Civil Lore!™ is the Americana Trivia Game where family members battle to win the board by using their knowledge of America’s most entertaining cultural lore. Players stake flags that others then try to topple by risking tough but neat Cannon Fodder questions. Six overall cultural territories contain questions about folk heroes, tall tales, urban legends, native American mythology, roadside attractions, amazing oddities, national parks, UFO sightings, sci-fi snippets and many other varieties of fascinating cultural lore. Civil Lore!™ comes with a deluxe accordion-fold game board and two types of cards that together contain over 2,000 high-quality questions. 10.75 x 10.75 x 3.625 box. 4 pounds. Civil Lore!™ is useful and valuable in both entertainment and educational settings. Whereas mass-market trivia games have trended toward the recitation of commercialized pop-culture knowledge, Civil Lore!™ is out to prove that longer lasting and richer themes in American history, folklore & literature can provide an equally entertaining and rewarding experience.

More specifically, Civil Lore!™ makes history fun by:

Stimulating Curiousity. Many players report wanting to go and learn more about the people, places and events behind the questions.

Celebrating Diversity. Many questions prompt learners to consider cultural perspectives outside their regional or racial identity.

Emphasizing Cultural History. Stories, legends & events of cultural history more accessible than dates, battles & treaties of political history.

Demonstrating Historical Parallels. Many questions implicitly draw parallels between contemporary and historical events.

Exposing Historical Myths. Empowers learners to questions sources, and so develop critical thinking skills.

Promoting Social Civility. Creates an environment in which intellectual competition and discussion about ‘America’ is conducted within the confines of civil discourse/play.

Civil Lore!™ should prove especially interesting to college-bound juniors/seniors with demonstrated aptitude/interest in one or more of the following subjects: American Studies, American History, American Folklore, American Literature, Sociology and Civics.

The rest of this evaluation has been provided by David Niecikowski, MAED/CI, our latest team member, who is an expert on using games to increase academic and social achievement.

Civil Lore is a trivia game of American Culture for 2-6 teen/adult players/teams who compete to be the first to place six flags by correctly answering questions in six different categories. Game play is similar to most trivia games where players take turns rolling 1 six-sided die to move either clockwise or counter-clockwise around the board to land on spaces that direct which categorical question and card type is to be read by an opponent and answered by the moving player. There are 3 general types of spaces that have the following effects when a correct answer is given; 1) ‘Ordinary’ spaces allow the player to roll and move again and hopefully land on a ‘flag’ or ‘cannon fodder’ spaces; 2) ‘Flag’ spaces allow the player to place his/her flag in the corresponding category flag row; and 3) ‘Cannon Fodder’ spaces allow a player to place his/her flag and when possible, remove the flag of an opponent. Players draw from 220 less difficult Civil Lore cards when players land on ‘Ordinary’ and ‘Flag’ spaces. Players draw from 110 more difficult Cannon Fodder cards when landing on a ‘Cannon Fodder’ space.

The components are of high quality and include a game board, 6 plastic pawns, 42 plastic flags, and the above mentioned cards and die. A sheet written in English includes rules for the tougher 1 to 2 hour version. A fast play postcard will soon be included that speeds up playing time and lessens difficulty. Either version will be a challenge for both teens or adults and it may be appropriate to group players in teams to increase success. Learning how to use context clues contained in the questions is essential to a player’s/team’s victory. The questions are unique and should promote curiosity to learn more about American Culture. Educators looking to challenge their AP English and AP History students may find the questions useful as research prompts and question of the week/day activities.