A group of students from across the University are working to build video games they consider the “future of education.”

The School of Computing Informatics and Decision Systems Engineering on the Tempe campus offers an 18-credit Gaming Certificate Program to educate students on how to build the games.

Ronald Askin, the school’s director, said students who enroll in the certificate program use video game design technology to create educational games for outside companies.

Ashish Amresh, director of the program, said the students’ games are unique in their educational qualities and differ from commercial video games.

“They’re not run-and-gun games,” Amresh said. “It’s about trying to create a game to push social change.”

Video games have many uses, he said, and education is one of them.

“It has a lot of advantages for active learning,” Askin said. “A game could potentially show you information in other ways, other than straight out of a book. For example, it can show you graphics and be interactive to help you learn.”

Tim Gostony, a computer science junior involved in the program, said it could also be beneficial to education because video games are often more appealing to children than traditional learning methods.

“This is the future of education,” Gostony said. “It gets kids involved in a way they want to learn. You never have to tell a kid to play a game.”

Students participating in the program will each complete a capstone project in groups to create a video game program for an outside company.

Every semester the certificate program is sponsored by a different company and students build the games in line with that company’s theme.

In past semesters students have produced games like “Cell Commando,” for Pearson Digital Learning, aimed at educating students about science, and “Attack of the Power Sucker” and “Energy War” for SRP, to educate the public about efficient energy use.

Students even created video games to promote tax literacy for the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law last semester and another for a nonprofit organization to warn children about drug addiction last year, Amresh said.

The program is unique because it is aimed at making entrepreneurs out of students by forcing them to think outside the box, he said.

“It’s not about creating the next Halo,” Amresh said. “Games are much more than that. They can create a medium to educate the public on social issues and promote change.”

Companies receive full ownership of the video games they sponsor. The program is also a competition for participating students, who win $5,000 if the company selects their game.

In addition to the potential prize money, Askin said the program provides students with valuable hands-on experience and allows them to combine computer and artistic design skills with the business aspect of creating a marketable game.

Gostony said he has played video games his entire life and saw this program as a worthwhile way to incorporate his passion with his education.

“It’s a fun field,” he said. “It’s rewarding when you make a game and then you see people playing it.”

Reach the reporter at michelle.parks@asu.edu