Mission-US (www.mission-us.org)
© 2010 Thirteen WNET New York
Mission US is a free (grant funded) adventure game that teaches US history. In Mission 1: For Crown or Colony? you help Nat Wheeler, a 14-year-old printer's apprentice in 1770 Boston. Nat must complete tasks, meeting with merchants, soldiers, sailors and poets. The site is currently in beta form, and is open for free registration. Content includes reading primary historical documents, collecting period artifacts, and clicking on “Smartwords” (vocabulary) embedded in the dialog. Nat’s fate rests in players’ hands: Should he complete his apprenticeship and support the Patriots’ cause, remain loyal to the crown, or leave Boston, taking a new job at sea? No matter what path Nat chooses, he witnesses the events of the Boston Massacre and, ultimately, must decide where his allegiance lies. Designed for use at home or in school, the game is divided into five parts, 15-20 minutes each, and may be played individually or collaboratively. In addition to the game, teachers can download support materials and vocabulary activities. While geared to middle-school age kids, the program was developed to enhance current social studies programs in schools and so the games would be applicable for kids from 5th to 9th grades. The games work with kids from different skill levels. According to Grand Communications (who is doing PR for the service) the next game will be on slavery and will be introduced in spring 2011 with two additional games scheduled for 2012. The development team includes historians from the American Social History Project (ASHP) at CUNY, researchers from Education Development Center’s Center for Children and Technology (CCT), and game developers from Electric Funstuff. Mission US is produced by THIRTEEN in association with WNET.ORG.
Windows, Mac OSX, Internet Site
Teaches: history, social studies
CTR Rating: 96%