For this Video Game Exploration, my learning circle and I decided to research a variety of websites. We wanted to find a site or an app that fit the appropriate criteria matter when considering learning games. To go about this, we thought we should choose a specific subject so that we could narrow our search. However, we quickly realized, by doing this, we were missing out on a range of learning games that could be beneficial to children’s learning and development. We wanted to learn about as many quality games as we could so that we would be better prepared to incorporate learning and video games into our curriculum as future teachers. Sites like Education.com, BrainPOP Jr., and PBS Kids were extremely useful because they provided us with a plethora of subject areas. After exploring these different educational sites, we landed on PBS Kids, which offered twenty-nine topics, as seen in the following picture.

We looked through the various topics and played several of the games that highlighted these content areas. Our learning circle discovered that quite a few of the games that related to the traditional subject areas were either repetitive, drill and practice games, not challenging enough, or not engaging enough. For this reason, we decided to expand our search and began looking at other topics including engineering games. There, we found the game titled “Hamster Run,” which references the “The Ruff Ruffman Show.”  Once the player selects this game, they are directed to a title page where they are to click the arrow to begin. The main character, a dog named Ruff Ruffman, describes the purpose of the game. That is, the hamsters cannot reach their carrots, so the players have to help build a way for the hamsters to get their food. The player has the option to listen or to skip this intro, but either way, they end up on a screen that has them select “Play” or “Create.” However, to press “Create,” and then build their own challenges, they have to play and unlock different levels first. When they press play, the player is taken to the list of challenges, which are shown in the picture below. I appreciate how students have to unlock the different levels as they play and improve their skills.

Once they select their level, they can also choose which hamster they want to play with it.  The more they play, the more hamsters the players get to choose from. As I am navigating through the game, I am discovering more and more ways children can continuously change their game so that they stay interested and challenged. This can even be seen throughout the game itself. Moreover, Ruff Ruffman explains how the player has to help the hamster get the carrot by tapping and dragging the blocks onto the board or dragging them off to remove them. As you can see from the picture below, the square is the only block highlighted, which means it is the only shape the player can use to reach the carrot. The other shapes and lines will become available as the player successfully completes more challenges. Meaning, the game itself is continuously changing and getting harder as the player becomes more familiar and better at problem-solving.

As soon as the player believes they have used their problem-solving skills correctly, they can press “Go,” and the hamster will run to their carrot. If their path does not work, they can press “Undo” and try again until the hamster successfully makes it across to their carrot, as shown here.

After the hamster has reached the carrot, the player then unlocks the next challenge and has access to a new level. These different levels are what immediately drew me to this game.

Often times, games become so repetitive that children either become bored, uninterested, or unengaged. The purpose of the game is no longer met because the child is not active in their learning. This game, however, allows children the chance to be entertained, engaged, and educated. I know, as I was learning to play the game, I was quickly drawn in by the characters and the choices I was given. Ruff Ruffman clearly stated the directions and provided me with step by step directions, so that I could understand what I needed to do. That way, I was able to focus solely on the purpose of the game, my decision-making, and my problem-solving skills, rather than trying to figure out how to play the game.