Some of my favorite stealth learning tools are educational games. I have shelves full of them for almost every subject, too. But, most of them are language arts resources and geography and living history resources. I tend to buy kits and manipulatives for science and math. Recently, I discovered a new game to add to my collection. My youngest is fifteen now, so he’s grown out of most of what I have. Besides, it was time for something new and one of his (and my husband’s) favorite subjects is history. So, I found Trekking Through History from Underdog Games.
Among the Better Educational Games I’ve Seen
Beautiful and High Quality
Have you ever had a game board that split in half after heavy use? I have. That is super frustrating and hard to fix. Well, Underdog Games figured out a way to get around that. Their game board is like one of those exercise mats that rolls up. Very nice. Then, there’s the beauty of the game. It’s absolutely stunning in the depictions of events in the card decks and the game board. Check it out!
Easy to Learn
I don’t know about you, but sometimes when I buy a new educational game, the instructions look like a book. I have to set aside a half hour just to figure out how to play it, especially if it’s a game for older kids. This is a complex strategy game, but it only took me about 15 minutes to read the instructions, set up the game, and explain it to my son and husband. That means it gets played more often. And, the unique molded box has a spot for every piece and card deck, so no sloshing around in the box getting beat up. It’s ready to go as soon as you open the box!
The object of Trekking Through History is to earn Victory points. Players earn points by completing itinerary cards and Treks. The longer the Trek, the more points that Trek earns. And, Treks have to be in chronological order, so be strategic in how you collect Historical Event cards because your Treks are made up of a series of Historical Events that you choose to visit! You only get 12 hours a day for your three-day trip and if you spend too long at one Historical Event, your Treks will be short. That means less Victory points. There’s also a Time Warp option to add more challenge to the game.
Great Educational Games Supplement or Introduction to History Studies
Trekking Through History is one of those educational games that makes a great teaching tool. The game includes 108 historical events from around the world and across people groups. There are a few included events that you may choose to omit at your discretion, but these do not impact the overall game play. As we played the game, we discovered some events with which we weren’t familiar and these led to a little bit of further independent research. It was a great review for my son and it was fun to see the overlap of world events, kind of like the timeline books we homeschoolers like to do. If you are doing a historical survey for your homeschool this year and looking for educational games that might kick off your studies, check out Trekking Through History!
