I’m sure like many people my first introduction to card games was playing Snap as a child (or if you
were posher Happy Families) and progressing from their into more sophisticated games such
Cribbage or (Gin) Rummy. Finally, I found myself learning the rules of Bridge, though I didn’t have
three friends, so opportunities to play were somewhat limited. However, once I had children of my
own I discovered the delights of other card games such as Uno and then deck building games, like
Pokemon. As an adult who still enjoys all manner of games, I was also introduced to Hero Realms
and Gloom. I recognise that card games can involve a degree of skill, they’re very engaging, they
provide a high degree of flexibility and in fact cards can be used in a variety of different way.
I once attended a session that started with an ice breaker that involved a table filled with postcards.
We were asked to select a card that had some meaning for us and then talk to the rest of the group
about the card. People are often happier about talking about themselves indirectly in this way and it
can feel less scary. So now I use cards from a game called Dixit for exactly the same activity. Single
cards like this can also be sued for flash activities, for example helping students to recognise various
parts of the body.
Single idea cards can also be put together to create new ideas. For example, an activity I have
participated in asked people to select a card from one of three piles, each pile related to a different
idea: character, location and object. From these we were then asked to create a story, which is a
creative exercise I use with final year advertising students. You can also have single idea cards that
can be used together, for example asking students to match slogans with logos or perhaps
symptoms with a medical condition.
Cards can have related ideas that can be grouped, for example I have a set of cards to help illustrate
a PEST analysis (political, economic, social and technological). Students work in groups to decide
which category to put each card in and then debate with other groups where there is disagreement.
Once grouped they could then be ranked or ordered. For instance, the elements of Bloom’s
taxonomy or Maslow’s hierarchy of needs could be on individual cards and students asked to put
them in the recognised levels. Or, you might have the characteristics of a good manager (or any
other position/title) and then be asked to decide which is the most to least important.
You can also ask students to generate their own ideas, since you can buy blank cards that can be
written on with non-permanent markers. For example, getting them to identify the steps in putting a
dissertation together and then putting these in order, perhaps with links and actions, like in a flow
chart. I’ve been involved in doing this myself when designing a lean system for the student journey
using continuous improvement cards. It can be used to describe other patterns as well, just as in the
game dominoes or Carcassonne (though these might be traditionally thought of as tile games).
Then there is collecting cards, which is closer to the idea of a traditional card game. In the summer of
2022 I created a board game where students had to collect the relevant cards from the marketing
mix (price, product, place and promotion) in order to be able to create a business. Much like the
game Settlers of Catan that requires players to collect resources in order to build settlements or
cities. This year I created a deck building game, where players collect businesses and use actions
based on a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) to affect share prices and
ultimately win the game.
In each of these cases the objective is to help students learn, but in a way that is fun, interesting,
engaging and memorable.
Roger Saunders (he/him) BA (Hons) MLing DipM PGCert SFHEA CMBE
University Teacher Fellow
Associate Professor (Teaching, Learning & Scholarship)
Module Leader in Marketing & Advertising
Leicester Castle Business School, De Montfort University
Reviewer: International Journal of Management Education
https://lisforlecturer.wixsite.com/website
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@RogerLecturer