BBC and Samorost developer pose Questionaut

Written by Jack Allin — March 16, 2008 at 12:16

Who says learning has to be boring? Certainly not BBC or Amanita Design, as the two have joined forces to present Questionaut, a free online edutainment title available on BBC's Bitesize website.

The flash game is presented in the style of Amanita's popular Samorost series, and once again a nameless protagonist must explore various creative, organic locations. This time around, not only do players click hotspots in logical sequences to proceed, but Questionaut's eight levels each present an educational quiz that must be passed.

The quizzes, posing questions created by the BBC, are aimed at 11-year olds, but aren't so easy that most adults won't be forced to embarrassingly lie about getting them all correct. The questions cover a range of topics, including math, grammar, sciences, and animal and plant life. Points are deducted for incorrect answers, and five points are required to advance to the next area. (No bonus points for spotting the typo in one of the questions, but in keeping with the spirit of the exercise, I feel compelled to point it out.)

Questionaut is entirely playable in your web browser and cannot be saved in progress, though it's not very long, so completing it in one go should pose little difficulty. So give it a try while you wait for Amanita's first full-scale adventure, Machinarium, and if you get stuck, there's probably an 11-year old somewhere nearby to help you get through.