Episode 4: The Sumerian Game

1964's The Sumerian Game is recognized as the first educational videogame, but due to its numerous and often overlooked contributions to games as a whole, it's also been called "the most important videogame you've never heard of." What started as a research project is responsible for more than its share of game industry firsts, including the first game designer: a teacher who began her career in a one-room schoolhouse, Mabel Addis.

Notes and Resources

Photos

A child from the original research cohort playing The Sumerian Game using a teleprinter (the original input device). A slide from the game’s “opening cinematic” is visible behind her.

Mabel Addis (1984 newspaper photo)

A teleprinter

Links

• The original research study of which The Sumerian Game was a part. It includes a detailed discussion of the game’s design, player experience and the study findings.

• “The Sumerian Game: The Most Important Videogame You’ve Never Heard Of,” a 2019 article on the game.

• A 2024 reconstruction of the game is playable and available free on Steam.

Honoring Mabel Addis

At GDC 2023, Mabel Addis won the Game Developers Choice Awards Pioneer Award for her work on The Sumerian Game. Addis passed away in 2004, but this video from the ceremony includes an acceptance speech by her grandson.