Disclaimer: This was a planned post from months ago, long before anyone had any idea that schools would be going virtual and many parents opting to homeschool their kids instead. If your children are distance learning and have a chromebook from school, I have absolutely no knowledge of how that contract works, and/or if they are able to install their own content on those laptops. I’m also not sure if these games would work on chromebooks. If you’re homeschooling, you understand that this is meant to be a supplement and not a replacement for the child’s entire curricula. It’s a wonderful addition to help reinforce what they’re already learning, or possibly trigger any new interests - and it’s definitely helpful on those days when you’re low on energy but need to give your kids something educational to focus on. We love games here, but these are an accessory, not the core of what we do. We still do other lesson work including hands-on science, reading books, watching documentaries and exploring wherever possible while staying safe, i.e. our back yard.

This may or may not come as a surprise to you, but I am an avid video game geek. My interests are generally a whole list of weird dichotomies, for instance how I love certain aspects of a far more simple life (gardening, hand stitching, baking bread, etc.), and yet at the same time I’m techy to the point of having built my own gaming rig and over the past 15+ years have logged a significant number of hours into games. My first personal computer that wasn’t a laptop I needed for college was gifted to me by my husband for our first Christmas together, in pieces of course (and then he spent the entire day teaching me how to put it together). I don’t play nearly as often or as much as I used to - before kids that was pretty much most of I did (of course I still had my art and an ETSY shop back in ye olde Etsy days when it was more of a community), and it’s the thing my husband and I bonded over, and still do. Lately I tend to turn to my art first, and then if I’m in a creative funk I’ll take a break to play a game. Oh the days of us waking up before sunrise to play a co-op game before heading off to work, or our occasional staycations just to play games together all day. These days you won’t see me up before the sun. Kids wear me out.

Why am I telling you this? Because the next few homeschool posts are going to be a series of lists of educational games (though they do take me some time to collect and put together) - video games, not board games, because we already have an awesome resource for that list. And yes, I do mean series, because there are SO MANY GAMES. I thought that maybe it would help my credibility in providing you with these lists if you knew I was coming from the point of a gamer mom who homeschools and incorporates gaming into the curriculum. A lot of gaming. I do actually limit screen time a bit - some parents find their kids focus better if they get to do some gaming in the morning. Mine will not, and so thanks to Microsoft family settings, I can set hours when they are blocked from launching certain games (so yes, that way they can still play an educational game, but not some of the others). My daughter is then motivated to get through all her schoolwork in the morning, so that way she has plenty of free time in the afternoon to game and play and whatever, and I can then focus on my own work. So it’s not necessarily limited in how many hours per day; they just need to get their work done first. If they spend the entire day procrastinating and not doing their work, all I do is remind them that the clock’s ticking. There’s no yelling. A day here and there reminding them that procrastinating didn’t pay off because they now have more work to do and didn’t get any game time, and they will quickly learn how to prioritize and balance their time (a necessary life skill I might add). That being said, even when it’s their free time, they’ll still go outside and play, it’s not all just video games.

The lists will be split up into several sections. Free (including retro games), ones that cost $ that can be run on most computers, and ones that need a gaming rig. There are a number of games that will not run at all, or with great difficulty (to the point of frustration in the form of lagging and crashing), unless you have invested into a proper gaming computer. SOME of these games may be available on consoles (PS4, Xbox, Nintendo), but we tend not to do consoles in our home because, first of all, everyone would be fighting for a turn (we prefer playing co-op games on our own screens instead of split screens), and second of all, it ends up costing more in the long run with how often you need to upgrade consoles. Every few years, there’s a new $400 console. A good gaming machine is definitely more of a hefty investment upfront, however it will last you years, only needing to replace a component here or there to upgrade instead of replacing the entire thing (I built this computer 8 years ago). Not to mention, there’s a lot more you can do on a computer, so it’s just more efficient for us. We do own consoles, they just don’t get used as often. Also, these games are mostly PC-only games, though a number of them are available on Mac OS X or Linux, which I did make a note of if they are.

While I did my best to separate games based on whether or not it would run on most computers, I don’t know what computer you have. You will want to check the computer requirements to see if it will run on your machine. Any games you purchase through Steam can be refunded no questions asked: “The Steam refund offer, within two weeks of purchase and with less than two hours of playtime, applies to games and software applications on the Steam store. Here is an overview of how refunds work with other types of purchases.” Epic has the same return policy for any games purchased through them. So if you buy a game and find that you cannot run it on your machine, just return it and try something else. The games on the “needs gaming rig” are ones I know for certain that you need a gaming rig.

This post, as you can tell from the title, is all about the science games! You will see some games that span several sections and posts, because they can be used for multiple subjects, and I thought it would make sense to include it in this manner. The Minecraft games require the Microsoft edition of the base game (not Java or mobile). I am including the scenarios in the free list, because they’re free if you already own the Microsoft edition (there are worlds that you have to pay money for on top of the base games). Minecraft for Microsoft can run on most newer computers.

You will also see retro games on this list. One of the ways that IT companies encouraged families and schools to purchase personal computers (moving it outside of a strictly business-oriented purpose) was by making it educational! How else do you entice the future generation of IT personnel than by sucking them into an inspiring video game? Not to mention, while a parent might’ve been perfectly happy continuing to fill out their tax forms manually or on a typewriter (my parents did the typewriter thing), or writing letters by hand rather than investing in an expensive piece of machinery, it’s really hard to pass up a “this will give your kids a serious advantage in the future” - a sentiment that remains true to this day. Thanks to the internet archive, these games are now freely available to the public, and many can be played right on the browser with their built-in DOS emulator.

I am not including VR games, because at this point in time, most people don’t have a VR headset, and there aren’t enough games out there for most people to justify the cost of buying them. Not to mention, until these gadgets reduce in size somewhat, they’re really made for heads that are sized teen and older. Yeah, you can adjust them smaller, but from our experience the kids don’t really feel comfortable wearing them. They’re heavy and bulky. We were early investors of this ourselves, but for the time being I think we’re just waiting it out until technology improves, the market expands and the costs go down before we invest further.

While this is a massively long list, it is far from comprehensive. There is no way I could possibly list every single educational game out there. I did make an effort to avoid any games that are poorly rated or reviewed (most games will have a few negatives of course, but I paid attention to reviews that had to do with gameplay not working as opposed to personal opinions which are subjective). Just because a game isn’t mentioned on here doesn’t mean it’s not necessarily educational, I just may have not seen it myself. In fact, if you know of any that I missed that belong on here, feel free to leave a comment below! Also worth noting, many of these are what are called Early Access. They are working, playable games, but they may be a bit buggy in some ways, still need to be refined, and are hopefully being actively updated on a regular basis as the creators add new content. I have enjoyed a number of early access games. It’s definitely a bit of a gamble, in the sense that there’s always a chance that the developers will abandon the game, but you can still enjoy the game that is playable thus far. They tend to avoid doing that, however, because gamers will not forgive a developer who pushes out early access games, makes money off them, and then abandons only to create another one. You’ll see reviews that point it out. If there’s an issue, you can always hop on the message boards to notify the developers so they can fix it in a future update (the times I’ve had to do this, they are responsive and have fixed the issues I’ve run into). PS. I do plan to add on to this list if I come across anything else worth adding, so definitely save/pin this list as a handy resource.

Last note: you can always look up the games on youtube to watch people actively playing and reviewing the games. I’d be amazed if there isn’t a video out there for every game on this list. Many will even post walkthroughs in case you get stuck.

mixed bag (a little bit of everything)

free (Including Retro)

• (RETRO) Knowledge Adventure created a vast multitude of games that were purely educational (they may be more familiar to you as JumpStart, which they later changed their name to), and many of their games are available in the internet archive. Some can be streamed through the browser, while others are an ISO file you can download. An ISO is basically a CD-ROM but on your computer. You can burn this to a disk if you still have a CD burner installed, or you can simply mount the ISO on your computer, creating a virtual drive, if you have Windows 8 or higher. Older versions of Windows require an ISO mounting software such as WinCDEmu. Not sure what you do on a Mac but some of them are Mac friendly. The ones you can stream on your browser include Knowledge Adventure, Science Adventure, Science Adventure II, Dinosaur Adventure, 3-D Dinosaur Adventure, Space Adventure, 3-D Body Adventure, America Adventure, Sports Adventure, Bug Adventure, and Undersea Adventure.

• (RETRO) Museum Madness - this is a really fun game that touches on a number of subjects in both history and science as you work to save a computerized museum (all the exhibits are robots) from a computer virus that scrambled everything.

$, Can run on most current computers

• WoMen in Science - ($14) While farming games are a dime a dozen (and I will include some in some of my lists), this one takes an interesting new spin on it where you need to pay attention to harvesting materials to keep the ecosystem in balance. “ progress at you own pace in 4 skill trees : Biotechnology (hydroponics, aquaponics, genetics, ...), Electronics (build drones and robots), Food Chemistry (Fermentation, Smoking, Sous-Vide cooking, ...) and Biointensive Agriculture (permaculture, bio control, ...),” and not to mention, there’s a focus on women in science. What’s not to love?

• Eufloria - ($15, Mac OS X compatible) a rather abstract ambient science puzzler that includes components of evolutionary theory with a pleasant, classical soundtrack to go with it. “Engage in space exploration, conquest, plant growth and bio mechanical evolution. Conquer asteroids in deep space and use their resources to grow and nurture semi-organic plants and creatures to do your bidding. Plan your strategy against AI opponents that all vie for the same resources and offer fierce opposition.”

• Spore ($20) - This game is slightly dated, but I remember when it came out and it was this new amazing thing, and loads of fun. That being said, still totally playable and definitely still educational. It’s not just science - you get some social studies going on there too when it comes to negotiating with other creatures, and later on when you fly to space. The science part is mostly in the beginning, when you evolve from a single celled organism based on the choices you make into a new alien life form.

$, Needs a gaming rig

• ECO - ($30) This is a game that is fairly complex, and has a multiplayer system built into it. You build a civilization from the ground up (so some social studies in here too), but all your choices have an impact on the environment. Great game to illustrate human impact on our ecosystems. I put it under “mixed bag” because you have other sciences built in here as well - earth sciences when studying resources, possibly astronomy (there’s something about surviving a meteor impact). Check it out!

biology

free (including retro)

• Minecraft - Marine Biologist Roleplay - (Note: Requires Microsoft Minecraft base game) This is probably my personal favorite of the free EDU minecraft scenarios. Complete tasks like locating various underwater species while checking out various underwater biomes like the mangroves, a sunken ship, a trench, etc. Bonus treasure hunt to encourage further exploration of these biomes included.

• Minecraft - Bees! - (Note: Requires Microsoft Minecraft base game) My daughter and I played this one multiplayer - the task is to start your own hive for the purpose of making an income. I wasn’t sure if I should leave this for the list on civics (running a business), but since they do educate on the topic and importance of bees in the game, I thought it would be good to include it here as well. There is no other way to make money in this game, you can only trade honey money which you earn by selling honey.

• (RETRO) Odell Down Under - you play a fish trying to survive living in a coral reef - great game to include in a unit study on aquatic ecosystems.

• Cell to Singularity - (Mac OS X compatible) it’s a very simple clicker game that teaches about evolution. What’s a clicker game? There’s not much hand-eye coordination necessary, just a lot of mouse clicking, so it’s fairly accessible to most kids (even those who might be okay with reading/clicking but have a harder time with more complicated keyboard keys/combinations - which is really the hardest part for kids when it comes to learning how to play video games. All those keyboard controls.)

$, can run on most current computers

• It’s Spring Again! - ($1, Mac OS X and Linux compatible) this is for those really little ones, aka 2 and up! This is the game that gets them working on those hand-eye coordination skills needed to operate a computer. And even better, it teaches about the seasons! I got both of mine started on this one to help them learn how to use a mouse.

• Freddi Fish series - (cost depending on which one you get or all of them) - this is for the little ones, aka early elementary age kids. Cute, cartoony characters with underwater mystery adventures. Possibly falls under other subjects as well, includes working on those problem solving skills.

• Sparkle 2 Evo - ($5, Mac OS X compatible) This is a fairly casual game from my experience, you float around in some sort of primordial soup consuming and evolving based on what you consume. From the creator description “We give you control over your Sparkle's development and wellbeing, and you have one goal - to evolve. Whilst exploring the Sparkle Void, you find various nutritious elements to eat. Sometimes you will even have to fight for food with other species. You become what you eat - you get to choose whether your sparkle becomes a fast and aggressive carnivore, a sluggish but fast-eating herbivore, or an omnivore, whose features lie somewhere in between. Insight to your Sparkle's DNA strand will give you information about the progress and will help you plan which microelements you want to focus on eating next. You will also get to fight giant bosses from time to time.”

• Megaquarium - ($25, Mac OS X compatible) Another game I absolutely love and have been thoroughly sucked into playing. You can work through the scenarios (or play sandbox) building an aquarium while taking into consideration the needs for the fish in the tank and whether or not they can coexist peacefully. The workshop allows the gamer to expand even further, with aquarium enthusiasts who have created models of additional fish. The only thing I wish they had included was more of a wiki so you could really learn about where this fish lives (which part of the world, the biome, etc.), but you can always grab a book or a tablet to do the research as you put your aquarium together. Looks can be deceiving - it’s a bit more challenging of a game than it would seem at first glance. Definitely work through the scenarios.

• CHKN - ($15, Mac OS X compatible) This is a very very very silly game, and a bit reminiscent of Spore (which I mentioned above). It’s not educational in the sense that you learn about specific creatures. It’s more educational in a Dr Frankenstein sort of way, where you put together creatures based off various body parts. It could spark a discussion on evolution, how different parts of animals may benefit them to survive. “CHKN is an open-world sandbox game where life itself is your strongest tool! Create fantastic creatures in an open-world sandbox game like no other. Explore, craft, and survive—all with the help of your very own creations.”

• ABZU - ($20, controller recommended) This is a very artistic, visually beautiful underwater exploration game, with an equally wonderful soundtrack to go with it. “ Immerse yourself in a vibrant ocean world full of mystery and bursting with color and life. Perform fluid acrobatics as the Diver using graceful swimming controls. Discover hundreds of unique species based on real creatures and form a powerful connection with the abundant sea life. Interact with schools of thousands of fish that procedurally respond to you, each other, and predators. Linger in epic seascapes and explore aquatic ecosystems modeled with unprecedented detail. Descend into the heart of the ocean where ancient secrets lie forgotten. But beware, dangers lurk in the depths. "ABZÛ" is from the oldest mythologies; AB, meaning water, and ZÛ, meaning to know. ABZÛ is the ocean of wisdom.” The quest aspect of it is pretty short, but you could spend a lot of time exploring. Definitely a good pick for kids into marine biology.

• Tyto Ecology ($7, Mac OS X compatible) - This is a really wonderful game that’s reminiscent of Bio-Dome (remember that movie?). You have a climate controlled dome where you build an ecosystem, but you don’t start out with everything all at once. It’s definitely a paced learning environment, as you earn more points to unlock additional producers, consumers and decomposers, not to mention you need to keep them all in balance. Or don’t, and see what happens. They have DLCs which unlock additional biomes, but they’re also relatively cheap, and there’s plenty of gameplay with the base game.

• Plague, Inc: Evolved - ($15, Mac OS X compatible) With the current raging pandemic, this game is rather on topic. But what’s really cool is that the creators of the game donated a quarter of a million dollars from its proceeds to help fight Covid-19, and they absolutely deserve to be supported just for that. And, in turn, your kids get to learn about pandemics.

• Microcosmum: survival of cells - ($8) Evolutionary microbiology game. “Join the wonderful and amazing world of microorganisms. Become part of a natural selection in the microcosm. Enjoy the atmospheric music and this beautiful world. Relaxing gameplay and the whole atmosphere will let you lose yourself in the game. The freedom of control will let you create a large amount of different strategic manoeuvres. Become the only winner in this battle for survival.”

• Grounded - ($30) Newly released game reminiscent of Honey I Shrunk The Kids. You do need an Xbox profile to play, but it’s free to set up, just an extra step. There is a multiplayer available, which we’ve tested out in our family, but as an early access game it’s still quite buggy (pun intended). Kids will learn how to craft a shelter, learn about how different common garden insects work. If you attack an ant near other ants, they will all come to attack you. Orb weavers leave spider webs everywhere. Wolf spiders hide out in holes and under tree roots. I was surprised to see how aggressive lawn mites are - never knew this. Drinking dew is healthy, but stagnant water will make you sick. Sap is used to make torches. And so on. It’s a very clever concept, and I personally do enjoy playing the game. There is an option for arachnophobic players to change the appearance of spiders (all the way down to a floating legless blob) if that’s an issue. That being said, my kids haven’t had any issues with their in-game appearance.

• Parkasaurus - ($25) Newly launched zoo tycoon game in the style of Jurassic Park. If you like the look of Planet Zoo (mentioned below), this is like Planet Zoo with dinosaurs. Build a dino park, hatch and care for dinos, and manage the park financially (so math stuff in there too).

• Wolf Quest - ($15) There are two versions of the game - the original and this anniversary edition. My wolf-obsessed daughter has both, and in her opinion she likes the original better because the anniversary is too hard for her. She’s 8, and has been gaming for some time, so you can probably go based off that if you’re choosing this for your child. If you have an older child who likes a challenge, try the anniversary. If you have a younger child and/or one who is inexperienced, go with the original. It’s a wolf-simulator game - you play the part of a wolf, hunt for food, try to find a pack and mate, etc.

$, needs a gaming rig

• Bee Simulator - ($30) this game is supposed to be released later on this year. From the description: “Live the big adventure of a small bee! Explore a world brimming with life in which you collect pollen, defy dangerous wasps and save your hive. Play with others in three game modes, including co-op and PvP on split screen.”

• ARK: Survival Evolved - ($50+) This game is a mix of fact and fantasy. There are models of real historical dinosaurs. There are also mythological creatures. The dinosaurs do behave in a realistic manner, in the sense that carnivores will chase and kill you (as well as other more passive dinosaurs). The passive ones won’t. You can tame them and ride them. While there is an online component, you can also play your own game or have a server to play with friends only, so you don’t have to deal with griefers. Not that all gamers are aholes, but there are definitely enough out there to ruin the fun. While the game is a bit rated for mature, we did a bit of a controlled exposure with our daughter as a toddler, where she would “ride the dinos” with daddy (that’s how we got our kids into gaming, he would take them on his lap and they’d play together while he taught them the controls), and for a short while she was really into dinosaurs as a toddler. I would classify this as an educationalish game.

• Planet Zoo - ($45) Made by the same creators as Planet Coaster (see below, under Physics), this is a zoo tycoon game, where you learn about various zoo animals as you create habitats for them while taking into account their native habitat. It even gets picky about what plants you place within the habitat, and the type of terrain within. There is an entire wiki included which tells you more about the animal. In the more challenging aspect of the game, you gain eco points by raising and releasing animals back into the wild which you can then use to trade/purchase more costly animals (that are a bit more difficult to raise). If you don’t keep your animals happy, you end up with animal rights activists protesting in front of your habitat until you fix things. Really, it’s a well done game. The only thing I’m not as happy about are the DLC, which I feel are far too costly for what they provide, but that’s just an annoyance. You don’t need the DLC to play the game, however, it just unlocks additional animals/habitats.

• Beyond Blue - ($20) those who are drawn to ocean sciences will love this recently launched game inspired by Blue Planet II and featuring some of its content. “Set in the near future, Beyond Blue explores the mysteries of our ocean through the eyes of Mirai, a deep-sea explorer and scientist. Become a part of a newly-formed research team using groundbreaking technologies to see, hear, and interact with the ocean in a more meaningful way than has ever been attempted.”

anatomy

free (including retro)

• Minecraft - The Human Eye - (Note: Requires Microsoft Minecraft base game) Explore the inner workings of the human eye by getting an inside look of a model eyeball.

• Minecraft - The Human Body - (Note: Requires Microsoft Minecraft base game) This is a huge world that allows you to explore various systems within the body (like walking through the digestive tract, or riding a minecart through the circulatory system).

$, can run on most current computers

• Surgeon Simulator - ($10, Mac OS X compatible) I wouldn’t recommend this for younger kids, I mean… just watch the videos and determine for yourself if you’re okay with your kids playing this? It’s not inappropriate just, gory. Dark sense of humor needed. It’s fairly comical thanks to the ridiculous physics engine and difficulty controlling your hands. Like the game of operation, but a bit more graphic. I’ll let you decide.

• Project Hospital - ($25+DLC, Mac OS X/Linux compatible) I’m including this here even though it’s more of a hospital sim, because you can diagnose your patients. So you get some problem solving/management education in here as well.

Earth science

Free

• The Climate Trail - A game inspired by the Oregon Trail but based on climate change. “What is climate change and how does it happen? How does climate change affect the world, especially in America? You can learn all about it while playing this RPG adventure game. You can learn the devastation that is caused by climate change and how it turns an area that was once green into inhabitable places for humans. Wildfires are getting wilder, the land is completely dry, and there is no water to be found. Your entire home and the surrounding area has become a wasteland. It feels like it’s apocalypse now! It might even be the last day on Earth. Your only hope is to flee to Canada where the land is still lush and green.”

$, Can Run on most current computers

• Storm Chasers - ($13) Exactly what it sounds like, forecast storms and go get great photos of tornadoes (without dying of course, I mean a game needs its challenges).

• Weather Lord - ($5) The first of the weather lord series, very simple time management game play that focuses on controlling the weather. Definitely geared more towards younger audiences. The later games are a bit more challenging and improved, including Hidden Realm, In Search of the Shaman, and Royal Holidays Collectors Edition

• The Geology Game - ($1, SteamOS and Linux compatible) Good supplement for learning about those rocks and minerals (which we are studying this year). Not the most amazing thing based on reviews, but it’s a dollar, it is educational, it counts.

physics

free (including retro)

• Minecraft - Lumen: Power Challenge - (Note: Requires Microsoft Minecraft base game) You are tasked with solving the problem of power generation for a town that’s losing power. In the process you learn about different methods of power generation including wind, solar and nuclear, and there’s an energy quiz at the end!

• (RETRO) The Incredible Machine - STEM game (Engineering) involving Rube Goldberg type contraption puzzles.

$, can run on most current computers

• Contraption Maker - ($10, Mac OS X compatible) Like The Incredible Machine above, it’s a Rube Goldberg style game, where you build various contraptions to solve puzzles.

• World of Goo - ($15) Really fun physics-based game, where you have to move your goos to the pipe by building squishy, stretchy structures from goo balls. Comedic factor included if your kids laugh hysterically at the word goo balls like mine do.

• Poly Bridge - ($10, Mac OS X compatible) this is a fun bridge-building simulator with both a campaign (quests) and sandbox mode, allowing you to test out various bridge designs - will they stand or fail?

• Human Fall Flat - ($15) Silly physics engine game with floppy characters that you get to throw around.

• Crayon Physics Deluxe - ($20, Mac OS X compatible) Cute 2D physics puzzle game that brings crayon drawings to life as you doodle solutions to puzzles.

• ElectricVLab - ($12) Not visually exciting, but it’s a game about building circuits. Safely. Without hot soldering irons potentially burning your house down.

• Bridge Constructor series ($10+ depending on if you buy one or all, Mac OS X/Linux compatible) very popular series of games in which you build bridges to get vehicles from point A to B.

• Bridge Constructor Portal - ($10, Mac OS X/Linux compatible) Game that merges the original Portal game and the Bridge Constructor game to create a fun new take on bridge construction.

$, needs a gaming rig

• Planet Coaster - ($45) Amusement park tycoon game where you’re tasked with designing a theme park. Physics comes into play when you start building your own roller coasters, and have to figure out how to get the cars moving, how to slow them down, how to bank the turns, etc. to entice your visitors to ride it. If the G-forces are too strong, or the ride is too nauseating, they won’t ride it.

• Scrap Mechanic - ($20) This might work on a less beefy rig, but I’m putting it on here just in case. This is a really fun survival game where you collect scraps to build vehicles and travel the world. “Enter the creative paradise of Scrap Mechanic! Build fantastic machines, go on adventures with your friends and defend against waves of evil Farmbots in this imaginative multiplayer survival sandbox. With Scrap Mechanic’s powerful creation tools you can engineer your own adventures!”
  

astronomy

free (including retro)

• Minecraft - International Space Station - (Note: Requires Microsoft Minecraft base game) This scenario allows your child to explore a model of the international space station in minecraft! As with other EDU scenarios, there is a quest involved, but younger players can also simply enjoy roaming the space station.

• (RETRO) Shuttle the Space Flight Simulator - a realistic shuttle simulator for your budding astronaut (or science unit).

• (RETRO) Microsoft Space Simulator - a mix of real and hypothetical, you can fly around space and explore various objects including comets, nebulae, etc.

• Moonbase Alpha - This is a game developed by NASA where you’re tasked with building a moon base. “In Moonbase Alpha, you assume the exciting role of an astronaut working to further human expansion and research. Returning from a research expedition, you witness a meteorite impact that cripples the life support capability of the settlement. With precious minutes ticking away, you and your team must repair and replace equipment in order to restore the oxygen production to the settlement.”

$, can run on most current computers

• Universe Sandbox - ($29, Mac OS X compatible) While this does not require VR to enjoy the game (hence why it’s on this list), it is in fact supported in VR. So, if you got one, use it, if not, you can still play it. “Create and destroy on an unimaginable scale... with a space simulator that merges real-time gravity, climate, collision, and material interactions to reveal the beauty of our universe and the fragility of our planet. Includes VR support for HTC Vive, Oculus Rift+Touch, and Windows Mixed Reality.”

• OPUS: The Day We Found Earth - ($9, Mac OS X compatible) An adorable little space exploration game with a storyline about a robot that’s searching for Earth. While many of the other space games are more like space exploration simulators, this one comes with a cute, engaging storyline.

• Red Rover - ($2) VR supported (but not required) mars rover driving simulation game. Go explore Mars!

• EarthX - ($15, Mac OS X/Linux compatible) Still early access game, but looks like it’s well reviewed and definitely playable. “EarthX is a game that focuses mainly on managing your own private space company. You will have to develop better and better rockets, fight for contracts with competitors, and develop your company to the highest levels. This space company simulator, which has been under development for over a year, has a nice graphic design and a pleasant soundtrack by xandra.”

$, needs a gaming rig

• SpaceEngine - ($25) Similar to Universe Sandbox above, this is a photorealistic interactive planetarium game, which is graphics intense so it likely wouldn’t run on anything without a powerful graphics card. It is also VR compatible, though not required.

• Rover Mechanic Simulator - ($12) This is a bit more of an engineering game than a space simulator, in which you learn about the different components on the Mars rovers while repairing and maintaining them.

chemistry

$, can run on most current computers

• SpaceChem - ($10, Mac OS X compatible) “Take on the role of a Reactor Engineer working for SpaceChem, the leading chemical synthesizer for frontier colonies. Construct elaborate factories to transform raw materials into valuable chemical products!” It’s been a while since I played this game myself, but it’s definitely a fun and challenging puzzler.

• JQ Chemistry - ($1) It’s so cheap I should classify it as free. This is what gamers call a spam game, in that there are tons of achievements to improve your score on your profile. HOWEVER, it IS a chemistry game, specifically a chemistry quiz game that quizzes you on your knowledge of the periodic table, so here it lies. I’ll take what I can get.

• Project Chemistry ($10) - A new chemistry game released end of June. From the description “Project Chemistry is a chemistry simulation that allows you to observe and conduct reactions with elements and molecules, experience chemistry in 3D for the first time and learn in the process.”

• Professor Why Chemistry 1 - ($10, Mac OS X compatible) I haven’t tried this yet, however it looks really really interesting. It’s less of a game and more of a tool, which incorporates something called augmented reality, where you print out their cards and with the help of a web cam can create virtual experiments on the screen. Here’s a video of actual gameplay.

• Sokobond - ($10, Mac OS X compatible) another molecular puzzler game, but with nice, minimalistic graphics and modern calming music. Really, most of the chemistry games I come across are molecular puzzle games.

Thumbnail photo image credit: Photo by Samantha Sophia on Unsplash