Game Design Blog #6 - Pokemon and Education

The Pokemon series is seen by many something merely for children to help them waste time. This statement could not be further from the truth. Simply walking onto a college campus one can see that the series is a hit for individuals of all ages. Many are sporting Pokemon t-shirts and game systems to trade and battle their Pokemon with. Not only are most adults wrong about Pokemon being just for children but it can be seen as a medium to educate children. The fact that the game requires basic math skills helps in that player’s must be able to use subtraction and addition to determine how much hp their Pokemon loses. Even in the trading card game these skills are necessary. 

The card game functions as a system where a Pokemon may deal a certain amount of damage. For example if a Pokemon has an attack that deals 10 damage to an opponent then the opponent must put a damage counter on their Pokemon. Each damage counter represents 10 damage. If that opposing Pokemon has 60 total hp and only 50 left then the player must come to the conclusion that their Pokemon is only able to survive 5 more attacks from that Pokemon. The trading card game has a target audience of children ages 6 and up. This shows that math is a skill necessary for playing the game and the player is able to pick up on these skills by engaging in this activity. Pokemon even helps children’s understanding of reading. 

According to a study conducted by Vivian Vasquez “there is a lot we can learn about how to support literacy development by watching children closely as they engage with such (certain) texts”. Vasquez also stated in her study that her “intent is to show the sorts of literate behaviors that come from children’s participation in and use of popular culture texts such as Pokemon. Pokemon is a prime example of how our society could incorporate popular culture with learning basic academic skills in the school environment. 

 

Resources: Vasquez, Vivian. "What Pokemon Can Teach Us about Learning and Literacy." Language Arts 81.2 (2003): 118-25. Print.