Gaming and the liberal arts

Civ V mod as Fifa critique. World Cup is used as a "wonder"

Excellent. Very clever and funny. Flyvbjerg does some interesting work.

Two basic chemistry games.

Teaching with Simcity: a detailed assignment, including assessment:

A simulation game dating back to the 1960s. Looks like the inspiration for SimCity.

"It's easy to promise something in a manifesto. After all, by the time we've elected that party, it's five long years before we can get rid of it. And the vast majority of the promises are broken within the first few months - or the first five minutes of coalition negotiation..."

Love it. I wonder what kind of legwork it would take to "port" this over to US politics....

"Last month, students received an email from CSUN President Dianne F. Harrison, Ph.D. requiring completion of "Agent of Change," an online education course that provides information about sexual violence and provides opportunities to practice skills for preventing sexual violence, or have a hold placed on their Fall 2015 registration."

"Wargames, especially on historical conflicts, do not currently play much part in the booming academic use of simulation and gaming techniques. This is despite the fact that they offer rich vehicles for active learning and interactive exploration of conflict dynamics. Constraints of time, expertise and resources do make it challenging to employ wargames in academia, but a greater problem is the stigma which wargaming attracts due to its association with childish enthusiasts and its perceived deficiencies as a modelling technique. This article builds on my many years of teaching and research experience with wargames to show how playing and designing them can benefit students and scholars alike."

Satirical game, created by ex-teacher.

Very clever. I'd like to get a chance to play it when it hits beta. :)

When Russian artist El Lissitzky printed his 1920 Soviet propaganda poster "Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge," he had no idea it would become iconic. It was its bold symbolism that did the trick. The Russian civil war was reduced to a potent display of shape and space. The Bolsheviks were represented by a violent-red triangle that had stabbed ...

Fun idea. Can we play it with a keyboard?

How is it? The "About" page seems a year out of date.

Drumroll, please! Here are your nominees for the Games for Change Awards, which celebrate the year's best social impact games. Come to the Festival to play and

OK - just tried "That's Your Right" too, and it's a fun little digital card game, like Blizzard's Hearthstone, that definitely had me more familiar with the five sub-clauses of the first amendment by the end of it than I was before my 15-minute play session. I'm curious what political science faculty in higher ed would think of it's cutesy interface and music, and of it's fairly straight-forward political content regarding the Bill of Rights, but I found it engaging enough during my first playthrough that I (re-)learned something.

Thanks, Brett.

Did those papers freak out because of the very idea of a newsgame, or that it simulates a current conflict?

Short newsgame simulating choices confronting Syrian refugess. "The Syrian conflict has torn the country apart, leaving thousands dead and driving millions to flee their homes. Many seek refuge in neighbouring countries but others pay traffickers to take them to Europe - risking death, capture and deportation. If you were fleeing Syria for Europe, what choices would you make for you and your family?"

Gov't sim, very cheap site license for 40 users.

Looks very sophisticated as a political simulation.

"ABSTRACT According to the literature, video game playing can improve such cognitive skills as problem solving, abstract reasoning, and spatial logic. I test this hypothesis using the data from the Child Development Supplement to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. The endogeneity of video game playing is addressed by using panel data methods and controlling for an extensive list of child and family characteristics. To address the measurement error in video game playing, I instrument children's weekday time use with their weekend time use. After taking into account the endogeneity and measurement error, video game playing is found to positively affect children's problem solving ability. The effect of video game playing on problem solving ability is comparable to the effect of educational activities. "

TABLE OF CONTENTS EDITORIAL Special Issue: Teaching with and about Games Video Game Studies How to Play Games of Truth: An Introduction to Video Game Studies Novel Interfaces for Interactive Environments Educational and Serious Game Design: Case Study In Collaboration Introduction to Games Design Representing the Past: Video Games Challenge to the Historical Narrative Learning Through Making: Notes on Teaching Interactive Narrative Video Games as a New Form of Interactive Literature Writing In and Around Games Hints, Advice, and Maybe Cheat Codes: An English Topics Course About Computer Games Teaching Network Game Programming with the Dragonfly Game Engine Root of Play - Game Design for Digital Humanists Alternative Reality Games to Teach Game-Based Storytelling "Continue West and Ascend the Stairs": Game Walkthroughs in Professional and Technical Communication Annotated Bibliography for Game Studies: Modeling Scholarly Research in a Popular Culture Field

Excellent case study of a simulation game. Fine reflections on education + gaming.

Funding for Mission US provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional funding provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Educational outreach support provided by The Page & Otto Marx, Jr. Foundation and Atran Foundation.