The titles for the Teaching with Games research project have been selected against comprehensive criteria, taking into account the practicalities of introducing a game title into a school environment and the wider academic perspective on learning with games. Perhaps unsurprisingly, no games currently on the market were found to fulfil these criteria in their entirety; the titles proposed are those found to meet as many of the agreed criteria as practicable.

Additional work will be required from teachers to scaffold students' effective use of each game in a learning context. Understanding what form this work by teachers takes and detailing the effort involved is one of the key objectives of this project, which aims to produce evidence to inform teachers, policy makers and games developers of the practical and pedagogic implications of the introduction of pure games into classroom contexts.

The suggested titles have been selected following the general principle that there is little point in introducing a commercial game as a learning tool where other established tools can perform adequately: this has, for example, excluded some resource management games where a spreadsheet might fulfil the same role.

Knights of Honour

Age rating: (PEGI) 12+
Publisher/developer: EA/Black Sea Studios
Genre: Resource management/RTS
Review:www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/knightsofhonor/review.html

Players choose to run one of over a hundred different European countries, playing in one of three periods of history ('Early Medieval', about 1000 AD, 'High Medieval', about 1200 AD or 'Late Medieval', about 1350 AD), with the aim of accumulating sufficient political and military influence to be crowned ruler of Europe. This is achieved through arranging marriages to provide heirs, making trade agreements and military pacts with other nations, infiltrating other nations' courts and waging war on your enemies.

• Previous research (particularly Squire 2004; Egenfeldt-Nielsen 2005) supports the idea that historically-situated real-time strategy games lend themselves well to lesson-based teaching. This is partly due to the nature of the content displayed in the game being directly relevant to curricular and subject concerns, so making it apparently straightforward to relate game activities to lesson plans; this title displays the qualities described in the research cited.
• This title, while bearing many similarities to the titles already researched, extends the game mechanic in two significant directions, by placing more emphasis on diplomacy as a political tool (through the 'spy' mechanic as well as more traditional alliance-forming) and on the cultural 'wealth' of a player's territory (expressed as 'books' and 'piety'). This is a more nuanced account of the factors influencing historical events than those in other historical RTS games, making it a suitable title for selection.
• Action within the game takes place in a broad European setting that extends beyond Moscow and to North Africa, fulfilling some of the 'cultural relevance' selection criteria.
• Minimal ingame violence compared to similar titles on the market.

The Sims 2

Age rating: (ESRB) T
Publisher/developer: Electronic Arts/Maxis
Genre: Simulation/strategy
Reviews:www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/sims2

Players direct the journey of their Sims' lives as they grow from infancy through childhood, teenage life and adulthood. Starting with a personality given to them by the player (or that they inherit from their parents), Sims will develop in unique ways based on the player's choices and influence. As they progress through life, Sims will collect memories which shape who they are, what options they have and how they behave. These experiences can have a short or long-term effect on relationships between family members and friends. Experiences between Sims when they are children can affect their relationships as teens and adults. Sims can have casual friendships or make life-long enemies.

Two other features make The Sims 2 interesting from an educational perspective: the ability to use player-created content (for example, furniture and accessories), and the ability to record action within the game from many different camera angles. This last feature has led to a widespread 'machinima' culture, in which player-created sets and behaviours are used to create original and often powerful films.

• Allows players to explore ideas around social interaction: loyalty, friendship, measures of success, aspirations, needs and ethics.
• Relevant to PSHE, English, media studies, drama.
• In-game movie-making capability significantly extends learning possibilities through giving players access to authoring tool.

Rollercoaster Tycoon 3

Age rating: (ESRB) E
Publisher/developer: Atari/Frontier Developments
Genre: Resource management
Reviews:www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/rollercoastertycoon3

Players take on the role of a theme park manager, controlling elements of their city to improve the happiness of their population of guests and employees. Various factors, such as admission prices, ride excitement, quality of environment and available facilities need to be managed through careful planning. Just as in real life, interactions between these simple variables lead to the emergence of complex situations (so, for example, placing a food stall next to a nausea-inducing ride will lead to an increase in vomiting guests and a drop in general happiness). As well as this resource management mode, the game has a Sandbox mode which allows players to build their own rollercoasters, giving them the opportunity to explore concepts such momentum and friction.

• History of use in formal education supports its choice and suggests areas of application on which the Teaching with Games project can build.
• Addresses diverse subject areas (geography, PSHE, mathematics, economics, physics, engineering).
• Requires players to develop understanding of modelling as a concept, introduces players to ideas of multivariate systems and emergent complexity.

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