Could it be that your own experience of games is simply too narrow?
Joking aside, however, (with the possible exception of The Sims), the Maxis games were highly educational. They were devastatingly addictive too (most especially Sim City). Maybe none of them ever reached the same heights of popularity as those two but Sim Life, Sim Earth, Sim Isle … Hell, even Sim Farm and Sim Ant … were fun and educational.
Then there was Creatures — which, with the Docking Station release, became as much a cross-cultural psychosocial study on the part of the designers/publishers as an educational toy for the players.
Civilisation taught people all kinds of (ancient) history they might otherwise never have explored.
Education comes in many forms and, tbh, the less obvious it is to the learner the better, IMO — if you can smuggle it in without the player noticing, do it in preference to a blatantly educational offering,
Even something as seemingly non-educational as the Far Cry franchise teaches the player about flora and fauna they might otherwise never hear of, let alone encounter — sure, the player has to hunt, kill and skin animals but they receive education by way of informational updates in their journal.
Sometimes it’s less overt than that … sometimes it’s kinda “roleplay a day in the life of” / “imagine what it would be like to be a wo/man living in <place/time>” à la the Red Dead Redemption franchise and, rather than a factual tale the player is left with an historically accurate education that might encourage them to look into the history, geography, whatever. Or take a look at L.A. Noir, which is educational right down to the level of fashion.
Guitar Hero and DJ Hero developed rhythmic skill.
Sometimes … as in the case of The Last Of Us, or the Bioshock games … the player is encouraged to think about more abstract matters.
The Portal games were an exercise in contemplating the laws of Physics.
Does a game come any more obviously educational than Minecraft?
And a lot of the indie titles … which are more popular than you might, perhaps, think … take players into places in which they will be confronted with very real issues they might otherwise not think too much about: What Remains Of Edith Finch being a great analysis of family and its history … or take a look at Sightless, which leads inexorably to thinking about what it’s like to be differently abled and, possibly, to sonar or even how sound in general works … Papers Please was provocative, controversial and definitely thought-provoking … This War Of Mine: The Little Ones equally provoked thought about living in a part of the World from which one might want to flee as a refugee …
In the AA/AAA realm, Catherine obliges players to answer questions concerning relationships, fidelity, ethics, morality … as well as developing their 3D geometric skills … Heavy Rain and Detroit: Become Human examined what it means to be human (as did Deus Ex: Human Revolution / Mankind Divided)
You said it yourself: the only way a video game can have a chance of succeeding as an educational tool is if it provides an element unrelated to education that keeps kids coming back.
So, the trick is, not to look at games as being ‘educational games’ or ‘entertainment’ but to recognise that there hasn’t been a game yet that wasn’t — even Pong encouraged spatial awareness and (albeit very basic) appreciation of the laws of Physics.
Games not only can be but are educational.
They’re all educational.
It’s just that some are more educational than others.
Right … I’mma play some PvZ now.
I’m not sure how educational it is (not very, I suspect) but, I bet, if pushed and I put my mind to it, I could justify it with some BS or other (maybe it’ll encourage me to become a botanist or something).
