The Games and Gaming Round Table (GameRT) of the American Library Association provides a venue for librarians interested in the use of games and gaming in libraries of all types a place to gather and share.

How do you know if a chemical equation is balanced? What can you change to balance an equation? Play a game to test your ideas!

What is BoardGameGeek?
- BoardGameGeek is an online resource and community that aims to be the definitive source for board game and card game content. The site is updated on a real-time basis by its large and still growing user base — more than two million registered users! — making the Geek the largest and most up-to-date place to get gaming information! You can become a registered member of BGG for free, although we welcome your contributions to the site in the form of ratings, reviews, and thoughts on games to the existing database!

BGG features reviews, ratings, images, play-aids, translations, and session reports from board game geeks around the world, as well as live discussion forums. In addition, every day nearly a hundred game trades pass through the hands of registered members, as well as transactions in the Geek Market. If you are new to the site and are wondering where to begin, you might start with the Guide to BoardGameGeek.

What kind of games are here?
- Here you'll find many types of board games, including thousands you've probably never seen in a store! We cover not only board games but also dice games, card games, tile-laying games, and games of dexterity. We have abstracts, economic games, dungeon crawls, city building, diplomacy and negotiation, trading, puzzle games, strategy games, party games, war games, and many more. We run the gamut from the light and whimsical Carcassonne to the serious and heavy empire-building of Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition. Well-known games like Monopoly exist in the database as well, although you'll find almost all users prefer modern games that exhibit advancements in game play and component quality since Monopoly was first published.

For game suggestions, especially if you are buying a game for someone else, check out our 2019 Board Game Gift Guide.

This looks interesting, but where can I find these games?
- Many of these games are sold by other BGG users here in our Geek Market. Games that are in print may also be available from your local independent game store, which should be happy to special order titles for you. If you can't find the games there, you might try an online game retailer, which is often the only way to obtain imported games. Although you may never have seen or even heard of many of these games, you will find that they are surprisingly easy to obtain.

How can I find opponents for these games?
- Start by reaching out to your friends or family — you have the makings of a great gaming group among people you already know! But there are also many ways to meet new people for playing these games. You might be lucky and have a game store that features board game nights, and you may even find the local nexus of board gamers in your community. Meeting up for game nights is an excellent way to try out many games. You might also find a local group in the Game Groups section of our Forum, or use our Forum to try to find people in your area. Our members are always looking for new players, and generally enjoy introducing people to these games. BoardGameGeek even facilitates finding individual gamers in your area by the Gamer Database.

Why should I register?
- To fully use many of the site's features, you'll need a username. BGG registration is free. To add any content to the site, you must register. After you register you can:
- Add a game to the database
- Contribute images to our database
- Post messages on our forums

In this online game, learners test their knowledge of human anatomy. Learners are presented a mystery image of a body part and use their mouse to select the proper body part from a full size anatomical model (known as "Jerome"). Learners try to match all 10 body parts correctly. Use this activity to review human anatomy and/or introduce learners to the use of anatomical models.

Game where students control each branch of government. Students will introduce a presidential agenda, craft laws in Congress, and review legal challenges to laws. This includes an extension pack for teachers to assign to students.

This online game activity allows the learners to calculate their carbon footprint using a French language calculator developed by a Swiss environmental organization. Students will describe their results in French and engage in related expansion activities for the language class.

This online quiz on sustainable development can be used in French language classes to prepare intermediate-level students for discussions on environmental topics. The resource is excellent for immersion and content-based instruction.

Introduction to the theory and application of large-scale dynamic programming. Markov decision processes. Dynamic programming algorithms. Simulation-based algorithms. Theory and algorithms for value function approximation. Policy search methods. Games. Applications in areas such as dynamic resource allocation, finance and queueing networks, among others.

Foundations and philosophical applications of Bayesian decision theory, game theory and theory of collective choice. Why should degrees of belief be probabilities? Is it always rational to maximize expected utility? If so, why and what is its utility? What is a solution to a game? What does a game-theoretic solution concept such as Nash equilibrium say about how rational players will, or should, act in a game? How are the values and the actions of groups, institutions and societies related to the values and actions of the individuals that constitute them?

Dungeons & Dragons is a powerful learning tool that provides kids with numerous social, emotional, and creative benefits. We are thrilled to provide resources, news, and tips on how to engage and inspire students with Dungeons & Dragons!

D&D Classroom Curriculum:
Are you looking for a fun and engaging way to empower your students to become more confident, tackle challenges head-on, and learn perseverance? Download the NEW Puzzles, Mazes, and Mysteries D&D-inspired teaching kits for grades 4-6 and 6-8!

D&D Afterschool Club Kit:
Afternoons of Adventure Await! The D&D Afterschool Kit contains everything you need to start a D&D club at your school or library:

- One (1) copy of the recently released D&D Starter Set: Dragons of Stormwreck Isle
- Instructions and guidelines for club organizers
- A quick demo and learn-to-play guide for Dungeon Masters
- Easy-to-read character cards
- A poster to help promote your club
- There is no cost for qualifying organizations. If you are a representative of the following organizations, you may request a kit sent to your organization’s address: libraries, schools, community centers, or other enrichment organizations (scouting, alternative learning centers, etc.).

NOTE: Our Fall ‘22/Winter ‘23 physical kits are sold out. The 2023 Afterschool Club Kit will be available in the summer. To reserve your Fall ‘23/Winter ’24 kit, please follow these instructions:

- Submit a request for the kit at our customer service request portal, located here.
- Click on "sign in" at the top navigation of the page. If you don't have a Wizards account, create one by clicking "register" on the Wizards account sign in page. (You will need a Wizards account to reserve a kit.)
- On the customer service request portal, under "What would you like to contact us about?" select "D&D Educator Kit" if it’s not already populated.
- Fill out the remainder of the form, including your organization's information. That's it!

*Afterschool Club Kits are available to organizations in the United States and Canada only.

Promote Your D&D Club!:
- Looking for additional assets to highlight your organization’s D&D club? We’ve got you covered! Visit the digital marketing hub to find customizable posters and player resources.

Are you looking for a fun and engaging way to empower your students to become more confident, tackle challenges head-on, and learn perseverance? Explore these standards-based programs with activities that take students through critical-thinking exercises inspired by the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game and its characters. Students and teachers do not need prior knowledge of D&D to use the programs. They just need imagination and a collaborative spirit!

For grades 4-6, and 6-8 (Subject Area: Language Arts, STEAM). Made possible by: Wizards of the Coast

Website includes lesson plans, a "Field Guide to Dragons", "Storytelling with the Bard", Activity Books, Coloring Pages, "Build an Adventure" kit, a Digital Magazine, Character Wardrobes & Gear, free "Encounters", guides, "How-to's", webinars about the pedagogical benefits of D&D, and more!!

This is a Dungeons and Dragons module meant to introduce new dungeon masters and players to the game. The module runs about 2-2.5 hours and accommodates a group of 3-8 players. This module does require the Dungeons and Dragons Player's Handbook to play.The game is formatted like an escape room to introduce players and the DM to the basic mechanics in a condensed amount of time. In the attached folder there are the module pdf, printout maps, props and premade character sheets to make it easy as possible to sit down and start playing. The setting is also open ended regarding the world and lore, so it makes a good introductory game to larger campaign or to insert to an existing one.  

The earthquake game teaches how scientists learn about real earthquakes. The player must learn about S& P waves and triangulation to determine the epicenter of the earthquake that hit the cities.

This resource is a link to slides of a presentation titled "Esports - A Good fit for Librarians", offered by Shelly Napier, District Librarian for the Slinger School District in Wisconsin, at the Wisconsin Educational Media & Technology Association (WEMTA) annual conference 2024.

Shelly shared outstanding and inspirational info about her journey of going from a "total newbie" in the Esports world to developing a wildly successful and popular (officially recognized) Esports team at her school, reaching new students who hadn't necessarily found their "group" prior.

To contact Shelly directly, you can email her at: shelly.napier@slingerschools.org

Knowing the fund structure for state and local governments is a key concept students must master early in their study of governmental accounting. In addition, students must be able to identify which fund would be used to account for various activities in which a government engages. This PowerPoint game is a drill and practice/review activity fashioned after the popular TV game show, Hollywood Squares. The celebrities in the Fund Identification Challenge are past Presidents of the United States. The Presidents have responded to a question, and the game participants either agree or disagree with the response to earn the square. The 27 real-world examples found in the game were derived by examining the Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFR) of various cities.

This course provides practical instruction in the design and analysis of non-digital games. Students cover the texts, tools, references and historical context to analyze and compare game designs across a variety of genres, including sports, game shows, games of chance, card games, schoolyard games, board games, and role–playing games. In teams, students design, develop, and thoroughly test their original games to understand the interaction and evolution of game rules. Students taking the graduate version complete additional assignments.

In this math activity, learners practice decision-making skills leading to a better understanding of choice versus chance and building the foundation of mathematical probability. SKUNK is a variation on a dice game also known as "pig" or "hold'em." The object of SKUNK is to accumulate points by rolling dice. Points are accumulated by making several "good" rolls in a row but choosing to stop before a "bad" roll comes and wipes out all the points. SKUNK can be played by groups, by the whole class at once, or by individuals.

A series of excellent webinars and presentations about Games & Gaming in Libraries (covering a number of different subtopics -- like D&D integration in library programs, game collection development, LARPing / ARGs, playful learning science, and more) facilitated and hosted by the Indiana State Library.

This is a two-part interactive game for middle school students that introduces them to the concepts of globalization and interdependence. In the first part, the students discover how clothing is sourced globally. The second part describes the issues related to the pieces and parts of a MP3 planner (this part is a little dated, but I have been able to connect it back to cell phones).

Games can be played as a group with the utilization of a Smartboard type device.

The resources includes an educator guide and integration with Google Classroom. I have used it as part of a larger lesson segment in Business Exploratory on Corporate Social Responsibility and Globalization.

Hula Hut Throw Down is a game appropriate for students in grades 3-5 to work on teamwork and offensive and defensive team strategies, while having fun building hula huts.  Students will also get practice working on throwing, catching, and rolling skills.