Lately I’ve been daydreaming about establishing
a kids magazine featuring historical articles with an appropriately
themed game in every issue. The grandparents had been asking us what
to get our son, the Little Guy, for his birthday and Christmas,
which, unfortunately, sit frightfully close on the calendar. One set
of grandparents got him a subscription to National Geographic
Kids, which he enjoys mostly for the cat features. His new-found
interest in various historical periods coupled with Dad’s
collection of games with historical themes and my own advocacy for
using games for learning (especially with kids) got me daydreaming
about a magazine concept. What if kids could get a bi-monthly
magazine filled with articles on a specific historical subject
complete with a small game bound within its pages? (In yet another
daydream I’m employed in my chosen career field with a salaried
position at a non-profit group advocating the use of games for
learning with both children and adults....) Alas, in this Internet
Age where everyone’s plugged in, staring at a screen, and doodling
away at some solitaire online time-waster game there probably isn’t
much of a market for a print magazine, let alone one geared toward
kids (probably more plugged in than any other demographic), and one
focused on history with an analog game inside. But it was a nice
daydream before reality dashed it to pieces, one that inspired me to
develop a very simplified solitaire game about ancient Egypt.
[Editor’s Note: And how timely that, as I
prepare to post this, archaeologists in Sakkara, Egypt, have just discovered an undisturbed 5th Dynasty tomb of a priest from 4,400
years ago....]
