Episode 275 - Finding Our Sneaky Teaching w/ Jamey Stegmaier (S07E17)

Welcome back to a new episode of Rebel Teacher Alliance! This week we have an absolute treat: Jamey Stegmaier of Stonemaier Games joins us to talk about what happens when great game design and great teaching collide. We get into how Wingspan almost went in a completely different direction, why Scythe is basically a global politics class in a box, how the best games and the best lessons both start with a feeling rather than a mechanic, and what it looks like to spend three years falling in love with something you're building. Fabian shares how he used Scythe with his IB Global Politics seniors to teach power, sovereignty, and the very real cost of war. John goes full fanboy on the entire Span universe and asks the hard questions. And Jamey reveals his guilty pleasure game(s).If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts -- it helps more teachers find the show! Join our Discord community at rebelteacheralliance.com and find us on Instagram @rebelteacheralliance, BlueSky @rtalliance.bsky.social, and TikTok @rebelteacheralliance. You can also find Fabian @hofmannedu.bsky.social and John @meehanedu.bsky.social on BlueSky.Things mentioned on the show:Stonemaier Games -- stonemaiergames.comJamey's game design YouTube channel (via stonemaiergames.com)WingspanWyrmspanFinspan (including Sharks and Reefs expansion)ScytheViticultureSlay the Spire (Jamey's guilty pleasure)Toy BattleJakub Rozalski (Scythe artist)