Games you accidentally learned from

[Ryan Savage]

I used to be a really big fan of two old city building games called Caesar and Pharaoh. Without really realizing it as a kid they both ended up teaching me a lot about history in a way that helped me out with school down the road. I didn't play them to learn, but I kind of ended up doing it accidentally and I thought it was great.

I was wondering if any of you guys had games that you felt did the same thing for you? Doesn't necessarily have to be about history either. How about a game where you learned some math? Science? English? Maybe even another language? But you didn't buy the game specifically with that goal in mind.

Does anyone have any good examples?

 

[daveman247]

The only thing i can think of recently was being able to recall the names of the ww11 weapons in a museum from memory alone. Thankyou medal of honour/ Call of duty

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

I know so much about World War 2 because of the war games. The Africa campaign, Operation Overlord, the Battle of Iwo Jima, available technology and vehicles, Stalingrad, all that junk.

I give high props to Rollercoaster Tycoon, teaching me all about supply and demand, management, loans, spending available money, etc.

 

[Hal10k]

You'd be surprised how much you can learn about economics just from playing trading sims. The downside was when I found that most stores will not buy goods that you purchased for 80% of their price a few blocks over.

On an unrelated note, I have a few crates of still fresh Sony Walkmen if anybody wants them.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

I know the names of several more Japanese warlords than I would otherwise because of Shogun 2: Total War, and I know quite a few folk tales and legendary beasts from Japanese mythology due to Okami and Touhou. Including times when knowing one complemented the other: Okami's more traditional outlook on the crow tengu showed me why Aya has a fan, for instance.

 

[krazykidd]

I learned to read old english by playing final fantasy ( mainly FF1 and FF4). Actually now that i think about it , final fantasy taught me to read periode. I was about 3 when the game came out . And i saw my dad playing it . Naturally i wanted to play . My dad had no objection , but he refused to read the entire game for me . He said if i wanted to play it i had to learn to read for myself , he would only help me with difficult words . I must have been the child with the most motivation to learn to read at that point . And learn to read i did.

 

[Kvaedi]

Age of Empires definitely taught me more about history than any class ever has, and more importantly made it interesting enough that I wanted to read about it on my own as well.

 

[BLAHwhatever]

History, culture, language, geography from the Total War games
Facts about buildings in Rome, Istanbul and Constantinople, historic figures and history from Assassins Creed
So many different things from Civilisation. Those famous quotes. I know em all.

 

[rutcommapat]

The Trail Blazer minigame in Saints Row 2 taught me that when you light a tiny ATV on fire it gains the ability to magically make anything it touches explode. Can't wait to try that out.

 

[TephlonPrice]

Assassin's Creed games.

Believe it or not, it's like playing a history lesson where you can kill people in a variety of interesting ways. I really think Assassin's Creed is one of the most educational games I've played - and that's saying something.

 

[Lunar Templar]

because of Castlevania SotN and Soul Reaver, i had to hit a dictionary to find out the meanings of a few words

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

Assassin's Creed games.

Believe it or not, it's like playing a history lesson where you can kill people in a variety of interesting ways. I really think Assassin's Creed is one of the most educational games I've played - and that's saying something.

No kidding, especially the second one. I spent a lot of time reading every piece of info on every single person I ran into and every building I climbed. I know a couple times I went and looked up a few people and places just out of curiosity.

 

[Leemaster777]

Persona 4 actually taught me a great deal.

I had no idea what a "senpai" was until that. I also learned that you're supposed to drink 2 liters of water a day. I also found out that takoyaki are basically batter-fried octopus.

I could go on, but you get the general idea.

 

[DioWallachia]

because of Castlevania SotN and Soul Reaver, i had to hit a dictionary to find out the meanings of a few words

I learned English by playing the Legacy of Kain series and learned that you dont need super ultra graphics to appreciate the story, you just need to work into the body language of the characters to make them FEEL alive (Unlike the Starcraft portraits and Black & White creatures that constantly look their face expressions) I liked the voice acting so munch that when i heard it in my language i said: "FUCK IT, back to listening the Shakespearean actors"
Diablo 2 in multiplayer helped a bit but that its more like the Michael Bay school of Butchered English for 7 years old.

 

[mik1]

Games based in the middle ages, I learned of a lot of old english.

Not that it is practical or anything
just kinda cool.

 

[neonsword13-ops]

Persona 4 actually taught me a great deal.
I had no idea what a "senpai" was until that. I also learned that you're supposed to drink 2 liters of water a day. I also found out that takoyaki are basically batter-fried octopus.

Oddly enough, Persona 4 has a great amount of learning potential, even if some of the questions that you learn inside and out of school are outright stupid. (See question: "What is tallest mountain in the solar system". Answer = Mt. Olympus on Mars. My ass.)

I also learned a lot about Japanese culture and mythology from constant google searches on the various Personas and their names. Even when you leave Inaba to visit Gekkoukan, it gives you the origin story of Izanagi and Izanami and their terrible relationship. That origin story is what lead to the revolving conflict between the Main character (Who holds Izanagi within his soul) and Izanami throughout the entire game.

It's fucking brilliant.

OT: Wind Waker taught me how to read when I was a kid. That's about it, though.

 

[Terminate421]

Ironically, call of duty 2 made me pass a history test.

I think Gears of war actually saved me at one point, a large amount of shit on a shelf at a local store was collapsing and with instinct I hid behind a concrete pillar that was next to me. When I looked around, I saw that there were 200 lbs boxes where I had been standing before hand and around me.

 

[chadachada123]

...My world history teacher way back in high school once asked the teacher what bronze was made of.

...Because of Runescape, I correctly pipped in with copper and tin.

That's about it for me, because modern games don't have shit to do with the real world.