https://daily.jstor.org/the-hidden-history-of-women-game-designers/
"Educational games were all the rage in the early ninteenth century. As the
narrator of Sir Walter Scott’s 1814 novel,
Waverley, observed, “the history
of England is now reduced to a game at cards, the problems of mathematics to
puzzles and riddles.” This bemusement reflects the burgeoning industry of
instructional card, dice, and board games that sprang up in the late 1700s,
partly in response to changing attitudes towards juvenile education outlined
early on by the philosopher John Locke a century before.
Women at the time were, of course, generally barred from attending college and
generally discouraged from the pursuit of learning beyond acquiring the skills
of a governess. Yet the wave of enthusiasm for educational games nevertheless
created an opportunity for some enterprising women—despite significant
structural obstacles—to find an intellectual and creative outlet. Standout
figures in the history of game design include Margaret Bryan, who directed a
girl’s school in Blackheath in southeastern London. A writer on science with a
particular interest in astronomy, Bryan produced the boardgame
Science in
Sport, or the Pleasures of Astronomy in collaboration with the well-known game
publisher John Wallis.
This game, a variation on the staple of the
Game of the Goose (akin to
Chutes and Ladders), requires players to spin a teetotum and race their
pieces along the board. Most of the squares illustrate scientific phenomena,
explained in an accompanying rule booklet, but some depict bad behavior, such
as square six, which features “The County Gaol…for those who attend to the
motion of Billiard Balls, more than to the motion of the Planets,” and square
twelve, which features “a blockhead.” Landing on these meant losing a turn or
worse, a player’s place on the board."
Via Esther Schindler.
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
