My Goal as a Game Creator

As an educator (history, government, and economics) I truly believe that students need to be able to cooperate with diverse people groups in order to be successful in the world. I have spent over 10 years in a high school classroom and each year that goes by convinces me of this crucial skill - yes, a skill! Students can, nay must!, be taught how to communicate effectively, be flexible in how they approach solving problems, and learn how to 'play nice' with others.

In addition, with the increasing focus on educational standards in all content areas, much of the fun involved in learning has been replaced with factual head-knowledge that gets crammed into a kids mind only to be expunged minutes after a test is given. Don't get me wrong, I am all for teaching vocabulary and concepts so students can navigate through life without looking like a fool. But learning should be fun!

Four years ago I launched a massive board game for my 10th grade history students to play that centered on the middle ages. I have been intrigued for a very long time with the learning potential of games such as Civilization, Settlers of Catan, and many others, but for most schools technology is a massive hurdle. In addition, as much as I do love gaming of all sorts, I did not want my students in front of a computer (they get enough of that outside of the classroom); I desired social interaction and the reading of non-verbals, and all of that. So, I created The Game.

The Game started came to be called The Game after I was unsuccessful in coming up with a catchy name for it. The students that played it that first year told me afterwards that "The Game" has a mystical quality to it, so it stuck. My room is completely rearranged for two periods of the day while we play and the board practically takes up my entire classroom: it measures 12'x12' at it's fullest extent. Why so big? I wanted all of my students to be able to manipulate pieces and see what is going on; typical board game sizes wouldn't cut it.

The essential nature of the game is this: students work together in royal families, after the fall of Rome in 476, to establish their family line and build a powerful kingdom. This is done through the creation of various buildings (which bring various bonuses to your family), 'building' serfs to work your fields and collect wood, stone, and gold, as well as the creation of an army that will not only secure the realm, but will be used later in the game to go to war.

The details of The Game are quite numerous, so for this first blog post I will leave it at that, except for one thing: we play the game in real time. The frenetic activity in my classroom is ridiculous but the students always leave with a smile!

Cheers,
Jeremy