Abstract:

When it comes to board games, most people think of Ludo (Who laughs at the end?), Budget smartly, Monopoly, Solo or Uno and Activity. However, the world of modern board games is much bigger, more colorful, and more complex. Everyone - young and old - can find a board game built around a theme they like with lots of exciting challenges.

Board games are most often played on weekends or holidays for fun, but many studies report that they have lots of effects on us. Some games (e.g., Codenames, Dixit, The Mind) help build relationships as well as develop communication, creativity, and collaboration skills. Others - such as Stone Age, Ticket to Ride series, The Settlers of Catan, Carcassonne - develop decision-making, problem-solving, planning, logical thinking, and strategic thinking skills. In addition, games create situations where, in a friendly environment, we can learn about others and ourselves, how to react to different behaviors and interactions, and how to handle various situations.

In my article, I review the mechanisms and categories of different board games with a comparative analysis, and then I show which programming structures are present in the game mechanisms. My goal is to present a category system that teachers can use to introduce the programming structures to be presented or deepened in a playful, experiential way and provide quality relaxation and a shared experience through the flow experience.

Keywords:

Unplugged, board game, programming, programming structures.