As educators, researchers, and policymakers debate YouTube’s utility in classrooms, a handful of creators are getting the chance to show how the platform’s interactive elements can enhance learning. YouTube quietly introduced a slate of educational games through its Playables hub, with notable STEM channels like Veritasium and Khan Academy involved in the initiative.
Playables has been available on YouTube for nearly three years, but for much of its existence, the hub has been little more than a motley collection of low-stakes, casual titles. Though YouTube has tested some upgrades for its gaming destination, the reach and influence of Playables pale in comparison to YouTube’s traditional video library.
Last week, YouTube showed that Playables could have significant potential in scholastic settings. With its six-game library of educational titles, YouTube is helping players learn about subjects like physics, economics, and music theory within fun, interactive settings.
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Veritasium’s contribution to the new gaming library is Elements of Truth, a simple trig to Luke Lewis, the Director of Publishing at Electrify Video Partners — which invested in Veritasium in 2023 — YouTube came calling earlier this year to propose Playables tie-ins for Electrify’s brands. Lewis told Tubefilter that Electrify saw the proposal as an opportunity to promote Veritasium’s Elements of Truth tabletop game
“Our long-term expectations are for the game to introduce Elements of Truth to an audience of knowledge-hungry casual gamers who might otherwise not be familiar with it – and in fact might not even be familiar with Veritasium‘s videos,” Lewis said. “At the same time, we hope it will deepen engagement among existing Veritasium fans, encourage them to get competitive with fellow fans, and have fun doing it.”
Lewis said that the initial response to the Playables title has been “extremely positive.” Orders for the physical Elements of Truth game have spiked as Veritasium fans have shared their Playables high scores with each other.
As useful as Playables has been for Electrify and Veritasium, it might be even more valuable for YouTube itself. Though the platform has thrown re also faced ban threats in schools, most notably in the New York City school district. Detractors may argue that a platform like YouTube can only be a distraction in the classroom, but games like Elements of Truth suggest otherwise
In previous years, interactive games on YouTube have been the domain of marketing agencies and tech-savvy tinkerers. Perhaps, given the positive response Electrify has seen, we’re about to enter into an era of good-for-you games on Google’s video platform. YouTube is certainly committed to promoting Playables. It recently introduced accessability tags that help users find the games that best fit their device’s settings. So if you want to try to beat my Elements of Truth high score (which won’t be too hard), finding and playing the game should be a cinch.
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