Games

Games and simulations are closely related, and there are mixed varieties: simulation games, non-simulation games, and non-game simulations. Games are activities in which there are winners and losers, definite sets of rules for “moves,” and frequent use of props or other paraphernalia. For example, in a game used in sociology classes, players are randomly assigned to several different groups and provided with colored markers that represent money. They are told to maximize their cash through negotiations and trade with other groups, but the rules for trading markers are actually stacked against certain groups — they literally cannot win. This game allows students to experience in a small way life in a rigid class society in which improvement of one’s condition is made difficult or impossible by the society’s economic rules. Although it is possible to devise games yourself, hundreds of instructional games and simulations have been published by organizations involved