Gone Surfin' online games edition

My latest Gone Surfin' web column is here. This time, I look at some online games that combine education and fun (it's true!). Much of the column is devoted to ElectroCity.

Really, every game – even the simplest one – has underlying assumptions that teach something. Two of North America's most popular games – The Game of Life and Monopoly – not-so-subtly enforce the consumer culture notion that whoever has the most money and stuff wins. (The new version of Life comes with no cash – instead you get a Visa card that allows you to keep playing even when you're broke. Now there's a great lesson.)

ElectroCity (www.electrocity.co.nz) is an addictive little sim-type game that helps drive home lessons about power management and environmental impact. It was originally designed for school children in New Zealand, but anyone can play and show off their finished cities in a gallery on the site.

You control the destiny of a small town, deciding what kinds of power sources and amenities to build. Coal plants are cheap, but the population is not pleased when a cloud of smog hangs over the town. And when your own coal supplies run out, you're dependent on fluctuating market prices. Go nuclear, on the other hand, and you'll have abundant power but really annoy your citizens.

Previous Gone Surfin' columns are archived in the links to your right.