Danica Davidson
October 28, 2021 
The Japanese family magazine President Family recently did an interesting survey with students from Tokyo University, one of Japan’s top colleges. The magazine asked the students, all of whom passed their entrance exam the first time, which video games offer the best educational benefits for kids. Think about how you’d answer, and then take a look below for the students’ responses.
In twelfth place they put in historical games by Koei Tecmo Games, because these (as you can guess from the title) can teach kids about history. Some of their games include Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Dynasty Warriors.
In eleventh place is the Inazuma Eleven series because of the problem-solving involved.
Number ten is Candy Crush. It also has problem-solving, and you have to move swiftly.
At number nine we get SimCity, with students noting it demands critical thinking, multitasking and problem-solving.
At number eight is the computer game Minesweeper. You need to use math and logic to do well in this one.
At seven is the Japanese word-puzzle game Kotoba no Puzzle: Moji Pittan. You use hiragana tiles, so it will help with your Japanese vocabulary.
Moving on to number six, we have Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin. Here you can learn about farming and resource management.
Number five is the very popular Animal Crossing. In it you can learn about wildlife as well as improve your money management skills.
Number four is the Professor Layton series. To go further into this game you have to solve puzzles, which explains why it’s on this list.
At number three is Minecraft, with students noting it’s good for creativity, spatial awareness, and logical thinking. It gets used in classrooms already for these reasons.
Number two is the Momotaro Densetsu series, which can help kids with map-reading, math, statistics, and strategy.
So what’s number one? The students voted Pokémon! They chose this because of the math, strategy and memory work you need to do.
What video games do you think are educational?
Source: SoraNews24
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, and its sequel, Manga Art for Intermediates, with professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
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