Thrust. Gravity. Momentum. Explosions. Launching naughty pigs forward to their destiny.
It all needs to be mastered in order to win this game. At least that’s what my husband tells me. It’s physics, he says.
I don’t actually play. My girls play with him.
I currently have 348 photo screen captures on my iPhone from this game. That number is not an exaggeration (for once!). The Princess plays the game and likes to save her creations forever. Here’s a sample:
Of course, I couldn’t bring myself to take my husband’s word on this. I had to do the research for myself.
If you aren’t familiar with this game, it features the evil piggies from the ever popular Angry Birds series, but there’s more to it than flinging birds. Players have to invent and design vehicles (often elaborate) to help the piggies reach their goals. There is an element of creativity here, because there are multiple ways to succeed on each level.
It’s an approach that requires a lot more thought than the earlier series and could frustrate younger players, who just want to play with the pigs. – Common Sense Media
Here’s the game play trailer:
So what can they learn from playing this game? Basically, they are solving a puzzle and they need to be creative in order to succeed. Through their play, the explore the basic concepts of gravity, engineering and physics. The game requires a certain amount of trial and error (also known as hypothesis testing) and critical thinking skills to solve the challenges.
This is so hard for me to admit. My husband was right.
Through my research, I discovered that Rovio has come out with even more piggie fun, that can be used interactively in the REAL WORLD. It’s an egg-cooking book app. We’ll be trying this out tonight.
Do your kids play Bad Piggies? Do you have a favorite educational app? Tell me in the comments!
For more on game based learning, see my post What are your kids learning from Minecraft?
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