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This chapter first considers the popularity of educational games such as Oregon Trail, Math Blaster, and Number Munchers. It explains that these games were promoted by both teachers and parents because it was easy to determine what kids are learning through them. The discussions then turn to trends in the educational games market including the major players, such as Leapfrog; the resurgence of educational games; and the future of learning games.

This chapter considers various issues involving educational games. It explains how the game label can be both a stigma and an asset for the designers and creators of educational games, as well as the teachers who are their potential customers. It discusses the importance of content in games—materials that are directly subject-matter-related, often fact-based, and can be delivered easily to students.

This chapter first describes the characteristics of award-winning video games. It then turns to the problem of transfer. Transfer is the task of taking knowledge or skills learned in one context and applying them to another. For example, a simple transfer might involve students learning addition through word problems in class later applying that skill in the grocery store. People in general are quite bad at transfer. The chapter considers the following learning traditions which can help promote transfer: collaborative learning, problem-based learning, situated learning, computer-supported problem solving. It also discusses the emergence of mobile learning games.

This chapter describes how mobile games can adapt to the constraints of classrooms through the use of participatory simulations. It discusses the principle of technology adapting to the classroom, where games fit into the classroom and allow a more natural flow of the class; the design of “lightweight” technologies; and the design of games that are both engaging and educational.

This chapter presents some concluding thoughts. It discusses mobile game affordances; the tenets of mobile game design; the disconnect between students’ experiences of media and technology in school and in their lives outside of school; and the future of mobile learning games.

This chapter begins with an overview of the virtual pet industry. It describes the rise of the Tamagotchi in the late 1990s and the emergence of online virtual pet sites. It then discusses the development of Palmagotchi (cute Palm)—a simple educational game played occasionally over long periods of time outside of class, connecting back to classroom content through discussion and data analysis. Palmagotchi draws upon analogies to Darwin’s finches in the Galapagos. Players maintain families of birds and islands of flowers while considering issues in genetics, ecology, and evolution to best maximize their chances for survival.