90’s typing games helped me learn how to type correctly.
When I was a child, my mother would often say, “If you learn half of Pokemon in class, you’ll be an honor student.” Ironically, I can also type thanks to the old video game Read, Write, and Type.
Combining a child’s passion for video games with learning can provide hours of self-directed learning time. I spent years reading, writing, and typing.
LY203 Productions’ YouTube channel has a full walkthrough of the game. The following embedding shows an example of repeatedly typing “Sass” to make the snake move.
I’m a 90’s kid. I remember the gateway computer that was used for research. A huge CRT monitor sat on my desk so I could stare at the screen instead of stretching my neck to look up. Typing was not taken for granted in those days. I didn’t grow up with a keyboard in my hand or a laptop in my room. I learned to type through lessons at school and classic reading, writing, and typing games.
Fact: Every '90s PC gamer has this photo. PC Gamer editor @elahti is no exception.
— PC Gamer (@pcgamer) November 19, 2020
Game: Delta Force 2
Keyboard template: Extremely tactical
Desk: Mom's
GPU: Maybe
Mouse: Ball
Mousepad: Also a ball
WASD: What's that pic.twitter.com/Ldb5jTI3p8
The premise of the game was simple. A malicious inexperienced blob captured letters and different characters at the keyboard. You have released these letters by typing words and phrases. Alongside your journey were two friendly gloves with left-handed and right-handed faces. I’m left-handed, so I’ve always liked Lefty. The game prioritized correct typing, not just hitting the correct keys. That’s how I learned to touch type.
This ability allows you to read the source material and type news articles at the same time. Funny enough, the fact that I’ve never looked at the keyboard while typing is why I don’t care about backlit keys (sorry to Daniel Rubino, the editor-in-chief who loves backlighting his keys).
Between my favorite game at the time and writing classes at school, I learned how to write in the correct form. This skill helps me every day as a writer. I’ve written thousands of articles about Windows Central. When there’s news, you’ll think we’re sticking to the old rules of reading, writing, and typing. Thank you, right-handers and left-handers!
