Games That Taught You Skills, History, etc

besttechadvisor on 14/11/2024 - 09:45
Last edited 15/11/2024 - 11:56

I haven't been much of a gamer since playing MW2 in highschool over a decade ago. While it was fun, I remember realising I had spent hours sitting in front of a screen and felt like it was lost time.

I've just bought a laptop good enough for dinner gaming, and I foresee being stuck indoors a lot in my near future, so I'm looking for some PC games that will teach me something.

I've got Assetto Corsa in my library from the recent sale and will need to buy a wheel. I will also be downloading Mechanic Sim and Flight Sim. I remember playing Age of Mythology as a kid and learning a lot about Greek and Norse mythology that way.

I'm looking for anything along that spectrum: Games that teach you real-world skills (eg flying, driving, mechanics) or simply educate you on topics in a fun way (eg mythology, history, etc).

I'm open to an all suggestions, they don't need to be practical skills/knowledge that I expect to use (I doubt I'll be flying a plane or start a career in mythology). The games don't need to be focused on teaching, but I do want to walk away from the game feeling like I got something out of it beyond the time spent playing.

Thanks for any positive feedback :)

EDIT: I'm well aware that you can learn better from books, documentaries, real-world practice, etc. Thanks.

Gaming Video Game

Comments

  • Embaloo on 14/11/2024 - 21:08
    +1

    DX-ball - pong-style gameplay with angle, momentum and velocity prediction skill-forming that I believe helped me get an engineering degree?

  • DontNeedThis on 14/11/2024 - 21:45
    +1

    The first God of War series teaches you a lot about characters and creatures in greek mythology. And they're the most kickass games of all tine.

  • Breno785au on 14/11/2024 - 22:00
    +3

    Kingdom Come Deliverance for medival history. Such a great game. So immersive.

    • Andrew0415 on 15/11/2024 - 09:06

      Sad I had to scroll so far down to see this. This is the game OP if you want immersive history (it even has an easy to access appendix of names, places and dates). You do need to install a couple of mods to make it less annoying but it's a game rich in detail.

  • pogichinoy on 14/11/2024 - 22:49

    Daytona USA

  • miwahni on 14/11/2024 - 23:31

    Frogger taught me to cross the road.

  • R4 on 15/11/2024 - 00:58
    +1

    I've recently passed my recreational pilot's licence and I can tell you that commercial flight simulators like MS Flight Simulator and X-Plane are next to useless when it comes to learning to fly. You just cannot get the feel for the controls and throttle when sitting at a desk. You don't get the effects and sensations of wind, turbulence, thermals, the noise and smells, the views at altitude. It is good for learning procedures and checklists though but you can learn those sitting on your sofa.

    • serpserpserp on 15/11/2024 - 07:58

      Oh really? Here I thought after playing Daytona USA I would be able to drive and win NASCAR races with ease…

      • Grunntt on 15/11/2024 - 10:19

        Look up "Jann Mardenborough" for someone that gaming did help in real life. (or just watch the movie Gran Turismo - tells his story pretty well)

  • pebblewave on 15/11/2024 - 06:32

    It was a game called ‘school’. It wasn’t much fun

  • serpserpserp on 15/11/2024 - 06:46

    JoJo Siwa: Worldwide party taught me so many life skills I use today. A really underrated game.

  • Leiothrix on 15/11/2024 - 07:58

    Fate Grand Order.

    It teaches history.

    Sort of.

  • User102430 on 15/11/2024 - 08:10

    I play FPS games - CoD, Battlefield, CP77… they taught me nothing. That said, they all met expectations, as I never intended to learn anything there, it's a pure entertainment.

    On the other hand… chess. Absolute master game, changed the way I think and look at problems, gave me new, broader, systemic perspective, significantly developed and improved my holistic/strategic thinking. I learnt how to play chess relatively late in my life, though, perhaps that's why the impact was so significant.

  • kraigg on 15/11/2024 - 08:30
    +2

    Playing Sid Meier's Pirates as a kid. I referenced the physical map of the Caribbean islands that came with the game so often, that it is now seared into my brain. If anyone asked me about the location of any islands or cities in the Caribbean, I still know them off by heart.

    • besttechadvisor on 15/11/2024 - 08:32

      Awesome, that's the kind of thing I'm talking about.

  • Fizzydrink on 15/11/2024 - 09:03

    Guitar Hero, now i'm the worlds no 1 guitarist

  • 900dollaridoos on 15/11/2024 - 09:10
    +1

    Hey so like most, AOE1/2/M let a mark on me and as an adult I still go around the world looking at castles, that said, my attention span has changed and the history in them feels clunky and outdated now.

    I can't speak as someone that played through the whole thing as I just haven't had time, but I played a couple hours of AOE4 back when it had a free trial and I was shocked how well the history was integrated into it. Eg they would have a live action documentary style explanation of an event, eg "this is the bridge where it happened, the fight worked its way up that hill" and would tell you how the commanders acted at the time, then the view would pan out and drone shot would become game angle and suddenly you're mid-battle playing through what you've just learnt! I was very impressed. I will definitely subject my future kids to this.

    Some faster answers:
    * Runescape taught me to type fast and identify scams
    * Battlezone 1 (1998) taught me to multitask
    * C&C generals taught me combined arms strategy (it unironically helped me in the army).
    * CS:GO taught me that even if you grind to the top ranks in the world there's still hackers (still salty about this tbh).
    * Far Cry 3/4 gave me a weird travel bug and now I keep exploring strange countries for vacations.
    * Rust taught me that it's better to ignore FOMO and just get a real life.
    * Fortnite taught me that dopamine is an abusable drug and basically ended my time playing games for a few years now.

  • casho on 15/11/2024 - 09:52
    +1

    Civilisation teaches you a lot about the city names, culture, leaders names, weapons etc

  • RockmanRock on 15/11/2024 - 10:08

    Valiant Hearts: The Great War

  • pharkurnell on 15/11/2024 - 10:08

    Nibbles in Dos.

  • afah0447 on 15/11/2024 - 10:09

    Sid Meier's 'Civilisation'.

    So many things going on.

  • MrThing on 15/11/2024 - 10:26

    Age of Empires 2…….the history is solid with some slight creators fluff

  • nobro25 on 15/11/2024 - 10:32

    Age of Empires
    Roller Coaster Tycoon

  • this is us on 15/11/2024 - 10:39

    AoE, Assassin's Creed, Mario is Missing (SNES, rented by mistake, but actually enjoyed)

  • CodeExplode on 15/11/2024 - 11:06

    I looked over a few decades of gaming history and the only one which looks like it might have taught any real world skills is Minecraft with redstone, which is somewhat analogous to logic circuits in computer hardware, but even then most people aren't directly working with logic circuits when doing anything with technology.

  • Navanod66 on 15/11/2024 - 11:29

    The Civilization series. So much history in there if you read the wiki while you play.

    Black Myth Wukong which may get you interested in reading up Chinese mythology.

    Battlefield series. Introduction to weapons, vehicles and basic driving and flying helicopters and planes.

    The Long Dark. Survival in a cold, wilderness environment. Not 100% true to life, but wouldn't be any fun if it is. No one wants to manage bladder and bowel stats right? 😂

  • Jules_d1 on 15/11/2024 - 11:43

    The card game Magic: The Gathering (MTG) as I grew up taught me a lot cognitive thinking skills and broadened my vocabulary.

  • Taro Milk Tea on 15/11/2024 - 12:08

    GTA V, Yakuza series..

  • capslock janitor on 15/11/2024 - 12:12

    dumb ways to die — taught me

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