Exhausted personally and politically by the current state of the world? Or just need a distraction — something to lighten up the remaining days of winter? Here’s a recommendation: Play board games! I’m not talking about Risk or Chutes & Ladders — even though they can be fun. I want to make a pitch for exploring the rather broad category of resistance-inspired gaming.
There’s a long and fabulous history of both learning and fun in these games of resistance. Several started as educational tools to teach about political, social or economic realities. Others have been designed to offer practice at taking on and overcoming a problematic system.
Ultimately, these games are a great way to inject some playfulness into a training or bring creativity into your strategic planning. Gameplay can be a low-risk (and less stressful) way to start planning for a new campaign or to exercise your team’s collective muscle without being browbeaten into it.
The following list of resistance games encompass a wide variety of styles — from cooperative to roleplaying to standard around-the-board gameplay. And each one has its own personality. Some will draw out your inner Gandhi, some will let you live your wildest fantasies of insurrection, and some will just make you laugh. So dive in and get your game on!
Check out the rest of the article where Co-opoly is reviewed at Waging Nonviolence!
