Blog Post #1

Playing CIV 6

For this first post, Im going to break this game into 2 categories, the Gameplay itself (strategy & goals) , and the ability to use it in a classroom, its pedagogical potential (pros and cons). So let’s get right to it.

Gameplay

I started this game at the neutral difficulty of Prince, and the nation that I chose to rule was America with Teddy Roosevelt. I chose to have each character start on the map at the location that suited their empire, so the was generally historically accurate. I did notice that the middle east / Mediterranean sea was a bit jumbled and over-stacked, but this makes sense seeing that there are multiple empires that rose and fell in that same area throughout history.

Being America had its pros and cons, the isolation was great, minus the fact that there was no diffusion in my empire and because of that it lagged behind the others with tech achievements . The isolation allowed for me to really spread my borders and take over not only North America, but Central and parts of South America as well. This expansion was uncontested until I went to war with the nation of Brazil, which controlled most of South America. This war was eventually won by me, and it ended in Brazil paying reparations.

Pedagogy

As Far as its use in the classroom goes, there was a-lot of mechanics and features that I believe could be useful to help further Deeper Learning with students. I say that because I believe if students are not aware of some of the historical accuracies, this game is just a game. A lot of surface learning will not take place because of the inaccuracies that take part throughout the game. For example, as you eventually set up governments, you are allowed to choose from a few choices, and a lower-achieving student might look at the merchant republic and see that its benefits are an extra card, one plus builder, etc. While at the same time, a student who is ready for deeper learning is possibly going into that decision thinking ” am i going to become a Maritime trading society like England, or the East India Trading co.?” Another example might be , “Should i found my city between two rivers like Mesopotamia?” – compared to “I should put my city here because its +3 food.” Unfortunately for some students, this game will just be a game, but to others this game can help show the interconnectedness of History.

Im sorry this is lacking pictures and videos, to be completely honest this took me a long time to figure out in the first place, but now that i got it i will put pictures and videos into my next blog post – tech savviness willing.