I have been using the wonderful seterra.com to improve my geography, it's the first decent geography quiz that I've seen that has a lot of nice categories
Ask HN: Any good examples of learning through games/puzzles, for adults?
51–60 of 142 posts
Re: Ask HN: Any good examples of learning through games/puzzles, for adults?
#52When I would meet non English speakers they always told me they learned English by playing FINAL FANTASY on super nintendo. One day, after several attempts at learning another language it dawned on me "Why don't I play Final Fantasy in -INSERT LANGUAGE YOU WANT TO LEARN HERE". It works like a charm and you'll find the "translation barrier" will be removed very quickly.
Re: Ask HN: Any good examples of learning through games/puzzles, for adults?
#53Wanna learn history? Pick up some of the Paradox grand strategy games; Europa Universalis, Victoria, Hearts of Iron, Crusader Kings. A side effect is that you'll pick up a lot of geography by osmosis, which is in my experience, the easiest way to learn that subject - you're looking at maps and borders and terrain features constantly. Wargaming is in general a good way to pick up information on historical topics. Most…
definitely agree here. i think i know a tremendous amount about ww2 history since it's a hobby of mine, but wouldn't ya know, through playing hearts of iron 4 i've learned a tremendous amount more about the era and by extension how it shaped the world afterward.
you're also 100% correct regarding geography. it's hard to get a real feeling for exactly how huge asia is until you're having difficulty getting supply to your front line deep in northwestern china. not to mention that i have a pretty good feeling for where all of the tiny pacific islands are now (attu island, i'm looking at you).
Re: Ask HN: Any good examples of learning through games/puzzles, for adults?
#54There's https://vim-adventures.com/ although I never really enjoyed it, it was a fun game for the first 15minutes.
I opened this page to recommend vim-adventures.
A few years ago I tried to get into vim off and on for over a year. I played this game for a few hours and all of a sudden I had the muscle memory needed to navigate vim. I've been a happy vim user for years now.
I can't explain it, but there is something about games that really reinforce this kind of learning.
Re: Ask HN: Any good examples of learning through games/puzzles, for adults?
#55Factorio is one of the most stimulating games I've ever played. It forces one to think about not only layout/design of a system but also the project management aspects - which parts to build when, when to take on "technical debt" by building a temporary "good enough" version, etc.
...this is if you don't look up hints/other people's designs, of course.
Re: Ask HN: Any good examples of learning through games/puzzles, for adults?
#56When I would meet non English speakers they always told me they learned English by playing FINAL FANTASY on super nintendo. One day, after several attempts at learning another language it dawned on me "Why don't I play Final Fantasy in -INSERT LANGUAGE YOU WANT TO LEARN HERE". It works like a charm and you'll find the "translation barrier" will be removed very quickly.
Can you explain further, why final fantasy?
Re: Ask HN: Any good examples of learning through games/puzzles, for adults?
#57A game of connecting different topics on Wikipedia: https://thewikigame.com
The public game room has lots of general random topics, or you can create a private group and make your own challenges with any topics you like.
This is a personal/passion project of mine (and has gotten fairly popular these days). I'm actively working on improving the game, by adding category specific games, different game modes, etc.
Re: Ask HN: Any good examples of learning through games/puzzles, for adults?
#58I was playing Flexbox Zombies for a little while and really enjoyed it.
> This is a Mastery Game. Each section unravels part of the plot, gives you mastery over a new flexbox concept, and presents zombie survival challenges that force you to solidify your new skills like your life depends on it.
https://flexboxzombies.com [free]
He also has a new one called "Grid Critters", which I'm unfamiliar with but it looks like it's a similar thing but space themed and for CSS Grid instead of Flexbox.
https://www.gridcritters.com [paid]
His blog is also really awesome too: http://gedd.ski/
Re: Ask HN: Any good examples of learning through games/puzzles, for adults?
#59Factorio is a fantastic game for learning systems engineering, and thinking in abstractions. It’s a crafting game similar to Minecraft, and a building game like roller coaster tycoon (but factories instead of theme parks). It’s also very very fun!
This game challenges the player to create more and more complex automated systems.
If you liked Technic Mods for Minecraft, you’ll love Factorio.
Re: Ask HN: Any good examples of learning through games/puzzles, for adults?
#60Play The Witness (the-witness.net). The game is full of puzzles which each teach you a different concept. It's a great experience to play this game. Avoid spoilers!
You don't learn any transferable skills tho, all you do is get better at solving The Witness puzzles.
You may also become a better landscape designer.