5 great games that can teach you vitally important survival skills

(Bugout.news) We all know that prepping to survive a chaotic situation or societal collapse is no game. That said, there are forms of entertainment that can be very useful in terms of teaching you important skills you’ll need to make your way in a post-apocalyptic world.

Here are five of those “games,” in no particular order of importance:

Paintball – Some may deride this game as played by military wannabes and others who like pretend-fight, but the reality is, playing paintball is a great way to learn a vital skill set that you’ll need to survive in a hostile environment.

For one, playing paintball with a “team” provides instruction on how to move and fight as a unit. It teaches you how to give orders and how to take them. And of course, the game teaches “movement” skills as well. Also, playing paintball is great exercise. So don’t count this game out. It will require some investment of money on your part – a mask, a paintball gun, shin and elbow protection, paintball ammunition – but we think you’ll find that investment worth it.

Cards – You should have a couple decks of cards in your bug out bag because these are a great way to spend your down time (don’t forget one for your vehicle as well). These will help occupy some of your down time and don’t require a lot of space. Plus, they don’t add much weight to your pack, either.

In the meantime, you can pick up a deck of “survival cards” that have SHTF scenarios and tips on them, like the one below:

Essentially, you’ll get 52 survival and preparedness tips that many people will forget once they are engulfed by an emergency situation. Check some out here.

Monopoly – ‘The Walking Dead’ version – This version of the popular board game will get you and your friends or family talking about the issue of survival and preparation. A description of the game says:

Life as you have known it exists no longer. Traditional commerce and frivolous living have given way. Enter a world where quick wits, guts and ingenuity mean the difference between life and death. In the Walking Dead Monopoly game you will wheel and deal for your very survival. Can you buy, sell, trade and backstab to survive a world of the dead? Optional speed play as you fight to the finish. Based upon the original graphic novel series.

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Video games – There are a number of “survival-themed” video games on the market, including “The Walking Dead” and other related “zombie apocalypse” games that all involve or incorporate various aspects of prepping and survival. These games, like the Monopoly game mentioned beforehand, will get you and your friends used to thinking like a survivalist and, as you play, learning about various survival scenarios and the challenges each will present.

Check out this trailer for one of them, “The Last of Us” (WARNING: Graphic action and language):

Kim’s game – This can be played anywhere, using just about anything. The government uses it to train agents, snipers and other operatives as a way to boost their observational skills and their situational awareness. Some believe it’s the best game for those purposes.

It’s actually based on Rudyard Kipling’s book, “Kim.” To play, you challenge one another to see how much each player can remember of something in a given amount of time, compared to other players. There are several ways to play; see a detailed accounting here.

A short version is this: Basically, lay out a set of items for a specified period of time, then cover them up and see how many the player can remember and correctly identify. In fact, you don’t even need to lay out a set of items; if you’re in, say, a doctor’s office with your kids or at a store just ask them to go to one end of the room for one minute and look around, then come back, sit down and write down all they remember.

Here is a scene from the movie, Kim, that involves the powers of observation:

These games and others are entertaining ways to learn the vital preparation and survival skills you may need someday. And while survival is not fun and games, there is nothing wrong with using them to help teach you what you’ll need to know when SHTF.

See also:

http://www.bugout.news/2015-10-22-putting-together-a-vehicle-bugout-kit.html