Central Michigan University is helping a game developer take her creation to Kickstarter. The board game, called ‘Rising Waters’ is based on the 1927 Mississippi flood.
Players of “Rising Waters” compete as African-American laborers, confronting the forces of landowners and nature.
Creator Elizabeth Blum says the game is based around real life historical concepts, and presents a different picture of the 1920s than what is traditionally seen in the classroom.
“I think, learning about the flood and learning about how this disaster affected African Americans really shows a different side of that time period, and shows how race can be pivotally important in sort of people's experiences in life,” she said.
Blum said using games in the classroom gives students a more exciting and engaging way to learn about complicated topics such as the Mississippi flood of 1927. She has used the “Rising Waters” prototype with students in her history class at Troy University in Alabama, and hopes more teachers will be able to use her game for lessons when it gets developed.
“(Rising Waters) stemmed from my research interests, but also an interest in hoping to diversify some of the stories and voices in game design as well,” Blum said.
While players try to keep their Levees from collapsing, they can draw on strength from assets like Faith and Family.
“I thought it was really important in the game to make sure that the players did not see African Americans just as victims, that they saw them also as having some agency and power over how they were coping and dealing with the crisis,” Blum said. “So there are other cards that kind of help with that kind of process.
Blum said with enough support on Kickstarter, “Rising Waters” could eventually be produced by a gaming company for purchase.
