Fun (5/5) : Wake is a game featuring astonishingly simple yet thoroughly engaging gameplay! It relies on a story and characters written with great subtlety. The dialogues are believable, though perhaps a bit too abundant. We discover the protagonist through a logbook of exceptional visual quality and impressive emotional depth. In itself, the gameplay consists of tasks such as clicking on sea creatures, navigating in a submarine, and organizing collected data (which is often automated by the game). There is no platforming, no combat, and no deep strategy—the richness of the game lies in exploration and progression. Each completed mission rewards resources that allow for submarine upgrades, which in turn unlock new mission opportunities. The game thus leverages three core motivational drives (Chou, 2012): Epic Meaning & Calling, Accomplishment & Development, and Unpredictability & Curiosity.

Learning (5/5) : From an educational perspective, this game is a model to follow. Rather than merely showing what the world of marine biology looks like, it places players directly in the shoes of someone practicing the profession. Players are not passive observers; they experience it firsthand. This can contribute to developing not only scientific thinking, but also professional identity/reasoning. Furthermore, the game makes a remarkable effort not to over-romanticize the work of marine biologists. The in-game missions are directly tied to the real-world tasks of a marine scientist: data collection, experimentation, modeling, and argumentation. The "argumentation" component is particularly rich, as it forces the player to genuinely reflect on the data they have gathered. Although the tasks are streamlined for better gameplay pacing, they remain relatively true to reality in that they are simple, repetitive, and involve periods of searching. For instance, if a mission requires identifying the salmon population in an environment, players must navigate blindly to find enough individuals to estimate the total count. The gameplay thus remains as realistic as possible—without ever making the game boring. Quite the opposite!

Science (5/5) : The marine creatures featured in the game are real, and the documentation provided about them is extensive, making it an exceptionally rich source of information. Moreover, the game offers far more informational content than what is strictly required to play, which is ideal for curious players who love to dig deeper. The game has a runtime of about 10 hours, which is massive for an educational game. The tasks performed by the player are grounded in authentic scientific operations. In short, the game’s content is generous, top-tier in quality, and brilliantly contextualized!

I highly recommend using this game in the classroom! (Because progress is saved via a code, players can continue later—perfect for substitute lesson plans!)