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Joachim Breitner's Homepage

I’m still at the school in Ghana, and although I have quit, there are another five weeks to make use of. Linux is installed on quite a few machines, but it is not used very often, partly because the studentds don’t know about it. I was instructed to boot to Windows by default, so they don’t “stumble” over it either. To raise a more interest, I announced a Linux Gaming Tournament, and put up some posters. The participating students will compete in Frozen Bubble, the game formally known as Tuxracer and Tetrinet.

As it turned out I got the permission to do so based on a misunderstanding: The principal thought I would create a game that itself would teach students to use Linux (maybe some kind of rally with hidden hints in various applications and folders, and whoever finds them wins). My original plan would not have been allowed, as there is a officially strict school policy against computer games, and because it is a boarding school, it is also a life policy for the students for four years.

Because the tournament was already announced and students signed up for it, I will still be able to hold it, as an explicit exception to the rule. But what the administration would like to see, also to keep the interest in Linux up even after I will have removed the games again, is a longer lasting competition in a game with a more educational purpose. An old Mac game was named where the player has to run a business and in the process learns about spreadsheets.

So, dear lazyweb, do you know of a game that

• runs on Linux. (i.e. no web based game)
• takes a while to complete. (i.e. several hours during the course of one or two weeks)
• has an educational purpose. (e.g. a economical simulation, maybe a simulation of evolution)
• maybe even is realtime in the sense that certain events happen after a certain amount of real world day, not just gaming hours.
• maybe even interacts with other people playing the game, over the network.

I know that the last two wishes would point to a web based game, but that defies the purpose to lure the people to start Linux.