Board game teaches kids to “fight tyranny”
The entrepreneurs behind a new board game combine fun, engaging play with an unmistakably patriotic message in an effort to teach traditional American values too often avoided by today’s educators.
I recently had the pleasure of hearing about the venture from co-creator Robert Snizek, who explained the idea for “We the People” came when he realized the next generation’s dearth of knowledge concerning the basic principles of Capitalism.
During a game of Monopoly with his young children, Snizek said he illustrated the game’s roots in teaching the free market system to post-Depression adolescents.
“I started laughing as I compared the principles of Capitalism to the ones we were being taught by the media and advocates of big government today,” he said. “When I had to explain the humor to my kids, I realized that they are oblivious to what America has traditionally stood for in the world.”
That experience led Snizek to develop “a game that taught history but also taught the difference between the Founders’ vision of a small, limited government and the various systems of big government that exist throughout the world today.”
The resulting game is intended to reach kids of all ages and assist parents in sharing a message vital in today’s culture.
“Our primary purpose for creating this game was to make a tool parents can use to teach American history and the different political systems of government in an entertaining way,” Snizek said.
He explained this generation of youth is especially distracted by technology and thus it can be much more difficult for a board game to make an impact.
“Today’s youth … live in a fast-paced wold of text messages, tweets, and Facebook comments,” he said, noting his game “presents the Founders’ words, deeds, and beliefs as well as the documents and events surrounding the Revolution through modern-day America in the form of tweets, not chapters and chapters of information.”
He said each short, researched bit of information “encourages discussion to facilitate learning and interest.”
A source listed on each card provides further information for more in-depth discussion of any topic.
Gameplay of “We the People” involves three decks of cards – History, Social Justice, and Disappoint Big Brother.
According to Snizek, the bulk of information is contained among the 500 history cards but the other two decks help create the opportunity for teaching by example.
“Social Justice cards [and] spaces cause the player to lose their winnings to other players – redistribution – or to the Pork Barrel,” he said, explaining “they also provide comic relief in the game.”
Disappoint Big Brother cards give players rewards “for doing patriotic, moral acts or good deeds in their everyday lives and for modeling self-reliant behaviors,” he explained.
Though the object of any game is to provide an entertaining diversion, Snizek said he hopes his also serves a higher calling.
In distributing “We the People,” Snizek said he wants to help create “an informed American people. We want America to remain independent and free by reaching the rising generation and those who may be undecided.”
For more information or to order this unique product for your family’s next game night, visit wethepeoplegame.com.
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