One of the best educational video games of all time is the critically acclaimed, teacher-approved STEM game, Minecraft. Players of all ages enjoy mining their own creative resources as they also mine fascinating biomes for resource blocks to craft tools and build complex structures, landscapes, and villages. Minecraft’s infinite world randomly self-generates as players move through the game so they can explore and design at will, creating literally anything they dream up.

Minecraft not only taps into a player’s creativity, but it’s also an educational tool for problem-solving. As players enter each unique biome, they must swiftly mine local resources to build shelter, find food, and craft tools. It’s also a unique platform for creativity, with no need to “win.” Instead, players set their own goals and play the game the way they like. Minecraft gamers can choose to enjoy free-range exploration and crafting in creative mode or add some spice and adventure into their gaming with survival mode. Survival mode includes a variety of nefarious creatures known as “mobs” so players must craft not only fortresses and tools but also weapons to defeat attackers. Players problem-solve and strategize while trying to keep their character alive through each Minecraft day — which lasts about 10 minutes in real-time.

Besides the STEM activities of designing and creating, Minecraft is one of the best educational video games to reinforce other learning skills such as reading, math, science, writing, and even history.

The blocky, purposely pixilated world of Minecraft offers single-player or multiplayer collaborative fun for all ages.

If you thought video game platforms like the PS4 were just for gaming you might be surprised to know they’re also a great way to learn specific skills — like playing the guitar. One of the best educational video games for learning a musical skill is Rocksmith 2014-Remastered Edition. Learn at your own pace through a fun, interactive video game right from your PS4 without having to pay for professional lessons. Most users learn to play serious riffs and full songs within 60 days.

Rocksmith requires only the newly remastered PS4 game and a Real Tone cable to plug into the output jack of an electric guitar. With Rocksmith, players progress along a career path as a goal within the game as they learn, opening up more songs and challenges while working through the levels of the game, taking on more difficult lessons as they progress. With real-time feedback, the game tracks each note played, just like having your own professional teacher right from your PS4 device.

While learning to play the electric guitar through Rocksmith 2014-Remastered, players earn Rocksmith points to unlock additional features, including new venues, and new game modes. Players practice specific techniques to meet in-game challenges. With 50 included popular songs plus 6 new bonus tracks in the remastered edition, players can plug in and learn to play their favorite songs or access additional songs from the for-purchase library.

This is one of the best educational games for anyone to quickly learn to play the guitar right from the comfort of their own home.

One of the best educational video games for nearly unlimited options for creativity is Little Big Planet 3. Children and adults enjoy visiting Little Big Planet’s “Imagisphere” to experience many fun surprises while they solve puzzles and expand their creativity with the game’s unique customization tools. Players bring their imaginations to colorful life through user-created levels with now up to 16 layers of depth. New levels and new friends combined with backward compatibility with downloadable content from previous Little Big Planet games keep this game loaded with fun and learning through many hours of gaming.

Little Big Planet 3 offers nearly endless options for engagement with an expansive level creator to stretch young imaginations. Players enjoy creating mini-games within the game while visiting levels created by other users and customizing their own through intuitive designing tools. Gamers of all ages enjoy learning about creation and design as they explore a friendly, hand-stitched world of homemade heroes and adventures.

In Little Big Planet 3, fan-favorite hero, Sackboy, returns with new abilities, bringing 3 new friends along. Oddsock, Toggle, and Swoop have engaging personalities and add new skills to the game, plus some fun new costumes to collect for customization. Use the PS4’s SHARE button to instantly broadcast creations and favorite gameplay clips.

Described as a world where gaming meets math, creation, and critical thinking, Little Big Planet 3 is teacher-approved and beloved by kids and parents as family-friendly fun with an element of learning that makes screen time beneficial.

LeapFrog is a trusted name in early education and learning through technology. One of today’s best educational video games for early learners is LeapFrog LeapLand Adventures. For those with young children who always grab the gaming controllers, this is the perfect first video game to introduce them to gaming with screen time parents feel good about.

LeapFrog LeapLand Adventures takes kids ages 3 to 8 years old on a kid-friendly quest for the keys to unlock the mysterious Clever Castle while exploring early education concepts along the way.

LeapLand Adventures offers over 150 learning concepts, including letters, numbers, colors, and shapes with replayable game levels. Kids can choose between 2 colorful, quirky characters and play at their own pace with fun replayable game levels. They’ll enjoy exploring LetterLand, Numberville, Shapetown, and color springs, all filled with new friends who teach counting, letter names and sounds, and the shapes and colors found in the world around them — all presented in a platform that feels more like fun than learning. With engaging content and exciting kid-friendly quests, this is one of the very best educational video games to introduce children to technology. It’s also a teacher-approved supplement for homeschooling. The game saves up to 5 profiles so it’s perfect for families with multiple children who want to play.

Best of all, this game requires no gaming platform but instead offers a user-friendly plug-and-play setup through any television. Just insert the HDMI game stick and USB cable into your television’s USB port and it’s ready to play with no downloads required and no worries about privacy. Kids love having their own controller and a video game that’s all their own!

One of the best educational video games for serious exercises to strengthen, test, and try out the human brain is Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training for Nintendo Switch. Not only does the game come with a stylus for use on the Switch’s touchscreen, but it challenges the brain through a series of concepts taught by famed neuroscientist, Dr. Ryuta Kawashima. This is the fifth installment of the Brain Age video game puzzle series with new additions and gameplay methods added for the Nintendo Switch using the platform’s specific features such as the touchscreen, gyroscope, and IR sensors to improve and expand gameplay.

With Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training game, players find their brain’s “age” based on abilities rather than chronological age. With three exercises designed to focus on the self-control, short-term memory, and processing speed areas of the brain, players find their own personal brain age score. They then go on to enjoy a variety of features including the brain-power-improving Daily Training section filled with mini-games to keep the brain active. The challenging puzzles and games include favorites like Soduku as well as the piano-based game, Masterpiece Recital. There are also Photographic Memory, and Dual-Task challenges. Players use the Switch’s IR camera for rousing games of Rock, Paper, Scissors as well as hand-gesture memorization games.

This is one of the best educational video games for fans of the original Nintendo DS Brain Age Series, as well as for new users from the Nintendo Switch generation to enjoy testing their mental metal and keeping it sharply honed.

The very best educational video games are those that offer such laugh-out-loud humor and entertainment that gamers might not even notice how much they are learning along the way. Kerbal Space Program is exactly that game. While a crew of tiny green men with funny hairstyles and googly eyes keep players chuckling throughout the gameplay, they might forget that this rocket science-professor-approved video game was used by NASA and Elon Musk to boost understanding of the SpaceX program.

Kerbal Space Program is a space flight simulation game where players lead a new fictional space program staffed by humanoid space aliens from the planet Kerbin. With the help of the Kerbin crew, players man the Kerbal Space Center to create rockets, spaceplanes, land rovers, and other space-related craft and then enjoy the thrill of launching and controlling their spacecraft, including determining thrust, trajectory, orbit, and other critical factors for success or failure and then accomplishing challenges and missions. While not a perfect simulation of the reality of space, scientists praise Kerbal Space Program for its adherence to true orbital mechanics and Newtonian dynamics.

Kerbal Space Program includes three game mode choices so players can explore and create at will in Sandbox Mode, advance science through experimentation in Science Mode, or focus on the business aspects of completing contracts and earning funds in Career Mode.

This simulation game is one of the best educational video games for gamers and space buffs of all ages and now includes two exciting expansion packs with new missions and parts. Plus, fans of Kerbal Space Program eagerly await the launch of the much anticipated Kerbal Space Program 2.

One of the best educational video games for family-friendly competition is the new release for Nintendo Switch from Big Brain Academy. Brain vs Brain lets children as young as 4 years old compete against adults with an even playing field. By choosing one of four difficulty levels, each player competes within their own level to be the first to complete brain-bending puzzles, challenging memorization activities, and animal identification games. Plus, players can unlock dozens of fun outfits for their avatars to customize their in-game characters.

Find your own brain brawn score with a brain-teasing test and then go brain vs brain in 4-player matches to compete for the highest score even at multiple skill levels. Compete with friends or family in real-time or choose to play against compiled data from family members in your household or from people on your friend list. If that challenge isn’t enough, players can also compete in Ghost Clash mode to try to outscore the data of other players worldwide to see how they match up. Players can check their rankings for comparison against some of the smartest brainiacs in the Big Brain Academy system.

The best part of Big Brain Academy: Brain vs Brain is competing against yourself by practicing specific skills until you beat your own scores. The addictive gameplay keeps players of all ages coming back for more. This is one of the best educational video games for the whole family, with no worries about limiting screen time since every hour spent in Big Brain Academy improves brain power and critical thinking skills!