Mapping Games

Mapping games are an interesting area of interactive, dynamic maps that aid in the learning and understanding of geography. There are many sites devoted to gaming maps, such as http://www.maps.com/FunFacts.aspx and http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/web_games.htm. Most of these games are simply continent, state, country, and capital memorization games. The Sheppard software site also offers landscape maps specific to the regions that the game focuses on.

After more research, I discovered a comprehensive map game that covered many different areas. This game is called GeoNet, http://www.eduplace.com/geonet/ . This game includes many categories including location, physical and human characteristics, physical systems, human systems (population, etc), environment and society, and the uses of geography. However, this game is mostly trivia based and does not focus on the actual reading or understanding of maps.

Sheppard Software offers the most interesting use of map games. The Landscape games are especially interesting. I spent some time playing the United States Geographic Regions game.

This game used narration and visual cues to help the learning process, and provided interactivity on the users part obviously by playing the game. After getting the correction answer in the game, it shows additional information about the place in question. In the screenshot, it is about south central america.

Throughout this search for mapping games, it appears that most developers use several techniques of interactivity to help the learning process. Narration helps the user understand the directions and offer insight into the game. Color is used simply to help in understanding since the games audience is likely to be younger and not interested or require a great level of detail. Extra information about the area, such as the Sheppard Software games, helps understand and visualize the area. I think the most important aspects of these games is that they are intuitive, easy to read and understand, and are generally interesting to play. These aspects should also be the goal of any map project, maybe even moreso when designing a map for a specific audience, where ease of use and understanding may be even more important.