COTS Games for Learning

 “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”

— Benjamin Franklin

Those in the professional wargame sphere frequently rely on simulations intended for education or analysis, wargames requiring a custom design and implementation. Not all organizations have the resources for such projects, nor are such simulations always appropriate for every circumstance, especially when introducing wargaming in a professional environment to newcomers with time constraints. Sometimes they turn to existing resources, adapting them to particular missions and situations. They adapt “Commercial* Off The Shelf” or COTS games to their specific needs. One doesn’t have to be an innovator in the professional wargaming sphere to adapt COTS games — modifying them for a particular audience and objective — for experiential learning across other disciplines.

Tiny Brush Strokes on the Larger Canvas

 “There is nothing insignificant in the world. It all depends on the point of view.”

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

People sometimes say we need to see the bigger picture, the forest from the trees, the larger canvas. Such phrases always remind me of Georges Seurat’s masterpiece of pointillism, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. Stand back and the viewer takes in the entire painting, which, at 10 feet wide, is quite a canvas. Step closer and one sees the tiny points of paint which make up tge larger characters, landscape, and the overall picture. Ferris Beuller’s Day Off artfully demonstrated this during the tourism montage scenes. Historically themed games allow us to explore new perspectives, form connections with the subject matter, and hopefully gain a greater understanding of events...notably the people involved. Many such games focus on the big picture — abstracted political factions, military units, entire regions of geography, and other broad generalizations — but a contrast between that and the finer details (and everything in between) helps us better appreciate the whole on different levels.