Category: reviews

Contains political biographies of Chicago luminaries. Requires cooperation, trading/interaction. There is a Rated PG word on the Mayor Cermak card. Art is NOT realistic. Designer had potential education use in mind.

The saving of souls. Game forces cooperation–no one wins if any of the players dies.

Game requiring area control that limits some cards to one use only, making card-counting/probability important. Limited to 2 players, it is best used as an example of the mechanics of probability, etc.

Halloween theme. Game involves bluffing other players and trying to collect sets of monsters (ghosts, vampires, and Frankenstein’s monsters)

Good to use during dinosaur units. Shows issues/questions regarding dino survival.

Players are time travelers trying to create a certain timeline in Earth’s history. Players can end the world, create peace, etc. Photocopying for personal use would be necessary to have more than two players playing, or else modifying the rules.

Once one is learned, the whole series is known. Players get to draw with crayons and build rails to develop railways. They then have to move trains to carry cargos to destination cities, showing where resources are and forcing players to find cities. The most useful in the series are Empire Builder (USA), Eurorails (Europe), British Rails (Great Britain), and Nippon Rails (Japan).

The computer game plays MUCH faster taking all calculations out. It would be the MUCH PREFERRED version for use in a classroom. Players buy stock in railroads and manipulate the market while developing a rail network in the Eastern United States. Completely different in style from the Empire Builder series. It is massive profits through stock manipulation, just like in 19th century America. The computer version can be saved and resumed. Boardgame version would require scrupulous students/students who stay focused when not actively participating in a turn.

Great game, relationship between resources and communities, also involves probability/odds in determination of resources. Instead of Catan, could easily call the game Settlers of Jamestown for a US History class for example.

These are books covering every conceivable military campaign of history or army of history. The value comes from the brevity of the books, the conciseness of detail, and the photographs and color artwork that accompany the text. The research behind the books tends to be first-rate as well. If not used directly or made available to students, they can supplement knowledge in areas you feel you as a teacher need help with.