The design of The Troubles: simulating terror in Northern Ireland

Analogue and digital simulations have been used in conjunction with other pedagogical approaches and practices for decades now as research continues to evince the positive influence that they have on learning and social interaction. There is a wealth of historical games that aim to immerse players in a variety of era-defining epochs, with varying levels of abstraction and narrative arcs. However, there appears to be a dearth of games that focus on past events that are deemed too disturbing, too divisive, or too recent, especially those that occurred in an urban setting. Additionally, the geopolitics - if any - are backgrounded, as are the socio-economic structures of the people and places being represented. So, what contexts should we not model or simulate? What stories cannot - or should not - be told through this medium? And when is a historical period 'too soon' to be approached - especially when a simulation, a mere 'game', is the method of examination something so recent, so distressing as the Troubles of Northern Ireland? This article introduces the table-top narrative-based simulation, The Troubles,1 scheduled for publication by Compass Games LLC, to demonstrate that there is space for such titles designed with clear pedagogical aims and objectives, which augment the popular genre of historical gaming - historical wargaming in particular - and that there is much to benefit from simulations of this type which are interdisciplinary in nature, encompassing academic disciplines such as politics, history, languages, and ethics.