Educational IF - an IFDB Poll

by Spike
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Several of us are interested in using IF for education, both in the classroom as well as more broadly. The purpose of this poll is to collect examples of IF with an educational focus.

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A Beauty Cold and Austere, by Mike Spivey
7 votes
"An overview of the history of mathematical thought from antiquity to about 1900. (My own game.)" [+]"An overview of the history of mathematical thought from antiquity to about 1900. (My own game.)" --Spike... "Abstract mathematics 101" [+]"Abstract mathematics 101" () --Aman Das... "Believe it or not, you learn things." [+]"Believe it or not, you learn things." () --Kinetic Mouse Car... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --E.K.... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Denk... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Lance Campbell... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Karl Ove Hufthammer...

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1893: A World's Fair Mystery, by Peter Nepstad
4 votes
"A detailed recreation of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago." [+]"A detailed recreation of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago." --Spike... "A remarkable lesson on a popular-culture milestone. Teachers should watch out for a bawdy poem." [+]"A remarkable lesson on a popular-culture milestone. Teachers should watch out for a bawdy poem." --Desilets... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --MathBrush... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Lance Campbell...

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Lists and Lists, by Andrew Plotkin
4 votes
"A tutorial in Scheme, a dialect of the Lisp programming language" [+]"A tutorial in Scheme, a dialect of the Lisp programming language" () --Spike... "A Lisp tutorial encapsulated into an IF game" [+]"A Lisp tutorial encapsulated into an IF game: There is a tiny bit of IF at the start, but then it becomes just that - an interactive Lisp tutorial with an NPC that teaches you along the way." ( - Full review) --mjhayes... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Felix Pleșoianu... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Sobol...

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The Chinese Room, by Harry Josephine Giles and Joey Jones
3 votes
"An exploration of a large number of problems in philosophy. You get to meet several famous philosophers as well." [+]"An exploration of a large number of problems in philosophy. You get to meet several famous philosophers as well." () --Spike... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Desilets... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --E.K....

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Ferryman's Gate, by Daniel Maycock
2 votes
"A treasure hunt..." [+]"A treasure hunt game that also teaches comma rules. Even this player, who has had friends call him a "grammar nazi" as well as the "sultan of sentences," was reminded of some fine points of comma usage he had forgotten." () --Spike... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Karl Ove Hufthammer...

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80 DAYS, by inkle, Meg Jayanth
2 votes
"An absorbing take on the Jules Verne novel, set in a cyberpunk version of 1872." [+]"An absorbing take on the Jules Verne novel, set in a cyberpunk version of 1872.: You WILL learn some geography if you play this game, though the names of some of the cities have changed since the nineteenth century." --Desilets... "What Desilets said." [+]"What Desilets said." ( - Full review) --Spike...

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Trinity, by Brian Moriarty
2 votes
"One of Infocom's best, there's also a lot about the history of the atomic bomb here (especially in the endgame)." [+]"One of Infocom's best, there's also a lot about the history of the atomic bomb here (especially in the endgame)." () --Spike... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Mikalye...

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Aotearoa, by Matt Wigdahl
2 votes
"A lively tale of modern New Zealand – with dinosaurs! And a good introduction to Maori culture." [+]"A lively tale of modern New Zealand – with dinosaurs! And a good introduction to Maori culture." --Desilets... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --IFforL2...

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L: A Mathemagical Adventure, by members of the Association of Teachers of Mathematics co-ordinated by Richard Phillips, and including Derek Ball, Tony Corbett, David Rooke, Heather Scott, Alan Shaw, Margaret Stevens, Ruth Townsend, Jo Waddingham, Roger Waddingham, John Warwick, Alan Wigley, John Wood, and David Wooldridge.
2 votes
"I haven't played this one, but it was apparently a popular math educational game in Britain in the 1980s." [+]"I haven't played this one, but it was apparently a popular math educational game in Britain in the 1980s." --Spike... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Anthony Hope...

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Beyond the Tesseract, by David Lo
1 vote
"A combination of physics and math puzzles" [+]"A combination of physics and math puzzles" ( - Full review) --Denk...

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Choice: Texas, by Carly Kocurek, Allyson Whipple
1 vote
(No comment) [+](No comment) () --Kinetic Mouse Car...

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All Hope Abandon, by Eric Eve
1 vote
"A journey through hell, and a lesson in Biblical scholarship. Suitable for accomplished high school students." [+]"A journey through hell, and a lesson in Biblical scholarship. Suitable for accomplished high school students." --Desilets...

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MythTale, by Temari Seikaiha
1 vote
"A clever blending of several Greek myths. " [+]"A clever blending of several Greek myths. " --Desilets...

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Nick's Dilemma - An educational game about Sales Management, by Matthew Schmidt and Andrew Tawfik
1 vote
"Educational Twine..." [+]"Educational Twine game aimed at teaching basic skills when hiring for a sales management position." ( - Full review) --Kinetic Mouse Car...

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A Midsummer Night's Choice, by Kreg Segall
1 vote
"A creative choice-based tale, inspired by two famous Shakespearean comedies." [+]"A creative choice-based tale, inspired by two famous Shakespearean comedies.: This commercial game introduces many of the conventions and tropes of Elizabethan drama. Be sure to spend a little extra money for the author's notes. Available through Steam, the App Store, Google Play, and elsewhere." --Desilets...

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Cheiron, by Elisabeth Polli and Sarah Clelland
1 vote
"Medical residency simulator" [+]"Medical residency simulator" ( - Full review) --MathBrush...

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Inform School, by William J. Shlaer
1 vote
"As the name suggests -" [+]"As the name suggests -: a basic introduction to coding in Inform (6), heavily inspired by Lists and Lists" --Jubal...

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GiantKiller, by Peter D. Killworth
1 vote
"A commercial game from the 1980s that explores a variety of mathematical ideas. Aimed at 8-14 year olds." [+]"A commercial game from the 1980s that explores a variety of mathematical ideas. Aimed at 8-14 year olds." ( - Full review) --Spike...

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Lost New York, by Neil deMause
1 vote
" a detailed, well-researched time-travel story about the history of the Big Apple." [+]" a detailed, well-researched time-travel story about the history of the Big Apple." --Desilets...

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Junior Arithmancer, by Mike Spivey
1 vote
"Logic/math puzzle game" [+]"Logic/math puzzle game" ( - Full review) --mg51...

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Ausflug am Wochenende nach München, by Brett Shelton, David Neville, Brian McInnis
1 vote
"A tutorial for English speakers who want to learn German. (I haven't played this one, but I've heard good things about it.)" [+]"A tutorial for English speakers who want to learn German. (I haven't played this one, but I've heard good things about it.)" --Spike...

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Learning to Be Human, by Lynnea Glasser
1 vote
"About bullying in..." [+]"About bullying in school. Uses an android protagonist. Spend time with a different student each day." ( - Full review) --Kinetic Mouse Car...

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Escape | 逃出去: A text adventure game for Chinese learners, by Olle Linge and Kevin Bullaughey
1 vote
"First in a series..." [+]"First in a series of games." () --IFforL2...

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Shogun, by James Clavell, Dave Lebling
1 vote
"Relive the Japanese feudal area as a despised English "barbarian"" [+]"Relive the Japanese feudal area as a despised English "barbarian": The complex social interactions necessitated the game to be linear and broken up into bite-sized chapters. It did more for me to understand that era than any number of dry school textbooks could have done." --mjhayes...

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Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur, by Bob Bates
1 vote
"A well-plotted introduction to the Arthurian Legends. Excellent for middle school" [+]"A well-plotted introduction to the Arthurian Legends. Excellent for middle school: This story is, in its own way, faithful to British history. However, in order to read the author's historical notes, you'll have to play the game to its conclusion and then look at the list of hints. " --Desilets...

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Poll created on July 7, 2019