Discovery Tour: Ancient Greece by Ubisoft
© 2019 Ubisoft
In an interesting turn, the popular but very mature-themed Assassin's Creed: Odyssey has been modified as an education and exploration tool with this second entry in their Discovery Tour series (the first being a mode packed in with Assassin's Creed: Origins). The concept of the Discovery Tour is that of a non-combatative, "virtual museum" where the player may freely explore unimpeded by story or gameplay restraints and engage with historical characters on guided tours through recreations of monuments, ancient cities and more. Requires a UPlay Account and available only for Windows computers. Also be mindful that the game requires 57 GB to install, and a modern graphics card to run well. This time around, the Discovery Tour can be purchased as its own standalone game from the UPlay store, meaning you can enjoy the educational aspect without worry that children might stumble upon the M-rated content of the base Assassin's Creed game. The most violent Discovery Tour ever gets is when you bump into NPCs and they stumble before regaining their balance, which is more silly than anything. As you play, you can gain rewards like new avatars for completing tours which consist of adventuring from one landmark to another, learning and being quizzed at each stop. You can change your in-game avatar from the pause menu, running about as a studied old scholar, a young girl or even the mythical Minotaur. There are also many entries which provide a hefty dose of reading material by encountering them in the game world itself. There are very few interactive learning experiences built on such a robust framework. Discovery Tour: Ancient Greece makes its primary content educational, while still giving you a visually stunning interpretation of Greece and a smooth, exhilarating amount of control as you freely run and climb its architecture, or even fly as a bird, seeing the sights from high above. If a child is having fun while learning, the educational experience is that much more engaging, and this rare combination is on full display with Discovery Tour. Regardless of how you feel about the violence and historical liberties taken for sake of plot in Assassin's Creed, the series has shown value in its recreations. Consider the fire the Notre Dame's roof suffered earlier this year; 2014's Assassin's Creed: Unity features a mostly faithful digital preservation of its design. Ubisoft's decision to cater this content in an appropriate way for all ages to enjoy is admirable indeed, and we hope to see more of this modified, education-oriented content for years to come.
$20, Windows
Teaches: exploration, reading & listening comprehension, history, geography, ancient cultures, ancient theologies, mythology
CTR Rating: 86%