BOARD GAMES IN THE CLASSROOM

Gamers gather around a table to unbox a new board game or bring out an old favorite. Together, they enter into a unique experience of mental challenge, social interaction, and creative play — an experience that draws them together. But can this special experience have anything to do with learning? John Coveyou, founder of Genius Games, insists that it does. Whenever you take a seat around a table to play a board game, “your mind can’t not begin to pick up information about the world that the game is themed around.” Without a doubt, learning is part of the experience, but is it a big enough part to justify using board games in the classroom? If so, how can board games be best used for learning?

- Jon Den Houter

GAME PUBLISHERS WHO HAVE EDUCATION IN MIND

Lance Hill, founder of Funhill games, designed Kings of Israel to teach his church youth group the geography of ancient Israel. “I had been dabbling with game design,” he says, “and it popped into my head that a game could probably teach the locations pretty well.”

“The game board is a map of the Northern Kingdom of Israel,” he explains, “and in each round, my youth group kids got a little bit better at becoming familiar with finding the locations on the board. At the same time, I had a special Bible study that I used in between rounds that explained why each location was important in the game. That helped the teens to attach events and people to the locations on the board.”

In the same way that playing any map of Ticket to Ride can teach players the city names and locations, by playing Kings of Israel a person can’t help but learn the names of several important cities in ancient Israel.