I'm excited to have maybe discovered a small but meaningful learning experience for my boys (9 and 12): Here's how the kids and I use bits of Niall Fergusons "Empire", and "Civilization 6" (aka "civ")(on pc, and ipad $9 "Civilization Revolution 2") to explore together the theory and practice of empire, as we travel. 1) for screen time, kids play civ e.g. 30 mins a day for a few days. I watch a bit (I played it a long time ago). 2) At bedtime, when they should be sleeping, i reread tidbits from Empire out loud, skipping boring detail, and kids chime in. We discuss. We found our boys were able to understand and criticize many of Fergusons points, based on their play experience, and what they'd seen during the day. Bedtime? Yes, because kids bring their best game to discussion. Why? maybe in hopes of getting me going, and staying up later. I can't imagine making Empire assigned reading. It's not written for kids, and too detailed. And! Anyway! (Unschooling Rant) Assigned reading is death to curiousity. Wanna make porn boring? Make it assigned reading.( End rant) Fyi civ is one of the most commonly discussed commercial video games used in classroom education. Glasslab is a educational game company that made an education version I should check out but haven't yet.