Can gaming find a home in the classroom?

I have written a bit since joining about the relationship between gaming and learning, and there is some substantial research to support that game-based learning (using games to enhance the learning experience) and gamification (adding game elements to non-game situations) have some serious value in education.

I have been in the classroom teaching 6th grade history for more than a decade now, and do what I can to keep my students as engaged and motivated as possible. I began incorporating gamification on a minor scale a few years back by creating some simulations to give the students a more in depth understanding of various events in ancient history. They really took to them and seemed to get a lot of value out of them.

I have been toying with the idea of putting a PS4 in my classroom and adding some new game-based learning activities. I wrote a post a few days ago where I talked about the benefits of playing video games as a kid and I really stand by what I said. I believe that games CAN make kids more intelligent, by helping to develop a critical set of skills involving problem-solving, teamwork, critical thinking, analysis, and the ability to cope with failure.

I am a big fan of Assassin's Creed and have played every game in the series (for better or worse). What was most appealing about the series to me is the historical value the games offer. Being dropped into a period accurate rendering of some of the most significant events in world history has been incredible for me as a history teacher. Granted, I understand that some liberties were taken when dealing with accuracy, but I think they did an exception job of providing an basic understanding of the period.

The latest game in the series, Origins, which dropped at the end of October has been getting a lot of positive press. The only real negative I've heard is an issue with the timed quests which appear to be one and done and require you to be a high level. Anyone wanting to take down Anubis last weekend and earn some sweet gear understands that unless you had poured hours and hours into the game to reach level 40, it was going to be extremely difficult, if not impossible.

An already solid game was made even better when Ubisoft announced that in early 2018, a free DLC would drop called "Discovery Tour" and provide some serious educational value. The premise is that all combat is taken out of the game and you will have the ability to explore the full map of the Egyptian empire around the time of Cleopatra. That by itself would be a pretty solid sell for someone trying to teach about daily life in ancient Egypt, but they went and added icing to that cake. Ubisoft partnered with Egyptologists and historians to create a series of guided tours through various parts of the empire. The example provided gives a look at mummification and is supposed to take more than 20 minutes to complete.

I immediately began looking into getting approval to plop a PS4 front and center in my classroom and take my students on a really cool virtual field trip. I have found that in order to justify the purchase of the system for my classroom and the game and the extra controller, I needed to have more than one game covering one really specific topic to play. So I started scouring the web looking for games with some educational value.

Aside from Assassin's Creed: Discovery Tour, I've got:

• Rime (a great puzzle-solving game I can use to develop problem solving and teamwork skills that is minimally challenging)
  
• The Witness (another great puzzle-solving game I can use to develop problem-solving and teamwork skills but is extremely challenging and thus will also help my students to think outside the box and cope with failure)
  
• Tiny Brains (a multiplayer problem-solving game I can use to develop teamwork skills)
  
• Hohokum (a multiplayer inter-planetary puzzle-solving game that will develop the importance of setting and working toward goals with the help of a team)
  

Basically, I'd love to know if you think that video games can ever find a place in today's classrooms and if you have any ideas about some great PS4 games I can get to help supplement my regular instruction. Thanks for any help you can offer!