News games, sometimes called news puzzles, are a fairly broad category of online games which attempt to apply traditional journalistic principles to their making. They can fall in multiple categories, including historical fiction, investigative, simulation of real-world situations, and trivia and puzzle games. In the case of the latter two categories, the object is to solve a puzzle or riddle in order to learn important information about a specific topic, event, or location. This type of game can also be used as a precursor to more difficult forms of gaming, such as role-playing and racing games.
The goal of news games is not necessarily to find the answer to a trivia question, but to relay important information in a way which is entertaining but also instructive. As any video game enthusiast can tell you, the best way to learn something new is by doing it, and this is why news games have become such a popular genre in which to hone your skills. Many of these games are based on news stories from around the world, which means that you’ll be immersing yourself in the lives of people all over the world, whether they’re from your own country or from another part of the world entirely.
The main objective of most news games is to get you to figure out what’s going on, and the best ones will let you do this with a bit of investigation, critical thinking, and even collaboration (if needed) of some kind. For example, one of the most popular online games related to the recent story about Wikileaks involves the hunt for confidential emails from within the prestigious National Security Agency (NSA). One of the main characters, a reporter, is tasked to go to Pakistan to interview a person associated with the leaking of the classified documents. Once there, he must determine if the leak was legitimate or not, and if so how it was done. Along the way, he must find out how the leaker originally got access to the documents in the first place, how the documents wound up in the hands of the people involved in the leaking, and most importantly, how the legitimate government plans on dealing with the ramifications of the situation.
Another of the best news games around right now is called Darfurrica, which is currently in development. This online game is focused on a fictional country, called Drafur, located in Denmark. In the game, you’ll be asked to investigate and subsequently report on any potential terrorist activity carried out in the area. As well as investigating possible terrorist activity, you’ll also need to make contact with citizens of the country to put a stop to any political turmoil. For anyone who enjoys playing investigative video games, this is an excellent choice.
If you really want to get into the news, the only thing better than reading up on current events is to actually make them yourself using news games. The template messages can come from anywhere. For example, if you’re looking for the latest update on the Middle East conflict, why not simply go to your favorite search engine and type in “peace process Middle East”, or “ongoing unrest in Middle East”. You’ll then be given a list of different resources, including articles and resources dedicated to this subject matter. All you have to do then is copy and paste that information into a new document, with your name as the template message.
Some websites may offer a solution that would work better for you. Others may offer an entirely different angle and a different way to go about carrying out your research. A few websites will allow you to use their interactive gaming elements to make your own news games as well. There are many different online news game generators. To find one that’s best suited to your interests, experiment with a few different types of templates, until you find one that works for you.