As mentioned above, similar games have melded computer technology and gaming together, but never to the degree displayed in The Calm and The Storm. When Muzzy Lane Software announced The Calm and The Storm, the first release in the Making History series, back in 2004, it quickly caught the attention of gamers, game-makers, and people in the educational field. To top it all off, it’s fun!Īs more educational and e-learning games begin to show themselves in the commercial market 1, it also seems natural that this genre would take roots in world history, leading, of course, into the thought-provoking discussions inherent in military history and warfare. I don’t think it is pumping at its full potential yet, but it is still very young.
The blood running through The Calm and The Storm was specifically engineered "with strict academic guidelines under the supervision of well-known professors of history", and during my time spent with the pre-release version, I found all that to run through a respectable wargame at heart. Well, I’m here to tell you, Muzzy Lane Software has found that key, and have made it their main instrument in reopening the doors of computer edutainment with Making History: The Calm and The Storm, a multiplayer strategy game developed over the span of three years through constant research and guidance from tech-savvy teachers, students, and professors. Of course, you may have been having way too much fun playing like games to notice just how much you were learning. Think about it how many of us actually think about what a wargame can teach us about the military and military history? Is it a requirement that a wargame must teach you some historical fact in order for you to play it? Probably not, right? Now, for those of us who were introduced to wargames via some old classic boardgame, like Axis & Allies, Stratego, or anything by Avalon Hill, did you not learn at least a little something about military history there? For many of us, I daresay that is answered with a resounding yes. These games were a treat to play, and though they were geared towards teaching, they were also fun, at least to me. I remember way back in the early days of PC gaming, spending many hours with games like Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? and Oregon Trail. Most especially when I’m learning something I’m very interested in. I don’t know about you, but I think learning is fun.
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