Forget History Books - Bring on the Board Games

Richard Ham, aka Rahdo, says he’s spent “hundreds and hundreds” of hours blathering about board games in nearly 500 video reviews. These are games like Brew Crafters (in which you make beer) and Lap Dance (in which … you guessed it). But there’s also one that inspires the Malta-based video game designer and critic. He becomes visibly choked up, in fact, when describing it: a game called Freedom: The Underground Railroad, in which players assume the role of abolitionists running slaves through the Underground Railroad. “Should you enjoy this game?” Ham asks at one point in his review.

Classrooms have long used games to teach history, but some education experts say today’s board games are maturing rapidly, allowing designers to tackle unprecedented subjects — many of which still have educational value. Navajo Wars (available for $155 through Amazon) pits players against a constantly changing and aggressive army made up of Spanish, Mexican and, of course, American soldiers. Other, unreleased games in the works feature storylines on different Native American tribes and even Mexican kitchen workers. Though no one tracks this sliver of historical board-game sales, overall the industry grew from $735 million in 2013 to $880 million last year, according to ICv2, a trade publication. “Games … immerse people in a way that movies and books don’t, because games are participatory,” says Brian Mayer, a gaming and library technology specialist who designed Freedom and also organizes educational services for 20 school districts in the state of New York.

For Joel Toppen, creator of Navajo Wars, the game was a medium to tell old stories in a new way. After living among the Navajo for 20 years, he made the game partly to fight back against caricatures of native culture — and it has paid off, with a print run that sold out in just over a year. Toppen wouldn’t disclose exactly how many he sold, but he’s working on a follow-up about the Comanche tribe. His games position Native Americans not necessarily as heroes but as protagonists, allowing participants to embody a character often portrayed as either villain or victim in U.S. history.