From Trivial Pursuit to Monopoly, classic board games are not only fun and social, but they also present an opportunity to develop critical thinking and cognitive skills as players plan their next move or come up with a game strategy. But what if we could take these core elements and use them to teach science?
Scientists, educators, and board game fans have been doing this for years . And in recent years, thanks to the phenomenon of crowdfunding or collective financing websites such as Kickstarter, Verkami -Spanish platform that was born in 2010-, Indiegogo or GoFundme, there has been an explosion of science-based games designed to entertain and educate All ages.
Science-themed board games are an increasingly popular way to learn about everything from building atoms to colonizing space. The most popular, in fact, are the fields of cell biology, evolution, epidemics and colonization of Mars. While the connection between science and games is not new, it has become much more innovative and elegant in recent times. They are known as STEM games (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).
The inspiration that science provides to game designers is endless, there is no limit.
Phil Eklund , director of Sierra-Madre Games who worked at NASA for many years, for example, has been working on highly technical video game design for several decades, being the muse for a host of space-themed board games. High Frontier, a deeply researched simulation about space exploration is one of its biggest milestones that we will also unravel in our board game journey.
We are, without a doubt, in the golden age of board games. Currently there are many good science-themed games, where science itself is the one that drives the game.
Today we review our favorite board games to learn science. It is not a definitive guide, so if you know of an equally interesting one that is not on our list, do not hesitate to write to us.
