Games & Education
Edited by David Millians
Paideia School, 1509 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA
Internet: drakon@mindspring.com
Summer 1997
Volume 4, Number 2
Dragon Dreams
Summer is acumen in!
Welcome to another issue of Games & Education. I hope it finds you well and play-full.
It's certainly been an active spring! New games appear. The industry continues to shift and adapt. Some familiar publishers and products have expired. Others have changed their focus. Wizards of the Coast has even acquired TSR!
Each of these changes allows us to perceive and try new games and applications in classrooms. Useful products may appear in the bargain basket. Companies may be better or worse able to take a risk with a product or a school.
Teachers and students are developing new methods and materials as well, but these are less visible, less available to inspire others. It is one of the goals of this newsletter to publicize ideas and allow individuals to correspond about their interests and needs.
This newsletter is built on your ideas and questions. Keep sending in those stories, studies, insights, games, discoveries, and difficulties. We all benefit from the wisdom of others.
Summer Conventions
Dragon Con takes place here in Atlanta in June. I have not yet seen the final program, but I expect to lead several workshops and take part in a couple of panels. I look forward to seeing some of you there.
In August I'm off to Gen Con in Milwaukee. I am scheduled to lead two workshops and a couple of games. I know I will see some of you at the former. While none of my games there have any embedded educational goals, they conform to the structural models I often use in classrooms. You might see something interesting, and they're fun too.
Santa Maria de la Isla de las Ballenas
We spent the year learning about the Age of Exploration. I didn't know until this past summer that Spain had claimed the coast of North America well up into the Carolinas until nearly the end of the seventeenth century. It was all part of La Florida and divided among different tribal groups and Franciscan missions. New documents have recently been uncovered in Madrid, so even the demographics of these coastal settlements is known.
I created an additional, imaginary, small mission village on La Isla de Las Ballenas, which we now know as Jekyll Island. The kids were all of the adults in the community. Most of them were Mocama, of whom little is known, though they were related at least culturally to the Timucua and the Apalachee to the south and west. They were led by a chieftess. The small number of Spanish settlers were led by a dottering priest, whose assistant fell in love with a local girl and then lost his leg to a shark, and the elderly woodcrafter. For each student I wrote a page or so of character information, background, and attitudes. It's a soap opera.
We had two half hour turns each week, and many of the kids went over ideas and plans with me, snuck off to do research, or set up activities for the next turn. Each turn covered a single day but stood for a full season. They were always tangled in each other, and I threw in two or three new plots each turn.
Each student kept a diary from the character's point of view. We read lots of related material, which they valued more since they had to live it. They worked with the artistic and symbolic traditions of the region, and several native crafts were always underway.
Send in your ideas and feedback!
Educator Discounts
Publishers are encouraged to provide and update the information in this listing.
Last year Atlas Games demonstrated Once Upon A Time at a local school, a
Montessori magnet school, and the reception was hugely positive. The sales
manager is actually working with them now to sell the game as a fund
raiser. He mentioned the idea when he was there showing the game; two days
later the teacher who had arranged for them to demo there called back to
say she had sixty two orders already! This has them thinking that Once Upon
A Time as school fund raiser may have some potential as a marketing ploy.
The 50% that goes to the school is better than some fund raising items
deliver. Atlas Games, P.O. Box 131233, Roseville, Minnesota 55113 (612)
638-0077 fax: (612) 638-0084
Avalon Hill offers a 40% discount for teachers. Avalon Hill Game Company,
4517 Harford Road, Baltimore, Maryland 21214-9989 (410) 254-9200 or (800)
999-3222
Chaosium offers a 20% discount on any purchase of five or more books. You
can mix and match as you see fit. Chaosium, 950-A 56th Street, Oakland,
California 94608 (415) 547-7681
Global Games offers a 50% discount on games, plus $5 shipping and
handling. Global Games, 1647 St. Clair Avenue West Unit 215A, Toronto,
Ontario M6H 1H7 CANADA (416) 516-9118 fax: (416) 516-4690.
Mayfair Games will send FREE train games to classrooms. Simply request
this on school letterhead. Mayfair Games, P.O. Box 48539, Niles, Illinois
60648 (708) 647-9650 or (800) 432-4376 fax: (708) 647-0939
Raven Star Game Design offers a 50% discount when purchase requests are
written on school letterhead. Raven Star Game Design, 31600 Schoenherr -
M1D, Warren, Michigan 48093.
Strunk Games offers discounts for the educational market. They carry such
games as Stack, Abalone, and Omnigon. Strunk Games, PO Box 64, Eustis,
Maine 04936 1-8000-669-3315 fax: (207) 246-4263.
If you receive a discount through your school library or a local
bookstore, try ordering games through them. Many of them are happy to help
in this way.
Other Resources
Publishers interested in working with the educational market have been
asking how best to advertise their products in this unfamiliar field.
Below are listed several of my favorite catalog services, listings I and
thousands of other teachers consult in planning curricula and ordering
materials. Others are encouraged to send information on other avenues as
well.
I am sure that the requirements and expectations vary among these
educational publishers. Please, let the rest of know how helpful or nor
these resources are.
Creative Publications, 5623 West 115th Street, Worth, Illinois 60482-9931
Education Publishing Service, 31 Smith Place, Cambridge, Massachusetts
02138-1000
Interact, 1825 Gillespie Way #101, El Cajon, California 92020-1095
1-800-359-0961
Social Studies School Service, 10200 Jefferson Boulevard
P.O. Box 802, Culver City, California 90232-0802
Worldwide Games, P.O. Box 517, Colchester, Connecticut 06415-0517
1-800-888-0987
Math Games
We want to collect ways in which teachers have used simulation games in
math classes. Examples of applications in most other curricula are easily
generated, but math has always been an exception to this. If you have used
such games in a math class, please let us know. You could even describe it
and have it published here!
There are several other publications which may interest some of you. What
information is valuable to you? Are you aware of any other useful
resources?
The CAR-PGa Newsletter is published by the Committee for the Advancement
of Role-Playing Games. Originally founded to address attacks on gamers,
gaming, and the hobby, it has evolved into a more general support
organization, promoting a variety of projects, including our own. You can
reach Paul Cardwell, Jr., the chairman of the group, at 1127 Cedar, Bonham,
TX 75418. Membership in the group is free, though supporting work is
expected, and subscriptions to the newsletter are $7.50 for the USA and
$12.00 overseas. William J. Walton maintains a webpage for CAR-PGa at
http://members.aol.com/waltonwj/carpga.htm. There is also an email list.
Send the command JOIN car-pga AS user@host.domain (Your Real First Last
Names) to list-request@rpg.net.
Dragonsmoke is a newsletter published by Bob Albrecht and George Firedrake
and is dedicated to toys and tools for teaching math and science, project
based learning, and "Whatever else come to mind." It's full of ideas,
insights, and helpful connections. Just send them a SASE at PO Box 1635,
Sebastopol, CA 95473-1635, and they'll have the latest issue back to you.
Interactive Fantasy is a quarterly publication out of Britain. It explores
games as a serious pursuit, while remaining aware of their inherently
playful nature. Topics have included game styles, game history, future
games, game design, mythology, sexuality, narrative, education, technology,
and censorship. It is fascinating reading at many levels and accessible to
anyone. Subscriptions are =A320 in Europe, $32 in the USA, and $40 elsewhere=
.
Andrew Rilstone can be reached at Interactive Fantasy, 22 Avonmead House,
40-48 Stokes Croft, Bristol BS1 3QD, United Kingdom. His email address is
andrew@aslan.demon.co.uk.
Paper Mayhem is a bimonthly magazine dedicated to Play By Mail Games like
Star Webs and Feudal Lords. Bob Albrecht, among others, recommends it, and
PBMs could allow your students to meet the challenges of games in a much
broader context than a single classroom or school can provide. A one year
subscription is $31.00, and you can contact them at Paper Mayhem,
Department PM, 1518 Adams Street, Ottawa, IL 61350-4770.
Simulation & Gaming is a professional publication of the Association of
Business Simulation and Experiential Learning (ABSEL), the International
Simulation and Gaming Association (ISAGA), the Japanese Association of
Simulation and Gaming (JASAG), and the North American Simulation and Gaming
Association (NASAGA). It is scholarly and rarefied and can be very
interesting. It is aimed primarily at academics and business or military
simulators. If interested ($50), contact Sage Publications, 2455 Teller
Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320.
GAMA Newsletters and Periodicals:
GAMA Membership Directory: Rick Loomis (Flying Buffalo, Inc.), P.O. Box
1467, Scottsdale, Arizona 85252 (602) 945-6917 (602) 994-1170 (fax)
GAMA Newsletter: L. Lee Cerny (Stellar Games), P.O. Box 602, Swanton, Ohio
43558 (419) 826-4262 (419) 826-4242 (fax) stellarlc@earthlink.net
GAMA WWW page: Charles Ryan (Chameleon Eclectic), P.O. Box 10262,
Blacksburg, Virginia 24062-0262 webmaster@blackeagle.com
Industry Insights Newsletter: Ann Dupuis, P.O. Box 838, Randolph,
Massachusetts 02368-0838 ghostgames@aol.com
The Rose: Paul Myer (Crazy Egor's), 1699 Hamlin Parma TL Road, Hilton, New
York 14468-9715 crazyegor@aol.com
Ideas for Next Year
I'm always on the lookout for new games and ideas. Perhaps you are too.
Anyone involved in education knows that planning and discovery are ongoing.
If you would like to ask other teachers and publishers about games, do so
here.
My current plan for next year is to center the classroom around a study of
the United States in the second half of the Twentieth Century. We will
begin with World War Two, which necessitates at least a brief look at World
War One and the Depression. From there we will examine the postwar world,
the Cold War, the Sixties, computers, changes in society, business,
government, and our own families' histories.
Anybody know any good games in these areas? I have D-Day and Midway from
Avalon Hill and Tet Offensive from GDW.
Classroom Games
David Millians
Recently I was asked to describe more generally my approach to developing
and using games for educational purposes. I have used games of various
types to explore a number of fields and specific situations with my
students. Here I will explore the way I currently implement role plays.
The format of these games has changed over time, for I have refined my
technique, and the needs of my students have changed as well. In my
current classroom of thirty ten and eleven year olds, who I keep all day in
all subjects, I base all of the year's studies around a topic. This past
year it was the Age of Exploration, and in the past I've used The Civil
War, The Middle Ages, China, The Twentieth Century, and The Modern World.
=46rom this central subject come all of the more specific topics in differen=
t
curriculum areas. This past year the base topic of The Age of Exploration
led to studies of coral reefs, fish, and coastal marshes; my selection of
books for literature studies; tales of Arabian Nights, Treasure Islands,
and Christopher Columbus; research reports; and even discussions of
longitude and latitude in math class. This year, as for the last several
years, we had two long simulations. The first ran from September to
December and had the students as the leading crew of expeditions to the New
World. From February to May, they were villagers in a mission village on
the Georgia coast during the Sixteenth Century.
Below is more or less how I develop new games and how I lead them with my
students. The structures and requirements of your situation will
necessarily cause you to modify the approaches I describe here. You have
to make it fit you, and it's much more fun that way too.
Development
1. I immerse myself in my central subject. This is in large part because I
like to learn about new topics, so I plunge right in, but the benefit long
down the road is that during a simulation I will have a general sense of
what really happened, what could have happened, what is most fun. This
often allows me to adjudicate disputes or answer questions rapidly during a
game.
2. Choose a complete setting for the game. It is best if the imaginary
locale is connected to or enmeshed with the larger world in ways that allow
students to see, enjoy, and learn about wider issues. It is also best if
they are self sufficient as a group. I do not mean this in the sense that
they can grow enough food to eat through the winter but rather that the
students will represent the range of those with whom they interact. I
usually do have a character or two through which I can introduce issues,
carry mail, or observe, but it is very frustrating for a student to need to
speak with or otherwise interact with someone who is not represented or who
is only intermittently represented. They should be all of the important
characters. This is true for whatever level of simulation you are leading,
whether a tiny village or an international conference.
3. Write the characters. In most of my simulations, these are the adult
members of families within the community. My goal is to write as little as
possible. Knowing that we will as a class go over the many similarities
and cultural roles, I only have to include dramatic details for individual
characters. Every character should have a juicy or dramatic secret. Some
will blurt it out the first day, others will connive to use or conceal it,
and some will enjoy it on their own and reveal it after the game is
concluded. Sometimes I write out several specific goals for each
character. These can be challenging, for every character should always
have something to do.
You can have your students develop character details from simple notes or
outlines you provide. I have done this. You have to be ready to rewrite
many of them or to do so with the students, and you have to decide how
wacky you will let allow them to be. I always keep it historically
accurate.
4. Make a display for the game. You need a list of players and characters
and some information about the characters. You probably need one or more
maps. Posters about the topic add color. I found a shark's jaw for $30
and hung it on our board all through our coastal game of Santa Maria.
Getting Started.
I go over some background to the setting, usually a short lecture or a
reading and discussion. Each student draws a number from a hat, and I
either hand out a sheet with brief information on the characters or write
the same on a blackboard. The students pick characters based on their
drawn number. Sometimes I break the character list and the students into
groups from which to pick, thereby assuring older students will be older
characters or for some other reason. I have boys play males and girls play
females.
Playing
1. Costumes? Props? Other decorations? You decide. Students really like
this aspect, and it makes the simulation more evocative, but it adds to the
time, and it has to be stored somewhere.
2. We usually play for thirty minutes at a time, allowing us time to
prepare and clean up. I set the stage, reminding them of past and present
issues and any current challenges, and then they begin to interact. It's
very busy, noisy, and rich. Much of my time is spent conferring with
individuals or refereeing complexities and confrontations. Whenever I can,
I stand back and watch.
3. I have my students keep a journal of their activities and plans.
Sometimes we need additional meetings to discuss events and issues or to
soothe ruffled feathers. These games often generate other projects as
well: art, maps, genealogy.
I'm sure I've overlooked something important. Please, write if you have
any questions.
Queries & Comments
I am a high school principal who has been involved with gaming (i.e.
board, play by mail, play by email, computer, and historical miniatures)
since college. I sponsor a war gaming club that meets every other Saturday
at the school. I started the year with three kids and now have twenty to
twenty-five. We recently put on a demo game at a local bookseller store,
Barnes and Noble, that was well received. We were invited back to do a
day-long demo that involves the public! Right now we use Axis and Allies -
good intro to Board gaming, for I feel it's easy to teach and visually
compelling - and Forward to Richmond for the same reasons. We also are
playing F & I War, American Civil War, WWII, and Ancients and Medievals out
of my collection of miniatures. Rules here include DBA, Tactica, and
Armati.
I am now in the process of putting together a workshop aimed at Social
Studies teachers in grades six to twelve that teaches them how to
incorporate all the various elements of gaming into the curriculum, as it
provides a tangible, real-world experience to the material being taught.
Without getting too technical, it also provides a real solid opportunity
for curriculum integration, that is, utilizing many parts of the curriculum
(English, Geography, History, Economics, Political Science, Math) to
delivery a lesson from different disciplinary viewpoints.
For those of you designing, publishing, or playing games, I now ask for
your help. I need input from your considerable expertise as to how I can
continue my efforts to bring gaming into school curriculums and the public.
I also would be very interested in some sort of partnership to promote
various games to schools and the public as I host these demo games. As an
educator and a gamer, I see the opportunity to do some good for education
AND introduce more people into gaming. I think there is a fairly large
marketable niche out there that hasn't been explored. This may be the means
to do so. ANY thoughts or comments would be greatly appreciated and
followed up on. I have the blessing and sponsorship of my Superintendent
and Director of Curriculum and Technology in my district. If anyone is
interested, and especially in Illinois, I'd be happy to mail you a brochure
that I have developed through my school.
Michael Davis, Principal, Peotone High School
Peotone, Illinois USA 60468
Therapeutic use of Role-playing games
I am a Dutch student of dramatherapy. I am working on a paper about the
possible use of roleplaying games in (psycho)therapy.
Is there anyone out there with experience in the therapeutic use of
roleplaying games either as a therapist or as a client? Can people advise
me about literature on this subject?
Comments on the therapeutic effects of roleplaying as a hobby are also welc=
ome.
Karen Kramer, E-Mail: K.F.Kramer-Medema@biol.ruu.nl
I want to announce that I have helped to set up a new Web-page which
attempts to collect all Webpages which are both pro- and anti-D&D. Some of
them appear to have spontaneously copied messages of mine on the Internet
on this topic, such as in the rec.games.frp FAQ part 2a. The page is
located at: http://www.personal.unt.edu/~jl0007/draco.htm
I recently had an experience when my gaming gave me knowledge I would
probably not have had and which put me one up on my fellow workers. The
last campaign I ran was a classic Twilight: 2000 game set in Poland. The
source materials mention the Polish State Chemical Works in Dwory, right
next to Oswiecim (Auschwitz). The player characters were heading that way,
so I researched chemical weapon production and types in order to be
prepared when they arrived. Fortunately, I was able to spend my lunch hour
at the technical library of the National Laboratory at which I work. This
library had a fair amount of information about chemical weapons. I ran the
players through several adventures involving Dwory with considerable
success. About a month later, the topic of verification of the Chemical
Weapons Convention came up at work as a possible new business area.
Because of my research for role-playing, I could speak quite knowledgeably
about the subject.
Has something like this ever happened to you?
Raymond C. Parks, CCP
rcparks@news.rt66.com
Defend Your Castle!
[Here is an exchange which Ian McKinney and I had concerning a summer
program he is leading. By now I'm sure he's finalized his plans, but I
include his ideas and my comments to demonstrate the issues that arise in
developing these sorts of activities.]
I now work at the Hammond Public Library in Hammond, Indiana (as a Youth
Services Librarian). Our Summer Reading Program theme for this summer will
be "Readers of the Round Table," to which we will connect medieval-type
programs such as Design Your Coat of Arms (and Put it on a T-shirt),
Medieval Fun and Games (including juggling), and a frisbee contest. (Ok,
the frisbee contest isn't very medieval.)
The program I am most excited (and apprehensive) about is called "Defend
Your Castle!" I've decided to run a simulation of a castle siege inspired
in large part by your tales of your semester- and year-long simulations. I
think I'm going to have each kid (or possibly teams of kids) make decisions
about what kind of castle to defend, what sorts of preparations to make,
perhaps with a point system governing it all. The hard part is that I'll
have 60-90 minutes, not a whole semester. Things are still in the planning
stages at this point.
Ian McKinney
If you have a selection of varied castle designs, lists of possible
inhabitants and defenders, lists of provisions, and special extra stuff
(kids love those kind of lists), you can use a point system and go from
there. It's good to answer as many questions as possible than to avoid lots
of repetition or even contradictions later.
Let them personalize the castles by coloring, illustrating, making coats
of arms, even making alterations. If it feels too cookie cutter, they'll
lose interest. That's the big problem with most published simulations.
Are they actually going to be besieged? Will you bring a standard force to
bear on each? They'll love watching each others' results. Choose the
simplest one just to save time. Older kids can figure out any rule system.
David Millians
Review of Yellowstone
Reviewed by Jared Balter, Lee Pate and Ty McNulty
Mendocino High School
Mendocino, California
Yellowstone, published by Avalon Hill, is a game about the animals in
Yellowstone National Park. It was created by Cathy and Ellsworth Boyd, Rick
and Bonny Shipley, and the children of Carney and Mt. Royal Elementary
Schools in Baltimore, Maryland. Yellowstone was published by Avalon Hill
Game Company in 1985.
This game portrays the natural dangers of life in the wild. Each player
guides a herd of wild animals through the park collecting food points and
avoiding predators. To win, a player must complete a journey from their
winter range to their summer range and back with as many of the herd and
food points as possible. Predators move in the same manner as the herd
members and are controlled by players in two cases. The first way a player
may control a predator is if they roll the correct number on a seasonal
event chart. The second way is at the end of their turn the player may
roll for control of a certain type of predator.
The map board of this game reflects the geographic region of Yellowstone
fairly well, though it is stylized to facilitate play. The natural insert
is very informative and well written. It includes a number of interesting
facts about the park, how the game reflects Yellowstone's natural history,
and detailed descriptions of the animals depicted in the game.
There is a simple beginner introductory rules section that we feel may be
good for elementary students. We believe it is entirely too simple and
uninteresting for most ten year olds. The advanced rules, however, are
laid out very well and easily understood, though there are a few sentences
that are a little confusing.
Yellowstone is a fun and educational addition to any class that would like
to learn about Yellowstone, its animals, and/or the migratory habits of the
inhabitants of the Park. Unfortunately there is a limit of four players,
so for a class of thirty you might need up to eight copies of the game.
Avalon Hill gives a discount of 40% to educators.
It is a good idea to play this game several times before teaching it to a
class. With proper instruction, a class can learn this game in fifteen
minutes and play it in two hours. We had fun learning and playing this
game and highly recommend it.
The Fine Print
Games & Education is a semiannual publication sponsored by the Game
Manufacturer's Association (GAMA) and is dedicated to furthering
communication regarding the use of games of all types in educational
settings. It is distributed free to anyone interested in any facet of this
pursuit. Everyone is encouraged to participate in this communication by
sharing their games, discoveries, insights, and critiques. We all benefit
from each other's ideas.
Games & Education is distributed through the US Postal Service and is
posted to a number of USENET newsgroups, including alt.games.dice,
alt.games.live-action, rec.games.abstract, rec.games.board,
rec.games.diplomacy, rec.games.frp.advocacy, rec.games.frp.misc,
rec.games.mecha, rec.games.miniatures, rec.games.miniatures.historical,
rec.games.miniatures.misc, and rec.games.playing-cards. Current and past
issues of the newsletter are available on the worldwide web at
http://www.rpg.net/.
GAMA's webpage can be found at
http://skynet.bevc.blacksburg.va.us/gama/.
Readers are encouraged to contribute materials to this publication. We
assemble the newsletter during the months of June and December. The size
of the newsletter depends on what is submitted.
Permission is granted to copy anything in the newsletter, provided it does
not have anyone else's copyright on it.
GAMA Officers and Division Chairs are listed below.
Executive Director: L. Lee Cerny (Stellar Games, Inc.), P.O. Box 602,
Swanton, Ohio 43558
(419) 826-4262 (419) 826-4242 (fax) stellarlc@earthlink.net
President: Paul Myer (Crazy Egor's), 1699 Hamlin Parma TL Road, Hilton, New
York 14468-9715 crazyegor@aol.com
Vice-President: Jim Atkiss
Secretary: Robert Carty (Liberty Hobby Distributors), 1627 Gary Road,
Lakeland, Florida 33802 rtclhd@aol.com
Treasurer: Bruce Neidlinger (I.C.E.), P.O. Box 1605, Charlottesville,
Virginia 22902 naug@aol.com
Wholesale Division Chair: Bob Boyle (Greenfield Hobby Distributors), 32660
DeQuindre, Warren, Michigan 48092 GHDJBL@aol.com
Retail Division Chair: Paul Myer (Crazy Egor's), 1699 Hamlin Parma TL Road,
Hilton, New York 14468-9715 crazyegor@aol.com
Industry Watch (contact Executive Director Lee Cerny)
Retailer Hotline: Winston Hamilton (GRD)
[ Read FAQ | Subscribe to RSS | Contact Us | Advertise with Us ]
This catalog offers puzzles, manipulatives, and problem solving activities.
EPS lists activity books and books about the teaching craft.
Interact produce a clear, structured, educational simulations.
This catalog is everything social studies, from geography to adolescent
interpersonal skills
Worldwide Games lists beautiful puzzles, games, models, and toys. West
End Games advertises Sherlock Holmes here.