COMMERCIAL OFF-THE-SHELF BOARD GAMES FOR PROFESSIONAL MILITARY EDUCATION

Wargames have been a part of military study and planning for over a century. These often involve large and complex setups with relatively few people participating in a bespoke scenario. While these have their uses, their one-off and tailored nature often preclude the participation of additional members, let alone rapid iteration. These factors limit the usefulness of traditional wargaming for educational purposes, especially when one considers the effort required to design, set up, and run the game, let alone the time required for all participants. The modern commercial board game industry can fill this gap between traditional wargames and education by providing an inexpensive, easily repeatable, and reduced-time commitment experience tailored to specific lesson objectives. Reviewing Air Force professional military education programs for common themes and objectives finds six common themes and objectives on which to judge commercial off-the-shelf board games for educational usefulness: decision-making, communication, ethics and morality, critical thinking, creative thinking, and systematic thinking. Considering those topics while analyzing several off-the-shelf games finds multiple examples where commercial board games can act as tools for teaching said topics. As tools, the games analyzed are not expected to teach the topic, but are part of a greater lesson plan. Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited. Major, United States Air Force