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00:00 Welcome to Mojo Plays and today we're taking a look at 10 games that had the
00:09 audacity to teach us things. We're not here to be in school, we're here to play
00:14 video games! Before we begin we publish new videos all week long so be sure to
00:24 subscribe to Mojo Plays and ring the bell to be notified about our latest
00:27 videos. Cities Skylines. On the surface Cities Skylines looks like your average
00:38 city management game. It's a successor to SimCity and it's a really good one but
00:43 once you jump in you will find that it is a lot more complicated than that. A
00:48 lot more complicated. Turns out city infrastructure is more complex than
00:53 simply place road here put building there and it really is that difficult in
00:57 real life. There is a science to it to such an insane degree that some players
01:02 have jokingly said how you need an engineering degree to play this game.
01:06 Good luck with however you decide to guide traffic, that's gonna be your
01:10 biggest hurdle. Hearts of Iron 4.
01:20 I will say it is the way to war by sea land and air. Hearts of Iron 4 is one of
01:27 many games set in World War 2 but the way it goes about it gives more
01:30 perspective on how it all went down. Sure you can play the game normally and get a
01:35 general feel for it or you can live out your own alternate history by playing as
01:39 one of the other factions but if you want to participate and really see how
01:43 things really happened there is a difficulty known as historical AI. Under
01:48 this setting all of your opponents will play out just as each army did during
01:52 the course of World War 2. The only flaw here is that they won't react to your
01:57 own doings and play strictly by what did happen instead of what would happen.
02:02 Still it's neat how Hearts of Iron 4 shoved a history lesson into our time
02:07 with it.
02:11 Persona series. School is such a big part of the Persona games, way bigger than
02:23 you might think at first. In addition to your normal stats used in battle you
02:28 have a few social stats you need to work on during your school life. Some of them
02:31 being courage, charm, academics among others. These stats are much more
02:36 important than one would initially think as they will allow you to shop at lower
02:39 prices, access new areas, and talk to certain individuals, thus possibly
02:44 leading to more opportunities for side quests and powers. In order to take full
02:48 advantage of these you absolutely need to pay attention in class, study at
02:53 appropriate times, and do well on your exams. Persona does ask real-life
02:58 questions too so you could say that these games are very much edutainment
03:03 games. It's just like Jump Start guys.
03:10 Chance of Cynar.
03:16 The most important lesson you could ever learn is that if you want anything in
03:25 life you need to learn how to communicate. The power of words matters
03:30 greatly and Chance of Cynar is here to give a language lesson. For the entire
03:34 game you will have to decipher speech and text in order to figure out how to
03:39 progress. Every symbol means something different and eventually you'll learn
03:43 how two symbols can propose a different meaning when together. Perhaps this will
03:48 help some of you on your Duolingo practice in deduction and memorization.
03:59 Kerbal Space Program.
04:03 Ever taken a lesson in rocket science? If you played Kerbal Space Program you
04:12 absolutely have. The goofy nature of the game makes it seem like it's a game of
04:16 crash test dummies from the outside looking in. On the contrary, it is quite
04:21 literally rocket science. You can't just pile on a bunch of boosters and call it
04:26 a day, alright? Kerbal Space Program shows players the challenge in designing
04:30 rockets for space travel. Every detail in the rockets design, from the weight to
04:34 the geometry of the rocket itself, can determine whether your pilots survive
04:38 their trip or not. And if this game determined whether we pass or flunk
04:42 astronaut school, you know that we flunked way more times than we can count.
04:55 Psychonauts 2. I read all about them in True Psychic Tales #1.
05:00 Tragically, none of them were the same after fighting Maligula. Psychonauts 2,
05:06 for all of its witty humor and focus on 3D platforming, is an incredible
05:10 translation of concepts in psychology to game design. Yes, you will explore many
05:15 minds affected by mental disorders like addiction, depression, and paranoia.
05:19 However, some aspects of psychology are taught by making them a part of the
05:24 game's mechanics. One shining example of this is when you are tasked with
05:27 determining a subject's logic and reasoning behind their behavior. In a way,
05:32 Psychonauts 2 can actually help in understanding how others might think
05:36 differently from you, and how different mental disorders can affect them in ways
05:40 outside of your perception.
05:43 "Cilantro reduces the risk of digestive distress, but it tastes like soap. And honestly, I'd rather have the gas."
05:50 Assassin's Creed series. "But you, my son, have not found inner peace. It manifests in
05:57 ugly ways. You are arrogant and overconfident." One of the biggest draws
06:02 of the Assassin's Creed games is how they manage to accurately portray
06:05 different corners of the globe according to different historical periods. Not only
06:10 do they reflect significant aspects of each country's culture, some of the
06:13 games even include key historical figures. The most famous example of these
06:18 is Leonardo da Vinci in Assassin's Creed 2, who helps Ezio by equipping him
06:23 with the hidden blade and giving him a plethora of different inventions to use.
06:27 Some of the later games lean a bit too heavily into the supernatural, but for
06:31 the most part, you can consider these games a light lesson in world history
06:35 and culture. Just don't think it'll help you wing your real-life tests.
06:40 "To win this war, Machiavelli, we need loyal soldiers. By recruiting enemies of the state,
06:45 we arm those who have been disarmed by the Borgia." Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth.
06:52 "You'd like to take this exam."
06:54 Whereas all of our entries focus specifically on sciences, you could say
06:59 Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth is the potpourri entry on our list. Most of the
07:03 Yakuza/Like a Dragon games have lessons both in life and academics
07:08 throughout their sub stories. What makes Infinite Wealth so special? Well, it's
07:12 the fact that taking exams is one of the many side activities you can partake in.
07:17 For a few hundred bucks, you can take tests on marine biology, Hawaiian culture,
07:22 geography, athletics, liquor and bartending, and even two exams dedicated
07:27 to Sega's history. Passing these exams can grant a big boost to your stats too, so
07:33 you might want to consider tackling every single one of these. Just don't be
07:37 surprised if you fail.
07:40 Portal series. "Don't let that horrible person thing discourage you. It's just a
07:49 data point." The Portal games are unique in how they have actually been used in
07:54 the classroom on a few occasions. Indeed, the physics in Portal and its sequel are
07:59 so good that you can use them to teach a variety of concepts revolving around
08:03 physical science. From laws of physics to spatial reasoning, you'll get a grasp of
08:09 various concepts just from playing these games. Various organizations have
08:13 suggested ways teachers can use Portal in schools, and Valve even went so far as
08:17 to offer schools free copies of Portal 2 so they may teach students through the
08:22 in-game level editor. You can also find guides on what concepts the games can
08:26 help educate students on. "As part of a required test protocol, our previous
08:32 statement suggesting that we would not monitor this chamber was an outright
08:36 fabrication. Good job." Minecraft. Like Portal, Minecraft has also found its way
08:43 into the classroom several times over, and it still has a presence in some
08:47 schools. There are entire websites dedicated to helping teachers integrate
08:51 the game into schools, and even on their own, students can learn a great deal
08:56 about engineering and logistics through the simple yet limitless use of Redstone.
09:00 Search up "Minecraft Redstone" on YouTube and you will find an endless
09:05 stream of videos of players making TNT cannons, automatic doors, hidden
09:10 passageways and staircases, fully functioning Game Boys and computers, and
09:15 much, much more. You can spend hours digging into all the different
09:19 machinations people have put together, and it may change the way you see
09:23 Minecraft as a whole.
09:26 But tell us, was there a game that helped inspire your academic pursuits?
09:33 "Wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark and lamentable
09:39 catalog of human crime." Let us know down in the comments, and be sure to subscribe
09:44 to Mojo Plays for more great videos every day.
09:49 [Music]