A large body of research in mechanics indicates that interactive engagement teaching methods usually have higher chances of influencing students’ conceptions than direct instruction. A few researchers specifically studied the impact of videogames on Newtonian Physics instruction through empirical means, with some limited success. Mecanika is a free online game that sets itself apart from previous work by simply offering puzzling physics situations, without attempting to explain the theory in the game. Students who used the game as homework, facilitated with classroom debriefings and guidebooks, wielded significantly higher gain than a control group on the standard Force Concept Inventory test. Students who only played as homework registered a similar gain, even though Mecanika was never mentioned the classroom. This gain was unexpected, since the game does not make any physics concept explicit, and was designed to be integrated in a classroom setting.
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