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The aim of this research is to know the effectiveness of natural science instruction by using computer-based games as instructional media. A computer-based game used as an instructional medium fulfilled the quality standard of games. It was conducted towards junior high school students in Atom, Ion, and Molecules topic. The pretest was conducted before the instruction, the observation of students’ activities was done during the instruction, and post-test, students’ questionnaires and interviews, as well as teachers’ questionnaires and interviews were conducted after the instruction. The results of the research showed that students’ activities during the instruction reached often category (engaging students actively), students’ responses after the instruction reached good category, and students’ learning outcomes reached the minimum completeness criteria (86.7% complete), and teachers’ responses after the instruction by using the game as an instructional medium reached good category. The aforementioned results showed that the natural science instruction in Atom, Ion, and Molecules topic by using the game as an instructional medium sufficed good quality. The suggestion for teachers is to make use the computer-based games that fulfill the quality standards as alternative instructional media so they result in qualified instructions.

computer-based games; instructional media; natural science