As someone that is quite new to video games, I was worried how I would do with our first game, Sid Meier’s Civilization VI. l was intrigued by the concept of developing a civilization into a world power, but I wasn’t sure where to start. As expected, at first I had trouble with the beginning of the game and understanding the many components that go into your strategy while playing this turn-based game, but I think that also shows parallels to the journeys of enduring hardships early civilizations had to go through in the beginning. Maybe this is due to my lack of gaming experience, but I also felt that I had started from humble beginnings and was growing in my abilities just as my small one city civilization grew in size and population. I had doubts about being able to incorporate this into my classroom since I wasn’t able to navigate the game myself initially, but slowly as I went through my turns, I figured out my general plan and started to see how and why I would want to show this to my future students.
Throughout my turns, I saw many elements of history and I was able to have firsthand interaction with them in this simulation game, such as the different geographic landscapes. I believe this personal experience during my students' gameplay would add excitement to a global history class since students would be able to get a more in-depth understanding of geography and how that effects civilizations in their development. In Civilization you have to keep in mind the surrounding geography and resources available when establishing your city and settlements. Geography constraint is a key aspect of developing civilizations that teachers talk about in global history. The opportunity this game provides is a simulation where students can have firsthand experience in this process of interacting within their surrounding geography and how it effects their priorities and decisions about what type of civilization they should create. For instance, if your civilization is near a large body of water, you might try to further your “sailing” within the tech tree so you can optimize your geographic resources.
The game does not follow history chronologically, but instead melds all technologies and civilizations into one area. This allows for players and eventually your students to witness and interact with many different civilizations and natural wonders all at once. When you discover natural wonders as you explore, history about the natural wonder pops up and lets you see the real-world application of this in-game element. You can then further look into information in the “Civilopedia,” which explains both essential game components, but also the historical background of the game and elements you encounter. This tool was definitely essential during my gameplay not only because it helped me understand the game better, but it also enriched my experience as I learned more historical context. If I were to incorporate this game into my classroom, I would definitely encourage my students to utilize the “Civilopedia” during their gameplay since it brings insight into history in an engaging manner that is relevant to modern day education as technology is incorporated more into course material.
Just as Jerimiah McCall said in Gaming the Past, teachers should strive for engagement when creating their lessons and I believe that incorporating Civilization and other history simulation games does this effectively. Students often times have a hard time relating to topics in history since they feel so removed from their daily lives. This game allows students to see firsthand all of the different elements that go into developing and maintaining an empire. Topics such as discussing bureaucracy and the ways that civilizations kept their population growing and loyal are often can be seen within their own gameplay, which they can use to enrich their discussion about this in class. As the students experience successes and failures within the game, they would have a better understanding of the phenomenon of the rise and fall of empires. I would use this as a supplemental tool within my classroom since their engagement within discussions would be motivated by the sharing of their personal experiences within the game and how it relates to real world history. McCall says it best when he says, “there is no reason to suppose that a student cannot experience an appropriately rigorous course of reading, writing, and discussion when learning from simulation games.” (McCall, 18) I believe that teachers must utilize every resource they have available to them to show a diverse range of perspectives and sources. Incorporating Civilization is a great opportunity for teachers to use material that relates to their students interests and strengths, while also creating an environment that promotes discussion of this new resource and its role within history education.
I look forward to our next focus game and learning new methods and resources I can add to my toolbox for teaching.
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