Honors students turn World War II art history into interactive board games

Students in Lamar University's Department of Art & Design transformed World War II history into interactive experiences during an Honors Showcase held Tuesday at the SOL Gallery.

The event featured original board games created by students in Dr. Julia Fischer's honors course, "The Fate of Art in World War II." Attendees were invited to view and play the games, which explored themes including Nazi art theft, cultural preservation and the recovery of stolen artwork during the war.

Fischer said the project grew out of her desire to create more hands-on learning opportunities within the course.

"When I was planning this honors class at first, I thought they were going to have just in-class activities throughout the semester," Fischer said. "I thought this would be really cool. It's something that's done for class, and when we get to art theft, students never really get very deep into dislocation. So, I thought this class would be a good opportunity to really dig in."

Students spent the semester researching historical events and translating them into playable game mechanics and handmade designs.

Among the featured projects was a hidden-movement strategy game developed by honors studio art major Gabrielle Sensat and her classmates. Players assumed the roles of either Nazi official Hermann Göring, attempting to steal artwork across Europe, or members of the Monuments Men, working to preserve cultural treasures before they could be taken.

"You're either Hermann Göring and trying to take as many artworks as you can across Europe, or you're a Monuments Man, and you're trying to save as many artworks across Europe before the Nazi Party," Sensat said.

The game included a handmade map, custom pieces and mechanics designed to reflect the realities of wartime art theft and recovery. Sensat said the group worked to ensure the project remained historically grounded.

"We handmade all the things," she said. "We wanted to make it historically accurate."

Another student group created a strategy game centered on collecting paintings and navigating historical events throughout the war. Students said they drew inspiration from documentaries, board games and class discussions while balancing competition with collaboration.

"The inspiration came from a lot of different types of things," biology major Brianna Brottem said. "We wanted to have a competitive aspect, also kind of collaborative."

Players collected paintings and used "year cards" tied to real historical events to progress through the game. Each card included historical facts and directions for gameplay, while action cards could either help or hinder players as they moved across the board.

"All the paintings have the artists, the year they were made, and a little bit of information throughout the game," studio art major Alleigh Rios said. "There wasn't any way to make it simple without getting that knowledge."

Students said one of the biggest challenges was finding the right balance between accessibility and complexity.

"It still has to be simple enough to play," Brottem said. "We tried to keep movement simple, but it's still complex enough where there is skill."

The assignment initially surprised some students, who expected a traditional research project.

"I was excited," Rios said. "I thought we were going to do a bibliography and a presentation, but then she showed us examples and wanted ours to be even deeper."

Students from a range of majors, including studio art, biology and civil engineering, collaborated on the projects throughout the semester. After extensive play testing, students said they were pleased with how intuitive the games became.

"We all had a really good time playing," Rios said. "I feel like it was already easy to understand. That's a win for me."