Why board games?

Video games are a giant industry, with output and profits rivaling those of the film industry, and many students have at least a passing familiarity with electronic games? Why, then, have I chosen to concentrate on the educational merits of designer board games, to which most students have likely had no exposure, as a tool in education?

I must admit that part of it has to do with my own fondness for the form; I own an arguably obscene number of board games, and simulation games (also known as wargames) are an important part of how I engage with history; these games often proffer their own unique understandings of a particular conflict, and whenever I read a book about a historical epoch, I find myself wishing to play a game that deals with that epoch to gain a more visceral understanding of the subject.

Admittedly, this approach is best suited to military history, but there are historical games that deal with non-military subjects; a prominent example is 1960: The Making of the President, which seeks to simulate the events of the 1960 Nixon/Kennedy Presidential race and the electoral system overall. (Kennedy himself was reputed to enjoy board games; I have an old Avalon Hill catalog that proclaims the fondness that Kennedy and Kissinger showed for the game Diplomacy, which has been used by at least one teacher I know as part of a unit on World War I.)

While it would be foolish to rely entirely upon a game as a teaching tool, I believe that board games could help students engage with a topic. It may not be a video game, but it is still a game, and I have no objection to students enjoying themselves while they are learning about geography, the Domino Theory, the intricacies of international diplomacy, or any other topic. Board games also have the advantage of being easily modifiable, so teachers can tailor the experience to specific educational goals, and their low-tech nature makes accessibility less of an issue.

I listen to a lot of board game podcasts, and some deal either tangentially or directly with education. There are even books about the educational merit of board games. Most of these deal with the value of games in math instruction, where the benefits are more obvious. But since board games have been an integral part of my historical engagement, I would like to study how I could use them to help keep my students engaged in the study of history.