I would have liked to have known about this game last semester, when we were doing Unit 1: Cells. CellCraft is a free, on-line, educational game where you can build a cell by adding cell organelles, collecting glucose, making ATP and then fight off viruses. This game was made possible by a grant from the Digital Media & Learning Competition. The goal was to make a truly educational game that was also genuinely fun to play. The game will soon have an open forum and eventually downloadable teacher materials.
When you play the game however, be aware that it does not model evolutionary processes – cell organelles did not just ‘appear’ when they were required by the cell. Modelling evolutionary processes would involve a far more complex and time-consuming program. The game helps you to learn and remember the names and functions of various cell organelles. There is a long and somewhat interesting discussion about creationism vs evolution with reference to this game on the Geek Dad blog. In my opinion, the game has achieved it’s goal of assisting students to understand cellular structures and processes in an engaging and student-friendly way.