This doesn’t sound like any fun at all. “Educational” games or games “with a message” never end up being fun.
I think there is a significant distinction that needs to be made between a) “Every educational game created thus far (that I myself have sampled or read of in any way) has not been fun.” and b) “There is no possible way to create a game, in all of game-space, that is both fun and educational.”
As well, these are two separate statements. The first says that this specific game doesn’t look fun. The second says something akin to b).
That being said, I agree that there’s nothing concrete here. You can safely assume some typical 2d puzzle-plat mechanics, as well as construction mechanics. But aside from that, there’s not any idea of how those will relate to the Virtues.
I’ll await at least an alpha version, or something on the development process.
This is what I’m counting on.
This is the big stopping block. And there’s a number of pressures for that. Triple-A companies sticking with the safe IP and churning out sequels and clones that sell well. Indie companies not having the capital to fully flesh out their creative vision before tanking.
This is why it’s important to talk seriously about games. Sure, they’re not the most efficient way to learn if you’re set out to learn a specific topic, but that’s the same as beating you over the head with The Point of a movie. If you want to learn something, I agree, go learn it.
What games CAN be good for, is overcoming akrasia.
Were you taught in-game entirely? Or did the game get you interested, and you went out to explore yourself? I think making a game entirely based on educating on a single topic would fall flat, but educating in addition to engagement could be useful.
And as someone hoping to go into the gaming industry… I’ll take the Theory of Change into advisement.