So I’ve got some online free talk sessions that I do a few times a week mainly with JHS kids. I always prepare a topic with targets and vocab beforehand so they are better equipped with the necessary language. The issue I have with this is that we lose a bit of spontaneity in our talks.
I’d like to introduce some online PC videogames that require good communication while we have some good fun.
The only thing I can think of that would work well would be Overcooked or maybe Uno.
What videogames would you recommend? No shooters, battle royales or ultra violent games please. Light cartoony violence like Fall Guys should be OK.
9 comments
Splatoon maybe?
Bombsquad!
Keep talking and nobody explodes
Off the top of my head: Among Us, Minecraft, Don’t Starve, Portal Knights, Ninja Turtles, Scott Pilgrim vs the World, Unrailed, Castle Crashers, Overcooked, Moving Out, or a variety of the jackbox games if they have access to some sort of tablet.
Co-op portal requires quite a bit of communication actually
I’m not familiar with Overcooked, but I know from experience that Uno is an absolutely awful game to use if your goal is to get students to use English to play it. I’m not super inclined to use it at all, but if I did, it would be as a language-independent ice-breaker to get a group of kids who don’t know each other to start feeling comfortable as a group, and that only works if they’re face-to-face in meatspace. But there are more effective ways to do that.
A lot of games-for-language-learning research uses a manager-operator setup, where 2 learners work together to play the role of 1 player, with one of them giving directions about how to play and the other responsible for implementing directions, alternating roles every so often. Depending on the language ability of your learners, just about any game that doesn’t require rapid reflexes can be played this way. I’ve always wanted to use this approach for a Civilization-style game, but I’ve never had a class with enough learners who can cope with the historical terminology, time to play, and computers with game licenses to do it.
Yup, there are a few hurdles. Game licenses, PC spec requirements, time.
I plan on gifting licenses. Games I buy must be playable on low spec PCs.
It takes two and Unravel. Both games can only be played co-op. They involve puzzle solving and platform jumping. Played them a lot with my kid.
Fall Guys