Game Review: Age of Mythology

Background:

Age of Mythology is an epistemic game aimed at introducing students to Greek and Roman culture, including the mythological creatures and gods of the classics. Students are introduced to civilizations: “each of the nine unique civilizations is split amongst three cultures: the Greeks, Egyptians, and Norse, with each providing their own special units, gods, powers, heroes, and more” (Microsoft.com). With a game interface similar to World of Warcraft in that it consists of a three dimensional plain where multiple players can converse and interact, Age of Mythology directs students to complete objectives or quests while conquering obstacles along the way.


My Personal Experience:

First, let me confess, I have very little interest in gaming. I am the female student that I worry about losing motivation and engagement when confronted with epistemic games in the classroom. That being said, I found Age of Mythology difficult to learn to navigate, though the tasks were elementarily easy. Also, the background information I obtained while navigating the trial version was minimal: basic character names, brief introductions to raking of peoples (i.e. soldiers, villagers, etc.), and snippets about gods (i.e. what he or she is the god of, strengths and weaknesses, etc.).

In my personal opinion, this particular game, though I was excited about playing it beforehand, yielded little educational information especially given the time frame of playing. Much more time is invested in following directions than applying skills.

I will say, however, in defense of this game, there was much background reading to understand the game which supports theories surrounding new literacies and authenticity. The reading I had to perform for this game was rich.

Thoughts on Epistemic Gaming

Shaffer and Gee explain the coming crisis as this: “Young people in the United States today are being prepared—in school and at home—for ‘commodity jobs’ in a world that will, very soon, only reward people who can do ‘innovative work’ and punish those who can’t” (1). I find this prediction quite valuable and plausible. In a technology driven age, we are looking for innovation, for different thinkers and problem solvers as opposed to replicable job workers with replicable skill sets. Unfortunately, movements in education are constantly pushing standards and standardized testing which only promote standardized process analysis instead of valuing innovation and creativity (4). We are doing a disservice to the next generation if we only teach them standardized skills.

Epistemic gaming offers an alternative form of education that encourages complex thinking, technical language, and sophisticated problem solving skills. According to McCreery (2007), epistemic games can also elicit a positive influence on motivation and reinforcement (558). Gaming can offer students applicable skill sets that may be employed with various situations and encourage ingenuity while providing active engagement in the classroom.

Some problematic aspects to the implementation of epistemic games as an educational tool may include the lack of technology and lack of motivation. Technologically impoverished schools may have access to free softwares, but if they don’t have the hardware capabilities to support the games, then they are obsolete. Some school simply may not have updated systems able to support the software while some school may have limited computers in general. Also, while gaming may engage students who are traditionally disengaged, what will happen to the students who are disinterested in gaming? How will gaming provide motivation for these students?