Gaming our way through history has been a journey. I have learned to play new games and made lots of connections that previously I have never seen. I have been an avid gamer my entire life, but I never looked at some of these games the way I did in this class. Gaming is a real way that some people express themselves and it is nice to see that we are headed in a direction where video games can be used to educate. Growing up I always heard how games will fry your brain and it is pointless to play them. They have sharpened my skills growing up and made me process information the way I do now. I believe video games increase your intelligence rather than hurt them.
We played a few different types of games in this class. First off, I want to talk about Civilization VI (Civ 6). Civ 6 has been one of my favorite games for a long time. I have many hours playing it on steam and have won the game in almost every way. This game is the best for teaching in my opinion. It shows you so many things without you even noticing that you are learning. The trading system shows you how countries traded, and it takes negotiations, it does not just happen easily each party needs to get something they want without giving too much to the other side. It also teaches about uprisings in empires. I think taking this course alongside Dr. Pitt’s empire class made a lot of connections that benefited me in both classes. Civ 6 does a great job at simulating how empires were run and what can happen to them. Are you not doing enough for your people? Well, they are going to try to overthrow you. Not focusing on your military enough? Your enemies probably are and will crush you when they get the chance. I think that Civ 6 should be played in the empires class if there was enough time to do so.
The next game I want to talk about is Assassin’s Creed. The Assassin’s Creed franchise has a big place in my heart. I played the first three games as a kid and loved them. They are fast pasted and have lots of action. They teach a little about history as well. They may not teach on the same level as Civ 6, but it has a lot of accurate information in the games, it is just harder to pick out. I think the newer games in the franchise are better-educating tools, however, should probably be played on their own time instead of in a normal classroom, but for this class, they are perfect analyzing tools.
Empire Total War was an interesting game that I have never played. It is both real-time and turn-based. I very much enjoy real-time strategy games such as the Age of Empires franchise, but Empire Total War did not speak to me as much. The game is very dated and hard to control. I do think that it is a better game for education than Assassin’s Creed, but I think it falls short of Civ 6. Civ 6 is hard to beat. The game does have some cool aspects. I enjoyed in class when we did the experiment of declaring war on everyone that our country would actually be at war with. It was a fun addition to the game that made it more realistic. Things like this are a really good teaching tool that simulation-type games offer. Tropico can be grouped into this simulation game category as well. It was a fun game that taught a lot about interactions between countries and how trade works. Simulation games are the best for teaching. They allow for the lesson plan to be shaped in different ways to get out of the games what you need to. Action games are fun and keep people engaged like Call of Duty. However, the core of what this class is getting at can be lost. Focusing too much on gameplay will result in less education. Games like Call of Duty have too much going on to expect people playing to pick out little pieces of historical facts, unless you already know about it.
The final game project was a lot of fun. I enjoyed making a board game that attempted to accurately fit a time period and educate about it. 1789 did get rushed a bit at the end. We wished we had more time to actually build the board game but ended up with just an idea. The project was a cool way of looking into how people who make historically accurate games have to do a lot of research. Just coming up with a few ideas for cards with actions that matched their real-life actions was hard. The team aspect of the project also made it interesting. Video games are made in teams. Everyone has ideas on what they want the game to be, so it is a lot of give and take. That is what makes games good. You need a lot of people pushing their own ideas to get the best outlook you can. If one person designed every game, it would be predictable and repetitive. This class was a lot of fun! I would recommend it to everyone who likes gaming or wants to learn more about it. Even people who do not have an interest in gaming could get a lot from this class and maybe find a new passion. It opened my eyes as a long-time gamer to what I am actually playing and learning. Games are a great way to sharpen your skills on a computer or help your analyzing ability, but they are also a great way to educate about history. Overall, Civ 6 is my winner for this class. The game fits what this class embodies. A video game that is enjoyable but can also be used to teach many lessons about how empires; and civilizations worked throughout history.