Games can enhance language learning. Especially vocabulary learning can be targeted with simple games, that are affective and affordable to create. Opportunities are scarce for learning a minority language as a second language; however, teaching can be augmented with distance learning provided by learning games. One game or a narrow selection of games can provide an over simplistic base vocabulary that does not fully reflect the richness of the underlying culture. In this paper we present a palette of simple vocabulary games, that have been designed and implemented to teach Karelian language to native Finnish speakers. As a solution for teaching vocabulary for non- native speakers we propose guidelines creating a selection of variable and accessible language games in situations where accessibility to guided learning is low and unintentional learning using existing games is not possible.
Karelian language, minority languages, serious games, simple games, Viena Karelian dialect, vocabulary learning