We love games and simulations here at ALPS, so much so that it’s the subject of my next book. As part of that project, I’m reading through every published game and simulation in the political science literature, and friends, I’ve noticed a problem:
We don’t name them.
Seriously. I have a column in my spreadsheet for the simulation name, and more than half of them so far don’t have actual names. I’m having to make up names myself, and I’m quite bad at naming things (I did, after all, name an article ‘Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Methods?‘). As I look through my list, I’m seeing a lot of ‘climate change game’; ‘East Asia IR game’; ‘foreign policy decision making simulation’; and ‘judge/court game’. None of that helps me–or more importantly, an instructor trying to find a classroom activity–distinguish one game from another, or target specific knowledge areas or skills.
So, this post is a simple call that if you are creating a game or simulation for classroom use, please give it a name!
Do you know how hard it is to recommend classroom activities when they don’t have standard names? If I say ‘think-pair-share’ or ‘minute paper’, everyone either knows what I mean, or can figure it out in a quick internet search. If, however I say, ‘that congressional hearing simulation’–well, good luck figuring out which one i mean. There are a dozen or more.
Names affect which games I do recommend. I get asked a lot about what I’d recommend to teach X subject. I can easily tell someone about Diplomacy, Statecraft, Model Diplomacy, the Game of Politics, Hedgemony, Zendo–all of these have clear names, and by associating the game with a name, I’m able to recall the basics of gameplay, even if its not something I’ve used myself. Even Model UN and its many variations has a clear name that points to a category of simulations that fit a particular set of instructional needs. My colleague Victor Asal, having seen his most popular game go by at least three different names (The Hobbes Game, the Classical Realism Game, or Survive or Die), much more consistently names his games now (although one has unfortunately seen its name change from ‘December 1941’ to ‘the Hitler Game’ in recent years). Others do this regularly as well–shout outs to Alves, Silver, and Barbosa (2021) for The Challenge Game and to the same team plus Pacheco for the Game of Shapes (2023); to Fielder (2019) for the Chocolate Wars, to Krain and Lantis (2006) for the Global Problem Summit, to Thomas (2002) for the Isle of Ted, and to Stapleton (2013) for Stars and Triangles. While these certainly aren’t the only games with set names, they are examples of the kind of thing this researcher is looking for. A clear name that provides a simple connection to something about the educational purpose of your game.
So, those of you considering publishing your games and simulations, whether in the academic literature, on ALPS, in APSA Educate, or elsewhere, please: give it a name. I want to be able to talk about and share your work, and this will really help.
