Travel the World with Games

It’s easy enough for me to say that board games (more than 500 of them!) have opened up a new world for me. But there are certain games that have been opening up the world for my son as well – by helping him understand geography.

One series of terrific games for learning about the countries of the world are the 10 Days… series by Out of the Box publishing. We’re big fans of the card game Rack-o, and these are light geography games with a similar style. You can find 10 Days in Africa, in Asia, in Europe, and in the USA, and they all play in the same way.

Each player has a rack of 10 cards showing countries (or states, in the case of the USA version) or transportation. On each turn, you draw a card and use the new card to replace one of the cards already in your rack, trying to complete a journey from Day 1 to Day 10.

Any two countries that share a border on the map can be placed next to each other in your rack, and you can “walk” between them. Two countries with only one country separating them can be placed in the rack with a car between them – you can “drive” across the intervening country. Completing a 10-day route is harder than it sounds, though, especially if you find yourself working in the same area of the map as another player and competing for those country cards! These games are a delightful way to learn the geography of these parts of the world.

Another series that my son likes are the Carmen Sandiego games, most of which were put out by University Games about 10 years ago and so need to be searched for on eBay, at thrift shops or yard sales. These fun games include a card game and both Where in the USA…

and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? as well as a junior version and Where in Time… and Where in Space… titles.

Young players answer geography trivia questions in order to move around the board – and so around the USA or around the world – and collect hints and capture henchmen as they try to track down that master criminal, Carmen Sandiego. My son loves the catching-crooks theme of these games, and has learned about some great landmarks and country capitals.

There are classics, of course, like playing Risk to learn about world geography (as well as some military history and strategy) and newer classics like the Ticket to Ride games, which have maps for the USA and Europe, and encourage geographical awareness as well as resource management (deciding what routes to build at what time). Many other great railroad games include maps too, like TransAmerica and TransEuropa, which have a similar feel but much faster play than Ticket to Ride.

If you’re looking to help your kids (and yourself!) bone up on the geography of the USA, you can look for some great older games, including the Brain Quest Know Your States game and Borderline: USA, or look on retail store shelves for the current game Sequence: States and Capitals, too.

Have you played any good games for reviewing geography? We’d love to hear about them. I can never have enough games!

In between board games, PisecoMom squeezes in a little homeschooling for her two adorable children at Mind Games.

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