Software for Learning | Games and Simulations | Introduction |

SimLife ©1992 Maxis

The producers of SimLife is refer to it as "The Genetic Playground." The game allows users to explore the interaction life-forms and environments. Users can manipulate the genetics of both plants and animals to determine whether these new species could survive in the Earth's various environments. Players can also create new worlds with distinctive environments to see how certain species (earth's species or their own) fare within them.

Promotional materials explain that:

SimLife gives you the power to:

• create and modify worlds
• create and modify plants and animals at the genetic level
• design environments and ecosystems;
• study genetics in action
• simulate and control evolution
• change the physics of the universe in your computer.

The variables that can be controlled by the user are extensive and can be a bit overwhelming. For this reason, SimLife Investigations (lessons provided in the Teacher's Guide) are designed to introduce concepts slowly and thoroughly. The tutorial will give you ideas about the vast range of possibilities for use in various disciplines, while the investigations themselves are somewhat more restrictive.

See Also..

1. Home of the Underdogs entry for SimLife

Evaluations by..

1. John Arle, Rio Salado Community College
2. Sherri McCarthy-Tucker, Chandler-Gilbert Community College

Learning Activities