March has continued to see tower defense games being played in our secondary school library before school and at lunchtimes (and during class time if they can sneak it). Bloons Tower Defense has taken a back-seat this month to Plants vs Zombies. This game is free, has 50 levels, and five game modes:
As the promotors say ‘Get ready to soil your plants!’. This is a fun game where the player needs to defend their home from Zombies, using plants that each have their own defensive and offensive capabilites. Although this may not be your cup-of-tea, it is good to know what the students are playing to open-up conversation. For example, I’m sure the students would have something to say if you walked up and asked if they have planted any Scaredy-Shroons to stop the Zombies from eating their brains (just make sure they are the students who play these games first!).
NB: Students at Mooroopna Secondary College (Victoria) are able to use the library before school, at lunchtime, and after school to play games as long as these are not deemed to be violent by the staff.
I haven’t seen ‘Plants vs zombies’ being played in the library at our school yet. Like at Mooroopna, students at Kyabram P-12 college can play games before and after school and at lunchtimes. It is a very popular pastime with boys mainly and there are always lots of onlookers (which sometimes has to be managed because of sheer numbers). We do need to keep any eye open for violent games as students sometimes try to introduce these.