Expanding competencies with board games

The board game Weimar: The Fight For Democracy appears to offer plenty of potential for use in history class. Photo: dpa

At this year’s Spiel board games fair – the biggest of its kind on the planet – one question appears to be resonating above all others: Does playing games make you smart?

Yes, if you ask Annette Zander from a German association promoting children’s education. “Playing is learning – we know that much from modern brain research,” she says at the annual event for board game lovers, which took place in early October in the western German city of Essen.