And then SPENT came along

The game I tried is called SPENT, and, to be frank, I loved it! Before encountering this game, and the Charles Dickens one, I did not really see how games could enhance our students’ language learning, because I kept thinking about the traditional games I played as child, like Tetris, Mario, The Prince of Persia (this last one did contain some language input but not nearly as much as SPENT, for instance). And then SPENT came along. Not only does it offer lots of authentic language input, but it also provides lots of information about such an important and relevant topic as is unemployment. At the same time, I think the most important aspect of it is that it raises awareness in such blunt and formidable manner that this is what makes it excellent. I may be oversensitive but the game actually struck a chord with me. This is how it starts:

This is at the very beginning of the game, and then it is your own decisions that take you to the next step, so that is another fantastic feature: this game in a way fosters a sense of committed decision making:

Now, I thought this was very realistic. I don’t know about the numbers (statistics I man) but I am sure that it is possible for a person to have to be facing these questions. It may be that not all these situations coincide, but it may well be that they do, so, it is great if we can raise awareness of this sort through games like this. 

On the other hand, if language awareness is all you’re after, that’s alright too! And this game is great at that too because you may teach or practice lots of different vocabulary and structures through this game. 

I think this game in particular has made me change my mind about this kind of games. I guess I will have to be on the alert for more games like this in the future!