Gaming Evolution

[camoguard]

Ok guys. Let's say someone wants to make an educational computer game (loosely defined as a game) featuring concepts like genetic drift, natural selection, and whatnot. What are points you'd like to see get across?

Presently, I have an idea to make a game where you discover fossils and you deduce the order in which traits diverged. You end up with a tree of life that's random for each game.

Also, I'm thinking of a way to compare nature to genetic tinkering in a fun way. I don't have it fleshed out but I'd love to design a fun and challenging game where you get so many changes per generation to a DNA strand (I'm considering including modifying the DNA reader... also I'm not a very knowledgeable scientist, I'm a software engineer) and then the computer gets more moves. Maybe you have a random and unconfirmed environment that acts on all creatures and over time you learn what the environment is because you end up with a critter that survives well in the discovered conditions. Some people say that the human would always win but watching natural selection algorithms is not very interactive so I'm wondering if I can do both as a way to keep a player entertained.

But hey, what other ideas would you like to put here?

[Pappa]

I don't have much to add, other than I really like the ideas you've expressed and would like to see them produced.

[camoguard]

I've got help from some University of Wisconsin - Madison Ph.Ds. And I give them props additionally because they are some of the visible to me group of biology related scientists who are concerned about how much information is being distorted about science and evolution. They are part of the Crow Institute and related to various outreach nonprofits like COPUS.

I think doing science is hard enough without figuring out how to get people to acknowledge the fruit of your labor and I wish I had more ways to be helpful to their cause in a practical way (without jeopardizing my salary, or my time for volleyball drinks and hedonistic activities of course).

As I get to a point where I actually have prototypes of these games in place to test, I'll totally request volunteers. That would probably be a good use of talent for people who otherwise aren't sure what to contribute but like the cause.