die another day
--Ryan
OK, they do "mate" but its about as asexual a mating as you can get (ok, they don't get "married" so I guess it will offend those who are easily offended). And the creatures aren't human and I'm not entirely clear on the specific doctrine of offense involved. Do these people require that chickens marry before they mate?
The players do get to raise the kids - and those kids are not always the best behaved of creatures so it can be an interesting process. Rather more demanding than the "carry an egg around for a week" type thing that has been popular.
Who knows - it is possible that if there are enough people who demand that everyone adhere to their particular mating rituals that maybe the makers would add in a "you must be married to have eggs" option to make using the game possible. Naturally (and I mean that word quite literally) that also raises the questions of the death of a partner, adultery, divorce and what not. Not to mention heaven and hell (and purgatory and beatrice and ...).
Sim Tower is kind of old but it's very good.
Ooo! Also Simfarm. Great little game, completely nonviolent and stealth-educational. Semi-abandonware; if you can't find it for sale, you might still be able to find it online somewhere.
Pretty much all the major non-military sims out there would work for you.
MS Flight Simulator
MS Train Simulator
The most violent you can get is crashing, but even so, nobody gets hurt. You see, that's the whole point of simulation!
Pangea Software have a lot of fun games for kids. Take a look at Enigmo , it's a great puzzle game.
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There is also The Incredible Machine but it may only works on OS 9.
If you want something a little more "arcade", you can find on GarageGames Marble Blast
And FroGames will soon release a fun racing game : MiniOne Racing . (ad)
I would whole-heartidly agree. I still play The Incredible Machine and The EVEN MORE Incredible Machine to this day. However, I am pretty damned sure that there has never been a Mac release (except for maybe the original Incredible Machine).
I know that Mac versions of most of Maxis' SIM games can be found for the Mac, such as SIM City, SIM Life, SIM Earth. You just need to keep your eyes peeled. Chips & Bits (www.chipsbits.com) is a pretty decent mail order retailer that still carries a fair bit of old Mac Abandonware.
You might want to check out The Home of the Underdogs (www.the-underdogs.org). They're a repository of abandonware and have an EXCEPTIONAL plethora of edutainment titles. Granted, for legal reasons you wouldn't want to download any of them and have your kids play them. But, you could try them out and determine if the content is appropriate and then got to Chips & Bits (^above^) and buy them.
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The "G-Rated" restriction cuts out almost everything that attempts to model the Real World, seeing as it includes procreation and death by nature. Thank goodness the children can be protected from education about real world problems [note: this is sarcasm].
SimCity is obviously a good candidate (though you may need to disable the in-game disasters, depending on how strict you want to be).
Tropico would run a very close second in my book, excepting that you're a dicatator and can issue some serious edicts (including arrest, the death penalty, contraception bans, heretic branding, and religious inquisition). If anything, it's more educational than SimCity, for these very reasons.
Civ and the like are basically out. This is unfortunate, as Galactic Civilizations is great, and offers ethical choices similar to those in Tropico (though less direct, they're mostly of the "what do you do with the locals where you're colonizing" variety, as well as intergalactic warfare).
It has always struck me as absurd that the name of the game is "Civilization", while the object of the game is Conquest.
Capitalism and its kin can offer some very good business/economic simulations. Railroad Tycoon is a great game (and since v3 is out now, v2 should be dirt cheap - it's the one I have). Some of the other "XYZ Tycoon" games may also apply, but I haven't played them.
Some flight sims, sports, and puzzle games may also be appropriate.
The Stair Dismount game is a great educational physics sim, but it's a little bit violent. Likewise, Carmageddon 2 has imbued me with a healthy terror of automobiles.
The player has to balance the actions these Sims (individual people) take over the days and weeks in the game. You have to make sure they go to work and get paid, so that they can eat and pay the bills. They have to do a certain amount of socializing and fun activities or they become unhappy and do badly at work. If the Sims don't clean up their garbage, and the house gets messy it negatively impacts the mood of the Sims. The better you manage your Sim the better they do at work, and then they get promoted if they do well there. The player also has to manage the relationships of their Sims with each other. If the Sims don't keep up a friendship by inviting one another over, playing games, and talking on the phone then the friendship can end.
As for the content being inappropriate, there are several factors. 1) Although two people can get in bed together they have to be in love to do this. Once in bed they are only allowed to sleep, no hanky panky. 2) There are love relationships and the player can have two Sims who are in love kiss. Nothing beyond kissing goes though, and in 7th or 8th grade some kids do kiss. This brings me to 3) The polygamy bit, is not really polygamy, it is 'cheating' meaning one Sim has two or more loves. If this cheating is found out the cheater is rebuked by the cheated and their relation ship is trashed. (Some times the male is slapped by the female I think.) So there are consequences for this cheating and it is not condoned.
All in all to really understand this game, as for any game, you should actually play the game yourself. Maybe have one of the students help teach you to play.
I think parents who are concerned about what games their children play should play test the games. Meaning: play the game themselves. If the parent has a hard time playing the game have the child show you how to play while you are at the controls. Even if it is not interesting to the parent or teacher, show interest because it is interesting to these kids!