Project period: January 2024
It was a sight as unusual as it was spectacular: In the Dinosaur Hall of the Museum für Naturkunde at the end of January 2024, players who had accepted the invitation of the Netzwerk Naturwissen were sitting at illuminated tables like islands of light in lively conversation.
No free space, the tables full. On them: Cards, dice, figures with heads bent over them. All these people had come to engage in a theoretical and practical discussion about evolution and Darwin. After all, there is hardly anyone who has changed our knowledge of nature so significantly. On the one hand. On the other hand, a trend is emerging in the board game scene these days:.
Namely, that evolutionary-biological themes are enjoying particular popularity. Christoph Willmes from the Boardgame Historian project summed this up in an opening lecture in the Dinosaur Hall: Nature has been a theme in board games for some time, he said, and in recent years there has been a particular focus on the topics of evolution and Darwin. According to Willmes, these games have the potential to convey fundamental scientific concepts and theories.
The fact that this is not just about addressing (current) scientific findings, but also about social, political and scientific debates, becomes abundantly clear at the latest when we look at the possibilities for intervening in this evolution. How much natural intervention? How much artificial? Do we want what we can? Which assessment standards are appropriate? What discoveries can we make against such a background in relation to museum collection practice? It is therefore not only a scientific question that can be explored with games, but also one that interests the humanities and social sciences: What knowledge is actually contained in such games? What certainties and truths do they convey? Can values be read from the stories we immerse ourselves in through play?
It goes without saying that the museum's Dinosaur Hall provides an impressive backdrop for them. But an evening like this is far more than just a nice service offer. Why? Because it facilitates encounters based on a theme. Previous strangers got talking about biodiversity and biodiversity loss. About how different approaches are. Is it worth using games specifically to impart knowledge? Socio-political debates everywhere show that these contacts are extremely important at the moment.
The sub-project "Game of Life" was created through the collaboration of networker Dr. Martin Reich (BIOCOM AG), the Netzwerk Naturwissen team and in cooperation with the Boardgame Historian project.