No Man's Land - historical board games' position between entertainment and education (Topic Discussion)
Historical board games occupy an awkward space in our hobby. They are usually not designed to teach history in any formal sense, and they are also not entertaining in the sense of being fun. These games stop short of education, offering no syllabus, no claims of being a detailed treatise of their setting, and no obligation to explain themselves. The subject matter historical board games draw on, war, exploitation, inequality, famine, and systemic violence, doesn't suit the lightness or escapism people often expect when playing board games as a leisure activity. The result is a form of play that somehow feels serious but incomplete. In this article, I want to explore this in more detail.Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2026/02/24/no-mans-land-historical-board-games-position-between-entertainment-and-education-topic-discussion/Useful LinksAmabel Holland's blog Hollandazed: Thoughts, Ideas, and Miscellany: https://hollandspiele.com/blogs/hollandazed-thoughts-ideas-and-miscellanyJeremiah McCall's Gaming the Past: https://gamingthepast.net/MusicIntro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)Music:Color In The Dark by Øraeth | https://soundcloud.com/itsoraethMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/hidden thoughts by Øraeth | https://soundcloud.com/itsoraethMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/a voice low by Øraeth | https://soundcloud.com/itsoraethMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/Perilune by AERØHEAD | https://soundcloud.com/aeroheadMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en_USSupportIf you want to support this podcast financially, please check out the links below:Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/TabletopGamesBlogPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/tabletopgamesblogWebsite: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/support/(Photo by Amos K on Unsplash)
