This is a game (of sorts) that I did for a 9th Grade History Class on the Fall of the Roman Empire from my student teaching days.
Probably the easiest way to convey this information would have just been a straightforward lecture. But, since lectures were considered old fashioned, we were encouraged to come up with alternative means of conveying the necessary information to the students.
Hence the game.
I know it has it's faults, but all lessons have to be delivered on a deadline, so this is the best I came up with.
The students were divided up into 4 teams: The Roman Empire, The Visigoths, The Huns, and The Vandals.
The currency of the game was gummy bears. I bought a lot of gummy bears in bulk. The gummy bears were divided out unequally at the beginning of the game, with the Roman Empire getting most of the gummy bears, and the other remaining teams getting only a few gummy bears. (I also kept some gummy bears in reserve to give out as the cards dictated).
Play went as each team drew a card from the top of the deck, read it outloud, and performed the actions. (I used index cards as playing cards, and just glued the printed instructions to the back of each card.)
I pretended like the teams were drawing random cards, but of course the deck was carefully stacked.
This game went fairly well.
My supervising teacher got a big chuckle out of watching the students gradually realize what was going on. At first, the Roman Empire was very happy with how many gummy bears they started out with, but then they gradually realized they were increasingly losing gummy bears to the other teams, and at one point one of the girls in the Roman Empire suddenly realized what was happening, and said to her teammates, "Guys, this game is called The Fall of the Roman Empire. We are the Roman Empire!"
On the actual game, the cards weren't labelled.
For reference sake, below I'll try to label which cards are supposed to fall to which team. (That is, as best I can remember. Although I'm posting this here at several years remove from when I actually created this game, so if I make any mistakes in my labelling, let me know). This is also the order that the deck should be stacked in, with the teams arranged clockwise so that the Roman Empire draws first, followed by the Visigoths, followed by the Huns, followed by the Vandals, and then back to the Roman Empire.
The Roman Empire
You get five gummy bears just for being you.
The Visigoths
Ten gummy bears if you can say Visigoth ten times fast.
The Huns
Read this speech to the other teams. If you can do that, it’s five free gummy bears. Five more gummy bears if you read it with passion
“We’re the Huns. That’s right, I said the Huns. We’re really mean nomadic tribes, get it? We’ve been terrorizing the Chinese Empire for Centuries, man. And now we’ve moved from Asia into Europe, and we’re bringing destruction in our path. I can’t wait to tear you guys apart.”
The Vandals
Ten free gummy bears if you can guess what English word comes from the name for the Vandal tribe.
The Roman Empire
Oh no! You’ve got moral decay. Although you once had disciplined, hard working, patriotic citizens, the moral decay that began during the Roman republic continued during Pax Romana. You’ve gotten greedy and lazy, and your people are too dependent on free grain and free games. Also, Divorce and superstition are up. You lose ten gummy bears, but you can get five of them back if you remember what the Pax Romana was.
The Visigoths
You get attacked by the Huns. They take five gummy bears from you.
The Huns
Attila was called the “scourge of God,” because he was so frightening to the ancient people that they considered him God’s judgement on a sinful people. Take another couple gummy bears just for being so frightening.
The Vandals
Isn’t Mr. Swagman a great teacher? I can’t wait to get home so I can start on my History assignment.
The Roman Empire
Bad news. You’ve got political disorder. Although you once had a strong and stable government, inefficiency and waste has been accompanied by an increase in the size of government.
You’ve also got unstable leadership. You never adopted a definite plan for choosing the next Emperor. Therefore, ambitious generals are always plotting to become the next Emperor. Civil wars and assassinations are becoming common. The army only exists to protect the Emperors greed.
The Visigoths
The Huns attack again. You lose 5 more gummy bears.
(Huns get 5 Gummy Bears from the Visigoths in lieu of drawing a card)
The Vandals
Did you know that the Vandals were a Germanic tribe that established a kingdom in North Africa? Ten gummy bears if you remember another civilization that came from North Africa.
The Roman Empire
You’ve got economic troubles. The cost of maintaining such a large army, as well as a huge government bureaucracy, is just too much. Fortunately, you decide to solve the problem by increasing taxes. You also use less silver in your coins, adding cheaper metals instead. Hope this works.
You get another turn.The Roman Empire
Oh No! As the value of the coin goes down, prices go up. Worse yet, you have a one-sided trade relationship with India and China. You buy all of there stuff, but they don’t buy any of yours. This depletes your gold and silver supplies. Your money is almost worthless, and barter system has now replaced the money system. Trade slackens, shops close, and poverty increases. Lose ten gummy bears.
The Visigoths
Good news. Rome has allowed you to cross the Danube River, and settle in the Eastern part of the Roman Empire. You’re safe from the Huns for now. Please pay ten gummy bears to Rome for taxes.
The Huns
The Visigoths are safe now. But, you terrorize some other poor tribe, and get another 5 gummy bears.
The Vandals
Nice day today isn’t it? Take a couple gummy bears.
The Roman Empire
Lots of Barbarian invasions these days. It’s hard finding recruits to maintain your frontier army. You decide to recruit some of the Germanic tribes into your army. In time, these tribes will become your primary source of defense against outside attacks, but are they as dedicated as true Romans? You loose five gummy bears.
The Visigoths
Taxes have gone up. Pay another fifteen gummy bears to Rome.
Huns
You attack the Ostrogoths, and get ten gummy bears from them.
Skip over the Vandals and go to the Romans.
The Roman Empire
The Visigoths are sick of being mistreated by your officials. They rebel, and at the Battle of Adrianople in 378, they soundly defeat your army, and even kill the emperor. They take twenty of your gummy bears.
The Visigoths
In 410, you move southward into Italy, and even plunder the very city of Rome itself. Take another twenty of Rome’s gummy bears.
Huns
You also invade Rome and take twenty of their gummy bears.
The Vandals
In 410, Christians and Pagans were both devastated by the sack of Rome. This is something that hasn’t happened in a long time. St. Augustine wrote a book trying to explain why God would let this happen. He called it, “The City of God.” Of course this has absolutely nothing to do with the Vandals, but take a couple gummy bears anyway.
The Roman Empire
Lose another five gummy bears to the Huns.
The Visigoths
You are finally stopped by the Romans with the help of the Germanic tribes. If you’re feeling nice, you can give a couple gummy bears back.
The Vandals
You pillage Rome again just a few years later, destroying everything in their path. Take half of what the Romans have left.
The Roman Empire
476, a non-Roman is on top of the Emperor’s throne in Rome. You lose.
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