APOLOGYthE bEnEfitS of computEr

StrAtEGy GAminG

18 imagine Jan/Feb 2010

iSto

ck

A Gamer’s

aGe oF eMPireS iii ©eNSeMBLe StudioS

www.cty.jhu.edu/imagine imagine 19www.cty.jhu.edu/imagine

M y introduction to the world of computer strategy games came serendipitously when, as a six-year-old, I visited a friend and observed her father playing Age of Empires. I stared at the monitor as he interacted with an ever-changing medieval world of draft y castles, bustling markets, plodding caravans, and battling armies complete with cacophonous sound eff ects.

by James Barasch

Although these state-of-the-art visual renderings of cities, kings, and countrysides certainly dazzled, I was enthralled more because the game tapped into my nascent enthusiasm for history and ancient civilizations. At an age when the boundary between education and entertainment was not clear to me, I was hooked.

Subsequent visits to my friend’s house invariably included time spent engrossed either in watching or in playing the game myself. Since then, my enthusiasm for strategy games has grown, and so has my observation that such games can off er many important benefi ts beyond entertainment.

In-Game Challenges to Real-World SkillsStrategy games present players with a variety of challenges: strategic, tactical, economic, and logistical. While many games center on military and historical situations that require frequent confl ict to achieve a victory or success over an adver-sary, a much more important feature for gamers like me is the emphasis on outthinking one’s opponents both on and off the battlefi eld.

In the archetypal real-time strategy (RTS) game Age of Empires (AOE), for example, a player starts the game with a town center, a few villager/settler resource-gathering units, and a minimal stock of resources. Th e game proceeds in one of two modes: Campaign mode, in which a player completes a series of interrelated missions with a specifi c story line, or Random Map mode, in which a player selects a civilization and number of opponents and plays on a randomly generated map based on a real-world geographical area.

In either mode, a player’s position is never secure from enemy attacks, unanticipated geographical obstacles, or exhaustion of resources. To win, then, players must explore new locations on the map, develop their civilizations, and plan ahead, anticipating their opponents’ actions in order to out-compete them militarily, culturally, or economically.

Initially, players learn how to best make the smaller decisions,

such as how many villagers to assign to gathering resources like food and gold, the types and numbers of soldiers to train, and which technologies to develop. Th ese smaller decisions later evolve into strategic macro decisions, such as whether to put your nation on a defensive or off ensive footing. With experience, players learn how to coordinate the smaller decisions to achieve their larger goals; over time, they become better and faster at formulating strategies that accommodate unexpected setbacks such as ambushes, military defeats, or resource shortages.

AOE is one example of a strategy game that requires critical thinking skills such as problem solving, creative strategizing,

and exploring alternatives. It is easy to see why games that pro-vide these benefi ts would be identifi ed as valuable by schools, government, and businesses or might be used for training pur-poses. Th e U.S. Army, in fact, already uses games as a training tool and for recruitment. [Editor’s note: See next page for link to “Games that Make Leaders.”]

aGe

oF

eMPi

reS

ii©M

icro

SoFt

co

rPo

rati

oN

Action • includes fi rst-person shooter (FPS) games

such as Halo and Doom, third-person shooters (tPS) such as Hitman, and fi ghting games such as Mortal Kombat

• Most popular on console units• develops skills in refl ex and timing• emphasis on combat

Adventure• interaction with people and

environment to solve puzzles• Mostly non-confrontational• No action-based challenges

or time constraints• examples include Myst, the

Longest Journey, and visual novels (primarily in Japan)

Simulations • construction and management

simulation (cMS) of fi ctional communities for economic growth (SimCity, Roller Coaster Tycoon)

• Life simulation, including biological simulations (Spore) and pet raising (Petz)

• Social simulation (The Sims)• Vehicle simulation, including plane

and space fl ight simulation and auto racing (Gran Tourismo)

role-playing Games (rpGs)• Players take role of game character with

skill sets to maneuver through storyline (Dungeons and Dragons, Fable)

• Massively Multiplayer online rPGs (MMorPG) (The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, and World of Warcraft)

• tactical role playing (Final Fantasy Tactics)

Strategy Games• usually played on Pc• require detailed micro-

planning (tactics) and macro-strategic thinking to win

• Management of limited resources and economic challenges in a variety of settings and historical time periods

• usually military setting with an opponent to be overcome; some exceptions emphasize diplomacy and

espionage (Civilization III, Total War)

other • kids’ games• Puzzles and board and card games• Sports (Madden NFL, Grand Slam Tennis) • combinations of other genres

Strategy Game Sub-Genres: real-time Strategy (rtS)• off er continuous gameplay with

action-oriented and fast-paced decision making under continuously evolving conditions and unexpected setbacks

• examples: Starcraft, Warcraft, Age of Empires, Battle for Middle Earth

turn-based Strategy (tbS)• run on a turn-by-turn basis, which

divides game play into discrete phases to allow for more complex strategizing and calculations, and therefore more abstract and long-range planning

• example: Total War series

Artillery• tanks or cannons fi ring at each

other, therefore sometimes called shooting games.

• example: Scorched Earth

4X• Four primary goals: eXplore, eXpand,

eXploit, and eXterminate• example: Civilization

Suggested further reading “Action video Games improve vision, new research Shows”www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090329143326.htm

“your brain on video Games”www.apa.org/monitor/feb07/yourbrain.html

“Games that make leaders: top researchers on the rise of play in business and Education”http://wistechnology.com/articles/1504

“violent video Games: myths, facts, and unanswered Questions”www.apa.org/science/psa/sb-anderson.html

20 imagine Jan/Feb 2010

Learning by PlayingIn addition to sharpening critical thinking skills, many of the best games in this genre are based on historical or literary themes and off er enormous educational potential. Games such as AOE and the Total War series have been thoroughly researched and developed with the goal of historical accuracy. Th e AOE series is probably the best example, containing a History tab within the main game menu itself. From that tab, a player can select a person, build-ing, location, event, or other game feature and obtain a relatively thorough explanation of its historical signifi cance. For example, a player can click the link to Th e Battle of Tours, which is mentioned during game play, and read a summary that includes further links to entries on relevant people (Charles Martel), nations (Franks), tactics (Shield Wall), and so on.

Similarly, the Total War series includes museums like the Naval Museum of London and works of scholarship by the likes of Clausewitz and Machiavelli in its development credits. For those gamers who fi nd these contextual aspects of historical strategy games engrossing, perhaps the greatest value of these games is that they involve players directly in the action and shower them with historical events, dates, names, places, and references in a dynamic and engaging way.

As beneficial as strategy computer games can be, they still appeal to a relatively modest sector of the gaming public. Unlike the ubiquitous Halo and Tomb Raider games that are easy to learn and challenging to master, strategy games like Total War and Age of Empires are complex to learn and can take years to master. Succeeding at strategy requires many time-consuming failures and losses. In his book What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy, Dr. James Gee maintains that this is exactly what makes strategy games “pleasantly frustrating” to players, encouraging them to continue to play and improve their performance.

Perhaps the current “edutainment” trend in American society will lead to strategy games gaining credibility as viable educational tools for some students. It may be only a matter of time until playing a game becomes a homework assignment. Meanwhile, strategy gamers of all ages will continue playing out history, shap-ing civilizations, and honing critical thinking skills they can bring to the real world. i

James Barasch is a senior at choate rosemary hall in Wallingford, ct, where he plays violin in the chamber orchestra, participates in Model uN, and is president of the choate classics League, co-editor of the Journal of Social Sciences, and a member of the debate and certamen teams. in his spare time, James enjoys archery, reading, traveling, hiking, sailing,

and, of course, playing computer games.

Video Game Genres: A PrimerClassifi ed according to their gameplay interaction, regardless of the setting or

content of the game.