This is a unique website to help students improve their understanding of community, governance and ethical decision making in a "choose your own adventure" comic book-style format. The site uses an illustrated comic about the first human settlement on the fictional planet Braxos. The student assumes the role of captain of the colony and must work through the process steps to solve one of three dilemmas (e.g. keep or eliminate uniforms) using a fair and ordered approach. The student must read the dilemma and the comments of all 12 colonists, and separate their comments into fact, opinion or potential solution. Next the captain must select from potential solutions, consider the opinions of the colonists and make a justifiable decision. After the decision is implemented, the student reads what happens as a result and develops an implicit understanding of the quality of the decision. Along the way the student collects points for correct choices and can track scores on the leaderboard. This app makes reading and analyzing fun through the comic book graphics and interactive engagement of solving problems. Most of the reading is a manageable one or two sentences at a time, but the font is small and can be difficult to read on the screen. There is accompanying audio for much of the text, but it is not always comprehensive and not always clear. Teachers are given detailed instructional materials, including extension questions. While students might view this as too much reading and work relative to other online games,they should appreciate the novelty, interesting themes and comic book format.

• Provides sufficient and varied types of practice problems to maximize understanding and generalization of the targeted skill/concept
• Manufacturer claims alignment with Common Core/Known Standards
• Presents educational concepts accurately
• Explains answers so students can learn from mistakes
• Better for teaching the skill to new or struggling learners
• Better for practicing or refreshing the skill
• Skills are practiced through authentic, meaningful problems (not just rote practice)

• Appropriate for a broad age range to use and enjoy
• Subject matter and problems are relevant, interesting and authentic to students
• Visually appealing to children in the target age range
• Provides virtual rewards or incentives after meeting specified goals or objectives
• Provides a "break activity" between academic problem sets
• Offers ongoing, progressive challenge
• Overall - Enjoyable. Given the option, students would choose this option

• Has a free or trial version
• Provides teaching guidance for adults to support the child and set appropriate goals
• Provides an age-appropriate tutorial/first time users can work independently
• Student should be able to use independently after first use
• Has a multi-player option to foster in-person collaboration or cooperation
• Multiple users can save a profile
• Student graduates to the next level or topic only after meeting a benchmark
• Can play without sound and not distract others
• Students can save work between sessions
• Can effectively understand and monitor student's progress (email report or in product)
• Requires registration before using the first time
• Provides options to play in languages other than English/Good for ELL
• Presents information in multiple formats (voice over, pictures and text, etc.)
• Overall - Easy to use

• Reading Basics
• Includes long written questions or text that students must be able to read on their own
• Reading Comprehension
• Includes long written questions or text that students must be able to read on their own
• Verbal Reasoning
• Includes long written questions or text that students must be able to read on their own
• Visual Discrimination
• Words used during activity can be too small or difficult to read
• Requires recall of text information without audio or visual reinforcement

As the Captain of a new human settlement on Planet Braxos, shape the future of a new civilization while developing ethical reasoning skills. Quandary, the award-winning learning game, has landed on your mobile device!

Players find themselves immersed in a rich science-fiction narrative with a diverse set of characters and differing perspectives. When confronted by conflict, you must explore the many facts, solutions, and opinions to come up with solutions on the colony's behalf.

Quandary is perfect for youth, ages 8-16, but people of all ages will enjoy this game.

Working closely with educators and students, we've created a truly playful experience that maps to the Common Core State Standards. The game aims to develop skills that help children recognize ethical issues and deal with ethical situations in their own lives:

• Critical thinking
• Perspective-taking
• Decision-making
• Problem solving
• Reading
• Communication
• Collaboration
• Global awareness

At the dawn of a new society…how will you decide?

Scot Osterweil, creator of the classic educational Zoombinis games and research director at the MIT Education Arcade, shepherded his team at Learning Games Network to refine the Quandary concept originally prototyped by child development and learning experts at Harvard and Tufts University. Technical and graphic production was managed by FableVision, an award-winning storytelling digital media production and learning company.

The browser version of Quandary is an award-winning title, having won Game of the Year at the 2013 Games for Change Festival, the Silver Medal in Education at the 2013 Serious Play Awards, and Most Meaningful Game at the 2012 Meaningful Play Awards.

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FEATURES:

• Three playable episodes, with 12 animated and voiced characters that include Granik the Construction Chief, Paskit the Computer Expert, and Yau the Historian.
• Digital comics introduce each episode, as well as the wider universe of Quandary.
• Voice and text options for comics and character reactions.
• A focus on minimal instruction, encouraging the player to explore the possibilities and reflect on their own choices.
• Account creation for saving your progress.
• A tablet-exclusive character generator, which allows players 13 and older to create their own colonists with unique opinions.

https://www.quandarygame.org/