Mercantilism! Interactive (Smart)Board Game

Mercantilism! Created by Nathan Gilson - Understanding Who We Were

An interactive (Smart)Board Game for the entire class to play. Students assigned to 5 empires attempt to explore, expand, and out-maneuver their opponents by earning mercantilism cards and moving ships throughout the Atlantic World and claiming colonies. Ultimately, the goal of this game is to acquire as much gold as possible by conquering new colonies throughout the Atlantic. Great for positive reinforcement, homework rewards, and to encourage class participation by distributing cards as "tokens".

Teaches basic vocabulary and mercantile economic concepts in a realistic historical conquest game. Students will love the various strategies to play this game. Some will attempt to build empires primarily through conquest while others will rely on piracy to try to accumulate their wealth.

My students really enjoyed this, and really helped to make normal routine classroom activities (reviewing homework answers, asking good questions, positive participation) more exciting, since they had the opportunity to earn cards. Students frequently would excitedly show team-mates a card they had just earned! Gamify your whole Age of Exploration unit with this easy to set up and easy to play game.

Required Materials:

*Dice (preferably 15-20, many math teachers have some you can borrow)

*A smartboard (preferred) or projector with Microsoft PowerPoint

*The ability to print game cards (preferably in color) in order to play this game. It is strongly recommended that game cards are printed on cardstock and laminated, but it is not necessary.

How does an interactive (Smart)Board Game work?

Board games formats converted for use with a projector or Smartboard. Easier to set up, and easier to play in a whole-class environment. Each of the teams earn cards, distributed by the teacher to play on a common board projected for the class to see and manipulate. Students require 15 minutes per day to play the full game, but individual days can be modified to less than 5 minutes.

Can this game be converted to a standard board game?

Yes, but specific instructions are not included for that. Some tokens would need to be developed in order to make the game work.