# A Brief History of Computer Games in Education

Daniel Laughlin, Ph.D.

Somesh Kumar

University of Maryland Baltimore County

March 9, 2005

Abstract

> The objective of this presentation is to clearly lay out the history
> of computer games as educational tools, their current state and future
> possibilities. Educational uses of games and the use of educational
> games are topics of growing importance in both the education and game
> design worlds. The past, present and potential future of this
> conjunction of fields is not well understood by many on either side.
> This paper traces the history of computer games as education tools
> from the most primitive pixilated word puzzles to the most graphically
> intense virtual worlds. It summarizes the current state of games as
> educational tools and makes informed speculation on their future role
> in learning. The objectives of the presentation will be met by a
> comprehensive review of related literature and informed reporting on
> educational game development currently underway.

# 

# Introduction

Educational computer games have become a popular topic in recent years.
Researchers like Jim Gee (2003), Kurt Squire (2003) and Henry Jenkins
(2003) have done work in this field, and their books and articles have
captured the attention of non-academic audiences. The Serious Games
Summit exploded from 60 attendees in 2003 to 600 in 2004. Computers and
video game consoles are in more than half the homes in the US, and most
US students play games (ESA, 2004). It is only natural that the
educational potential of games be in the public forum. This paper
attempts to place the current conversation about the power and potential
of educational games into the context of nearly three decades of
computer and video game history. While the level of interest is new,
educational computer games have been around almost as long as home
computers and nearly as long as there have been published educational
games of any sort. This work is not a definitive history. It is, rather,
a framework from which to flesh out a comprehensive history of computer
games in education so that the present and future may be better
understood through their linkage to the past.

# Games and Simulations

There is much talk of games as educational tools. Most if it is
speculative or argumentative, but very little of that talk is precise
and carefully worded. It is part of our nature that we often engage in
debate without first being sure we are using terms and phrases
uniformly. Particularly on a topic where there is a recognized division
between experts and novices, it is essential to spell out the use and
meaning of what linguists would call the semiotic domain (discrete field
with individualized usage or symbols and words that are clearly
recognizable only to members of the affinity group of that field). It is
easy to interchange the terms "game" and "simulation" when discussing
educational uses of computers, because so often the two terms overlap.
However, to the layperson who is not an insider (and indeed to the
insider who has not specifically focused on the question) the issue of
the difference between a game and a simulation can be a difficult one.

# What's a game?

According to Clark Apt (1968), one of America's commercial educational
simulation and gaming pioneers, a game is "any contest among adversaries
(players) operating under constraints (rules) for an objective (winning,
victory or pay-off)." This definition is hampered by the fact that it
does not distinguish between contests for fun and contests of a more
serious nature. Strictly applying Apt's definition of a game would mean
that wars fought by combatants adhering to the Geneva Convention are
games. While there may be philosophical arguments to be made about the
nature of war and games, no one would seriously say that World War II
and Monopoly belong in the same category. It is important therefore, to
add a clause noting that both educational and recreational games are
low-stakes contests. Without such an inclusion, one of the fundamental
advantages of games as educational tools- namely the opportunity for
"soft" or low-stakes failure- becomes irrelevant.

If we accept that low-stakes modifier, we can constructively use Apt's
definition to identify games. The definition has the merit of being
brief at the expense of potentially sounding too narrow. With the
strictest interpretation of "adversaries" as players, the definition
would leave out all single player games and games where the players
cooperate rather than compete. In a broader interpretation, the "contest
among adversaries" can be seen as a contest between players, a contest
between a player and the game itself or either of those types of
contests with multiple players working cooperatively as a team. For an
example using a recreational game, consider golf. A single player can
compete against the rigors of the course alone to achieve a low score,
two golfers might compete against each other for the lower score, or
teams of golfers might compete against each other for the lowest score.
It's possible that a single team of golfers could play against the
course rather than each other, but it does not seem to be in the nature
of golfers to play that way.

We are left with the definition that a game is a low-stakes contest with
rules and the goal of "winning" the contest.

# What's a simulation?

Harold Guetzkow (1963), widely regarded as one of the founders of
simulation studies, defines simulation as "an operating representation
of a central feature of reality". Leaving aside for the moment the issue
of whether or not there can be a simulation of a thing that does not
exist, Guetzkow's definition clearly asserts that operation is a key
element of simulation. Bloomer (1973) pointed out that the "operating"
requirement neatly removed static representations such as maps, pictures
and diagrams from the category of simulation. This can be a very fine
distinction in an era when cheap computing power makes three-dimensional
models relatively simple to create. By Guetzkow's definition, a
three-dimensional image of a human body is not a simulation, but such a
model that allowed a viewer to manipulate or drive biological functions
would be a simulation.

Under the Guetzkow definition, there cannot be a simulation of something
that is not real. A three-dimensional model of a unicorn with the
ability for the user to manipulate biological functions exactly like the
simulation of the human body in the last example would be a clever model
but would not be a simulation.

A simulation must be operational and must be based on something real.

# Games, Simulations and Simulation Games

Reviewing the definitions for game and simulation, it is clear that each
can stand alone. In addition, there is a sizeable field of games that
are simulations, or perhaps simulations that are games. Such a
combination would be defined as a low-stakes contest with rules with or
in an operating model of a real thing. Carrying on the example of a
simulation, a three-dimensional, operating model of a human body might
be used for a game where the player has to manipulate caloric intake and
metabolic rate to achieve and maintain a target health level. Oregon
Trail is an example of a simulation game. It is a functioning model of a
wagon train where the player strives to get families safely to Oregon.
The figure below shows the relationship of computer games and
simulations.

# 

# 

# History of Games 

The first use of games for educational purposes to be documented dates
to mid-1800s when the Prussian army started training officers by having
them play simulated battles on printed maps with detailed rules
(Brewster, 2002). Prussia was among the first nations to develop a
modern professional military with formal training for officers. War
games permitted officers to gain martial experience in low-stakes
contests. In 1879, the US Army adopted tabletop war games as a training
tool. The US Navy followed suit in 1894 (Lee, 1990). For nearly the next
100 years, professionally produced educational games remained the almost
exclusively the domain of the military and military enthusiasts.

In the 1950s, an emphasis on improving and professionalizing business
management led to the first non-military application of games. The
American Management Association published the first business game in
1956 (Riccardi, 1957). It was a simple simulation game where players
took on the role of a manager attempting to navigate their way to
success while being confronted with a variety of events and challenges.
Games, simulations and case studies quickly became popular management
training tools. They provided a bridge between theories taught using
textbooks in classrooms and real world business experience.

Games have long been part of the educational arsenal of schools. Plato
praised Egyptian educators for their use of games to provide learning
experiences though he did not provide many details (Brewster, 2002).
Spelling bees have been a long-standing feature of American education.
Laura Ingles Wilder (1953) reported competing in such a contest during
her schooling in the late 1800s. While both the military and business
applications of games had educational goals, it was not until the 1960s
that professionally published games entered the K-12 classroom
(Ellington, 1981). Board, card and role-playing games for schools were
all being published for American schools by the early 1970s.

# History of Computers and Consoles

Through the 1960s, only three universities in the US had computers with
monitors (Kent, 2001). Computers were large devices restricted to
military, corporate and intensive academic use because of their cost and
technical requirements. In the 1970s, as computer technology became
smaller, less expensive and more user friendly, computers began to
appear in schools. At the same time, companies like Zenith, Atari and
Sega began selling the first game consoles. Console units attached to
television and allowed users to play interactive games on their
television sets.

In 1977, Apple Computers began selling the first home computer (a term
replacing microcomputer for the smaller machines of the time), the Apple
II. Tandy, Radio Shack and Commodore followed suit the same year. Atari
released a home computer in 1979, and in 1981, IBM entered the home
computer market with the system that would eventually give its name to
all desktop computers: the PC (for personal computer).

# Games on Computers 

Consoles were invented to play games on televisions. While they are in
fact, dedicated computer systems, they have not had an independent
existence aside from their role as game machines.

The earliest computer games were a tennis game for an oscilloscope and
Space Wars. The tennis game was a one-time novelty invention that had no
successors or follow on. Space Wars, however, influenced the early years
of computer game development and went on to be revised and released as a
console game, an arcade game and, eventually, a personal computer game
(Kent, 2001).

The Apple II firmly established Apple as the dominant classroom computer
in the early 1980s. It was not until 2003 that Dell sold more Wintel
computers to schools than Apples did in a single year. While the last
member of the Apple II family- the Apple II c Plus- was rolled out in
1988, the company continued to support the line through 1993 because of
so many schools were still using them (Weyhrich, 2005).

### Chronology of Educational Computer Games

#### The First Wave: Simple Games

The first educational computer games were simple fare. These games were
designed by Atari's in house programmers. They were more about the
ability of designers to show that systems had potential educational uses
than about creating good educational products.

![](media/image1.png){width="2.125in"
height="1.1805555555555556in"}Basic Math (1977) for the Atari 2600.

Atari advertised this cartridge as a game. It put simple math problems
on the television screen and let the player select the answer one digit
at a time. There was no score and only single player mode, so this was
not truly a game.

Brain Game (1978) for the Atari 2600.

This game was a little more sophisticated than the Basic Math game
released for the Atari 2600 a year earlier. The Brain Game offered
nineteen different activities including addition and memory games. This
game had scores but only single player mode. It was a very limited form
of an educational game.

#### The Second Wave: Educators Get Involved

These games are advanced over the Simple Games. They are the product of
educators and programmers working together. For the first time
applications really have both educational and game elements recognizable
in them. Since game systems were not widely adopted in schools and
computers were, the Chemical Element Game was the first educational
computer game to have a chance of being adopted in schools. Game console
games in this era were almost entirely home systems, so games for those
systems were mainly intended for use outside of schools.

Chemical Element Game (1978) for computers that could run BASIC.

The Chemical Element Game challenged players to compete against each
other or the game as they attempted to guess elements and compounds
based on clues about their properties. Players earned more points the
fewer hints they used. The game used only 34 of the chemical elements.
The game was developed specifically to be used with the British
chemistry curriculum in consultation with university chemists
(Ellington, 1984).

The Electric Company Math Fun (1979) and Word Fun (1980) games for the
Intellivision system.

![](media/image2.png){width="2.5104166666666665in"
height="1.5729166666666667in"}

##### **The Third Wave: Rise of the Educational Software Companies**

The increased computer power and popularity of the later Apple II line
allowed for richer, more complex games. The Apple IIe became the gaming
industry's programming standard from shortly after its release in 1983
until the mid 1990s. For the first time, educational games could take
advantage of increased computing power to let the machine do some of the
more onerous chores involved in educational simulation games. One
weakness of manual simulation games was the time involved in learning
and managing complex rules. Using computers, a player no longer has to
give up learning/playing time to master a rules system. The computer can
take care of the administrative elements that previously required
efforts from a referee or the players themselves.

Earlier educational computer games were the products of general video
games or traditional games companies. In 1982, The Learning Company
(TLC) became the first dedicated educational software company (Kent,
2001). TLC released some of the most popular educational software ever.
In a survey about educational computer games conducted by Education
World in 2001, TLC games took three of the top four rankings (Starr,
2001). Since the mid 1980s, virtually all successful educational
computer games have been developed or released by educational software
companies or educational units of larger software companies.

Oregon Trail (1985) for Apple II.

![](media/image3.png){width="2.75in" height="1.71875in"}

The following assessment offered by one of the editors of the online
Game Museum neatly captures the sentiments of generation x and y
students who experienced Oregon Trail and other MECC games in school.

> Back in the early 80\'s ...educational software quality ranged from
> \"programmed in two minutes and only teaches kids that eating snow is
> more entertaining than computer games\" to \"not horrible.\" Only a
> few really stood out as being **really** popular with the kiddies, and
> most of them were MECC games. (Games Museum, 1999)

Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego (1985) for Apple II and DOS.

This was the first in a series of Carmen Sandiego games. Broderbund
released it in 1985. Broderbund was another commercial educational
software company. It eventually bought The Learning Company in the mid
1990s. In this game, players took the role of detectives working for the
Acme Detective Agency. They followed clues and learned geography,
culture and history in order to track down the infamous Carmen Sandiego.
The game was popular in both homes and schools. In the survey of
educational computer games conducted by Education World in 2001, Where
in the world is Carmen Sandiego was ranked as the third most popular
educational game of all time (Starr, 2001). Because of the nature of the
game, it was easy for the parents and teachers to accept that children
were learning material relevant to their regular school curriculum when
playing.

Reader Rabbit (1989) for DOS.

The Reader Rabbit series from The Learning Company was stylistically a
successor to The Electric Company's Word Fun game. It had word games
with scores and timers and was designed for young children learning to
read. Reader Rabbit is good example of the genre of developmental games
tailored primarily to home audiences as a supplement or forerunner to
formal education.

#### The Fourth Wave: Into Virtual Worlds

![](media/image4.png){width="2.625in" height="1.96875in"}

Oregon Trail III (1997) for Windows.

This was the third remake of the first successful educational computer
game to be widely adopted by schools. The game was very similar to the
original version with improved graphics and a substantial first-person
perspective design. It is noteworthy that this version of Oregon Trail
was released first for Windows and only a year later for the Mac. It
probably reflects an overall dominance of the computer market by Wintel
machines, despite the continued popularity of Apple systems in schools.
There is no evidence to show that players got more out of the immersive
version of Oregon Trail than they did the 2D version, but each was on
par with the non-educational games of their time.

Physicus (1999), Bioscopia (2001) and Chemicus (2002) for Windows.

These completely immersive, science-rich games were developed in Germany
by Ruske and Puhretmaier Edutainment Company and released in the US by
Tivola Publishing. All three titles were full-scale games with
state-of-the-art 3D graphics. They had engaging storylines and required
the player to unravel mysteries to eventually triumph over adversity and
win the game. They were Myst-style games with the twist that the player
had to use real science to win. The subtitles of two of the games
reflect the spirit of the series: *Physicus: Save the world with
science!* And *Bioscopia: Where science conquers evils!* These games
stood out as notable successes in the field of educational games where
traditional *edutainment* fair has been neither particularly
entertaining nor significantly educational (Kirriemuir, 2002).
Unfortunately, the list of educational games that rise to the level of
quality of these games is not a long one even three years after Chemicus
was released.

###### Mainstream Games in the Classroom

To take advantage of the power and popularity of games, some teachers
have adapted mainstream games for educational purposes. Documented cases
are rare, and what little research there is on the subject suggests that
such usage is almost entirely for research purposes rather than genuine
adoption into the classroom (Kirriemuir, 2002). Nevertheless, the
adaptation of mainstream games is worth inclusion in the Fourth Wave
perhaps more for its potential than its practice to date. While
educational games can have an educational impact whether they are used
in the home or in the classroom, adaptations of mainstream games, by
their nature, tend to be used only in the classroom or as assigned by a
teacher.

###### SimCity (1989) for all computer platforms.

SimCity was probably the first mainstream game to be used in classrooms.
It is certainly the most researched case (Frye, 1996). Players directed
the development of a model city. The game was a blockbuster hit and has
led to an entire family of Sim games including the biggest selling game
ever, The Sims. Maxis did not intend the game to be used in schools, but
teachers and graduate students have developed a substantial body of
material to support classroom use of the game (Pahl, 1991). In classes
including Social Studies, English, History and Economics, teachers have
used versions of SimCity to improve student understanding and retention
(Frye, 1996). It is likely that no other mainstream game has received so
much in-class time and attention.

###### Civilization III (2001) for Windows and Mac.

![](media/image5.jpeg){width="2.125in" height="1.4833333333333334in"}

###### Doom (1993) for Windows and Mac

Doom was a very popular example of the first-person-shooter genre. In
the game, players moved through multi-storied facility battling monsters
and searching for gear to heal themselves and enhance their killing
power. Inspired by students' (and his own) love of computer games, one
instructor at West Point developed a modified Doom scenario as a quiz
tool for his class (Carver, 1997). Students moved through a structure
encountering quiz questions. If they answered correctly they received
ammunition and healing, if they were incorrect, the question turned into
a monster that had to be destroyed. Getting three incorrect answers out
of twenty on the same floor forced students to restart that floor.
Carver (1997) noted that increased time spent on quiz preparation and
that some student requested time outside of class to improve their
scores even though they passed the quiz in class. Developing the
Doom-based quiz tool took 200 hours. That may explain why there are not
many similar uses of games reported.

### Why Use Educational Computer Games?

# Common Experience

A common difficulty confronting experts is an inability to accurately
remember what it was like to have little or no understanding of their
field of expertise. Often they have expectations that a concept or
principle is simple to grasp universally because it is simple to
understand from their position as experts. This creates a barrier to
dealing effectively with novices the knowledge area. What is a simple
matter for an expert is often a complex, confusing or wholly
unintelligible jumble to a novice. Games can create a context for new
knowledge that can help novice users build an intelligible mental model
from a jumble of seemingly disconnected facts.

# Soft Failure

One of the strengths of video games is that they allow the opportunity
for what has been called *soft failure*. Traditionally when students
fail, there is a penalty. Whether is it a poor grade or simply a red
mark on homework, the failure is an end in itself. In video games
failure is usually a temporary set back. In a first person shooter, for
instance, failure usually means having your avatar killed. In most such
games, a new copy of the avatar is spawned relatively quickly. In solo
play, the game is reset to before the death, and the player is free to
try again. In a multi person game, the avatar may respawn at a set
location, and the player is free to get back into the action. In both
cases, the failure (death) gives the player both a chance and motivation
to figure out ways to improve. The player may decide that a different
approach is needed or may presume that they were simply unlucky.
Repeating the attempt will help the player decide between the two cases.
Eventually, the player will either discover a successful approach or
find out that it was just bad luck. Either way, the experienced failure
encourages the player to experiment and learn from the situation. That
sort of repeated effort to solve a problem is one of the keys to
success. The old adage goes "if at first you don't succeed, try try
again." There is no respected adage that says, " If at first you don't
succeed, accept the poor grade and move on."

There is a temptation to say soft failure is low stakes failure, but it
should be avoided. Soft failure means a chance to try and fail without
fear of long-term consequences. Low stakes failure implies that there is
a long-term penalty even though that penalty is minor. With a true soft
failure, any penalty that is imposed should be wiped out by eventual
success. In the academic world, it is rare to find a teacher who takes a
"keeping trying until you get it right" approach to testing or homework.
Under that system, no grade ought to be recorded until the student has
had as many attempts as they are willing to make until they get a result
they are satisfied with. It is far more common to give a student a
permanent grade while encouraging them contradictorily to learn from
their mistakes. The grade removes the incentive to revisit the material.

#### Quick Feedback

Games and simulations provide rapid feedback. One issue that is
discussed in relation to computerized teaching is the impossibility of
having a program that could intelligently respond to all of the
questions and difficulties a student would have. The argument goes that
the system would have to as sophisticated as a human being in order to
do the job properly. Games get around the issue by limiting the options
a player can deal with. The game does not purport to address any area
outside the domain of the game. So the game is only giving feedback in
its area of expertise (i.e., itself).

Games provide feedback quickly. A player attempts an action and knows
very soon whether it was successful. In terms of schooling, a game could
tell whether a math problem was answered correctly and physics formula
was laid out accurately. If the input was correct, the user knows
instantly. If not, the user keeps working at it. The failures are soft.
There is not penalty for getting it wrong other than needing to make
additional attempts. Only ultimate success is important.

There are very good reasons a teacher cannot always provide instant
feedback and the opportunity to make repeated attempts on an exercise.
The time demands on the teacher would be prohibitive. Every student
would need to be able to interact with the teacher individually
on-demand. The teacher would have to continue checking tests and
homework answers -- and responding to them -- until every student was
satisfied with their outcome. Time management is a serious issue for
teachers even under the traditional "one try and a grade" system. It
would be impossible in a "repeated attempts and instant feedback"
system.

# Games not Edutainment

Many efforts to make educational games result in products that fall
short of the creator's expectations. Most kids will not voluntarily
touch a game if it is labeled 'educational'. It's like eating food that
is supposed to be good for you. The labeling hints that what is inside
the package must be short on other merits if the manufacturer has to add
"for you" after claiming the product is "good". Imagine the difference
in reaction from a class told, "Now we are going to play a game" from
one told "now we are going to play an educational game". All but the
most wide-eyed optimist should be able to imagine a difference. There is
nothing wrong with making an educational product that uses elements of
games. Indeed, many of the features that make games powerful learning
tools can be implemented in other settings.

# What is not here

There must be a disclaimer about the ephemera of games when discussing
the history of computer games in education. Any historian knows that the
records we reconstruct of the past are incomplete. It is beyond the
scope of our ability to capture or recreate other times and places in
their entirety. Our history of ancient Egypt, for instance, is based
largely on the contents of tombs, fragments of writing, remnants of
stone structures and other scraps that disproportionately fall into the
categories of either treasure or trash. What we have is significantly
less than 1% of all of the human generated material from the Nile Valley
5000 years ago. Historians have created our modern model of what Egypt
was like based on that fraction of a percent. There must be significant
gaps in our knowledge of the world of ancient Egyptians, but all we can
do is keep searching for more clues to improve our model.

When we look at the more recent history we tend to have more of the
original material on which to build our model. But we still do not have
everything. When dealing with the history of computer games in
education, we are plagued with a lack of documentation. Most people
involved were busy either making the educational games or using the
educational games: few were sitting down and documenting the use. This
point is not meant to be facetious. Even though the time involved is
barely three decades, many educational games may have been lost.
MobyGames, an organization dedicated to cataloging computer, video and
arcade games has built a database of games that reached 20,000 titles in
March 2005 (MobyGames, 2005). That is the most complete list of computer
games in the world. The database, however, only includes the games that
have been entered into the database by contributors. Any game title that
has not been contributed, effectively never existed according to
MobyGames. Since the database has grown from nothing to 20,000 entries
since it was started in 1999, it is safe to assume that some games have
been missed. The likelihood is that the more obscure the game, the less
likely it is to have been added to the database. The MobyGames database
lists 442 games that contributors describe as educational. There is no
guarantee that list is complete even for the types of computer games the
systems records, and it only records commercially released games. It
does not include non-commercial games or games designed and distributed
exclusively over the Internet. Such games tend to leave a less permanent
impression on the world. They are the sorts of educational games that
are most likely to have disappeared by the time the history of computer
games in education is written.

The Beasty Game is an example of educational computer ephemera.
According to traces to found online, The Beasty Game claimed to be the
oldest computer game. The player was supposed to think of an animal and
then answers a series of yes or no questions posed by the computer.
Based on the answers the program would "guess" the type of animal. The
success rate was apparently impressive. The Beasty Game was a
computerized version of the word game "twenty questions." By restricting
the topic to animals, the program was able to do a better than expected
job at "guessing" the correct animal. The Beasty Game claimed to have
been a tool for teaching reasoning. The game was originally freely
distributed on floppy disk, but converted to a Web-based format at some
point. Today, a Google search results in nearly 100 hits. Unfortunately
for anyone wanting to find the game, every single link leads to a "page
not found" error message. The Beasty Game is gone.

### Conclusion

There remains much to be written about the full history of computers
games in education and even more to be written of their future. In
sketching a brief history, this paper offers a framework from which to
flesh out a more complete history. It also provides a pattern for
ordering what has traditionally been a bit of a chaotic jumble. The Four
Waves of Educational Computer Games are a conceptual demarcation to
better enable meaningful examination of the historical role and impact
of this popular medium on modern education. In the current debate about
the future role of games inside and outside the classroom, it is easy to
forget that they have a longer history that then current spate of
research literature. It seems likely that educational computer games
modeled on those of the Second and Third Wave will continue to dominate
the educational games market for the foreseeable future. They are
simple, basic and tremendously less expensive to develop than games in
the style of the Fourth Wave (Kirriemuir, 2002). It will take the
efforts of both educators and game designers to realize the full
potential of computer games as educational tools. And it will take and
awareness of their history to guide their future.

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