Eckl’s approach of ‘immersive theorising’ engages with board games through a theoretical lens. It foregrounds that both theories and games model external realities. It considers gaming simultaneously as a way of immersively ‘experiencing’ theories and as a way to ‘playfully’ develop both games and theories further. Board gaming is seen as a method of teaching and conducting research in political science and beyond. Studying board games in this way involves looking at both the game itself – the mechanics of the gameplay, its subject matter or theme, the context in which it was designed, etc. – and how it is played, i.e. how individual players engage with it across different social, political and historical realities.

Eckl presented a range of different board games with an explicitly international relations-themed character, such as war-based games produced in the US, Europe and Japan during World War II. He explained how postwar game design in Germany shifted away from ‘traditional’ themes of war and conquest to more abstract game themes and increasingly cooperative elements that require players to work together.

Taking as a point of departure the idea of games as mirrors into society, reflecting the ideals and values of a given time, he shifted into a deeper discussion on how ideologies can be conveyed through games, with the potential to implicitly shape the mentalities of the players. At the same time, games are a formidable object of study since they reduce complexity and provide a simplified model of the theme they cover. For example, Eckl demonstrated how critical postcolonial perspectives have problematised the depiction of empire and conquest in many popular board games, leading to rebranding efforts and an ever-increasing number of new games set in fictional fantasy realms, to deflect possible criticism of their ‘political’ nature.

Ultimately, board games offer a valuable opportunity for individual and collective ‘playful’ self-reflection, allowing latent knowledge to be made explicit while maintaining a certain distance. At the same time, it is worth asking what knowledge is being transmitted, with what underpinning agenda. Whether entirely harmless or potentially harmful, it is worthy of further investigation.

The innovative inputs presented by Eckl led to an engaging group discussion, where the potential of board games for teaching and research was further explored by the interdisciplinary audience present. Subsequently, participants were invited to play a round of Kyoto, a board game simulating climate negotiations in the international community.