The Via Egnatia Caravan boardgame
an adventurous journey into history
An educational boardgame for schools
Via Egnatia is a 2000 year old Roman road, from the West- to the East Roman Empire. During its long history travellers of all sorts used this road, from West to East and from East to West: merchants and priests, shepherds and fishermen, musicians and farmers on their way to the markets, diplomats, early tourists and the occasional women. As one of these characters you will travel along this road. What was it like in the old days? Via Egnatia Caravan gives you a taste of travelling in the Balkans around 1800.
Numerous adventures await you: earthquakes and attacks of robbers, broken bridges and treasure hunters, local festivals and bountiful harvests, religious festivals and fake preachers, stray dogs and lost children. There will be obstacles to deal with, interesting people to meet, language problems to solve by pantomime and issues to discuss. Are you traveling alone or together in a caravan? And what are the benefits of a caravan? Do you have enough water and food for the road? Are you staying overnight in a field or in a city? Do you have a donkey to carry your luggage? Can you help each other when someone has an accident?
In fact it is much like travelling on foot nowadays…
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For whom? This boardgame can be played in classrooms, from about 12 years onwards. Usually it is played by 6 players, but it can also be doubled to 12. The game is also interesting for adults and can be adapted in difficulty by extra rules. The game is designed for school purposes, but in the future will be available for everyone.
Facilitators It is advisable for coaching teachers to study the ‘Manual for facilitators’ well in advance. As a teacher it is best to play the game in advance with your colleagues, to learn the rules. Several things can be adapted according to the situation. I.e. if you have 7 players instead of 6 make one of them the game leader who counts the points. Or let 2 children play together as a team.
Time Once everybody has learned the rules the journey from Durrës to Istanbul will take about 1,5 hours. In the beginning it is advised to choose a shorter journey – for example from Durrës to Edessa or to Thessaloniki. Anyway children get the hang of the game faster than adults! |
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Educational goals By identifying with persons from different backgrounds, each with their own talents, children learn to respect diversity and different viewpoints. Cooperation is an important goal, besides personal ambition. The game fosters curiosity for different historical periods and cultures. The game fosters insight in geography of the region. The game fosters critical thinking and global citizenship. History is used as a way to connect. This game is suited to combine with lessons in civic education, history, geography and diverse cultural projects. |
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