• Pre-18th
• 18th
• 19th
• 20th

• Introduction
• Assignment
• Resources

Checkered Game of Life

Paula Petrik, Professor of History and Art History, George Mason University

Assignment

Questions

Using the picture on the right, answer the following questions:

1. What are the principle features of the game board?
2. What values does the game teach?
3. Describe your experience playing the game. How long, for example, did it take you to reach “Happy Old Age?” Did the game have good “play value?”
4. Do you think that the game would appeal more to boys or to girls? What is the evidence for your conclusion?
5. If you were to design a similar game for the twentieth century, what would your game look like and what would it teach? Explain the reasons for your design.

Updated | April 2004

• Introduction
• Assignment
• Resources

History 120 is a project of the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, with funding from the College of Arts and Sciences and Technology Across the Curriculum, George Mason University.