Using Thrive for educational purposes?

I have been thinking about this for a while. What if teachers used Thrive as an example of evolution? Since it’s free, all you need is a computer! I’m not saying it could only be used for teachers (because that would be stupid lol) , but I think biology teachers could use it instead of boring textbooks or whatnot. As a student forced in school, I think it would be pretty rad to learn from videogames. And hey! I’d actually be engaged for once! It would also give more publicity to the game. Sorry for the stupid idea lol.

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I think thrive could be useful as a edutainment tool in the future but right now probably not

I do think it would be a good idea to have either a educational mode or mod or version of the game made for this purpose

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Exactly!! In the future of course lol, but an educational mode would be coolll…not till the game is done though! :}

I have thought about this before, and I definitely agree. The question would be, what would need to be changed from the normal version, to make it educational?

Hmmm… Well, obviously censored reproduction stuff (unless ur learning about that sTuff) …Maybe a question about evolution every time you die? Or some messages about evolutionnnn? It’s already preeetty educational, so you wouldn’t have to add much lol.

I think that would be great, but I can recommend doing this when all the stages are being worked on, not just microbe stage.

Yeahhhhh… Maybe in like—5/6 years. :}

One of the bigger changes that would have to be made (in the microbe stage at least) is the mitochondria. If I remember correctly, the mitochondria was created when a cell absorbed another, or something similar. currently it is just a part that you can add on.

huhh—I didn’t know that…All I know is it’s the powerhouse of the cell lol.

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tHe eDuCatIoN sySteM hAs faIlEd mE

I think having a in-game wiki would be nice for something like this where you can link things in-game to something in real life.

I think it best to actually ask someone with an educational background before any designs get made though

Yeahhhh…Maybe they could hire a biologist or just a bio teacher in general!

Also maybe it could be made into a lab?..Like, whenever you make major decisions in thrive, you get a multiple choice question or a written response. For exammmplE:

You’re in the cell stage, and your cell divides, then a screen pops up:
Was this mitosis or meiosis?


anddd if u get it rigghhht, you get extra points…anddd if u get it wrong u lOse pointttsss…

or something like that lol.

Why is everyone dismissing the possibility of just learning about cellular organelles with thrive?
Does thrive need to be “complete” for every kind of purpose before, you the community, start pushing it?
We are not going to get the game done if all ideas for how to advertise the game, have “finish the game” as the first step.

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yea trueee, but I’m just saying maybe implement the base game before you guys would focus on an extra game modes or whatnot. (I don’t know though because I’m not a programmer…) Learning about cell organelles is a really good idea though!

Even without a mode like that though, it would still be cool to tell biology teachers or whatnot. Even the cell stage could teach a ton!. . . .themitochondriaisthepowerhouseofthecell—

I don’t think thrive needs an explicitly educational mode, though it might help with marketing it to teachers. Personally, I’ve already learned a ton of stuff about cellular biology from Thrive just in its current state.

True trueee… It’s just a dumb idea for the fUtureee.

An educational mod could consist of a visit by the player. The player could interact with the environment, but he/she would have to go through a path where some sort of text or models would explain a concept.
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So are you guys actually suggesting that Thrive should have “no fun allowed, just education” mode?
I think that really clashes with the design. We want to make a fun science communication game, and not an infamous edutainment title that has the bare minimum to be more fun to be in the computer lab than doing math problems on paper. Thrive should be an actual fun game that has enough science realism to have people learn some of that while playing.

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Yeahhh I get that—Teachers sHould use the game though…it’s got educational value as it is lol.