Sid Meier's Civilization VI is the first game many people think of when it comes to a history-based video game. It is a turn-based strategy game that lets you play as a civilization and try to make your nation last the test of time. It starts in the ancient era and by the end of the game you are past the modern era.
Now that we know a little about the game lets discuss what the bulk of this post will be about. Civilization VI and its connection to history is no mistake. Although this game could be based around anything and have almost the same gameplay, they choose to base it around the real world and history. I believe that this game can be used successfully to teach history. That does not mean that it has no flaws. There are specific ways that it should be used. Before I started taking History Through Gaming with Dr. Pitt at St. Bonaventure University, I have played Civilization VI many times and had just above one hundred hours on the game. Never have I looked deeply at what I could learn from the game. I was simply playing it for the entertaining gameplay. After playing it for class and looking more into what someone could learn from the game it opened my eyes. This game is teaching about military systems, economics, diplomacy, resource management, trade, and much more. While the game itself does not offer as much as it may seem about historical facts, it teaches about history in a different way.
In my playthrough for class I played as Teddy Roosevelt who represents the United States of America in the game. When the computer plays him, he has a character trait called Big Stick Policy, which means "He likes civilizations that have a city on his home continent and remain peaceful, while disliking those that start wars in his home continent" (Teddy Roosevelt (CIV6)). Along with this Roosevelt's troops get additional combat strength when fighting on their own continent. This follows how Teddy Roosevelt would of actually felt and it makes it beneficial to play the character how he would have actually acted. The USA liked to stick to themselves and would rather defend their land than go after others. All the leaders in Civilization VI have similar character traits and abilities that go along with their personalities and how that specific civilization would act.
The other main points of history you can get is hidden in the technology and civic trees. Here you can see the flow of technologies and civil development that have happened throughout history. Other than these there is not a lot of traditional history lessons in the game. That does not mean that the game cannot be used as a learning tool. In fact, Jeremiah McCall thinks the opposite. In his book Gaming the Past he talks about how simulation games such as Civilization are the best games to teach with. I agree with McCall, a game where the main gameplay is teaching you about history is more important than the story of the game being a representation of history. He brings up the Assassins Creed franchise and claims that it is not as good of a teacher as Civilization (McCall). This is because even though the story is accurate to history the gameplay is not and that is the majority of the game.
Back to using the game to teach. Even though the story may not be accurate at times, such as Roosevelt and Gilgamesh being alive at the same time, which happened during my play through, it can still be used in the class room. The little flaws like that can be explained that it didn't really happen that way. The game should be used as a source to get students to engage with the material they're learning about. In an article by Adam Chapman titled Is Sid Meier’s Civilization history? He brings up the word engaged a lot. That is because that is what is important about using gaming as a resource for teaching history. Students will read a textbook and forget about what they just read, but when they play a game that locks in their focus they will be able to make connections to better understand the history. Chapman also brings up the point that textbooks are the interpretation of history by the author. Textbooks are a learning supplement that need more context from the teacher to be really effective in a class room setting. He argues that that Civilization is the same thing. It is a interpretation of history by a historian put into a different system (Chapman).
The last point I would like to make is that it teaches about other things than just history. I am a environmental science major and I apricate the inclusion of climate change in the extra downloadable content of the game. This teaches about how actions of nations such as producing too much green house gases can affect the world and make it harder for everyone to do live the life they want.
This game is a great source that should be used more to teach about history. The world keeps changing and new ways of educating the next generation keep popping up out of nowhere. Movies and music are used in the class room all the time and have proven to be effective. Could video games be that next step in our journey to educate?
Sources:
Chapman, Adam. Is Sid Meier’s Civilization History? Department of Media, Culture and Society, University of Hull, Hull, UK.
McCall, Jeremiah B. Gaming the Past: Using Video Games to Teach Secondary History. Routledge, 2011.
“Teddy Roosevelt (CIV6).” Civilization Wiki, https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Teddy_Roosevelt_(Civ6)#:~:text=He%20likes%20civilizations%20that%20have,wars%20in%20his%20home%20continent.&text=Combat%20Strength%20bonus%20on%20the,National%20Park%20receive%20%2B1%20Appeal.
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