Erosion Game
The erosion game was developed as a learning activity by geomorphologist John Douglass in 2009. It requires a basic understanding of introductory physical geology concepts, in particular: weathering, erosion, rock properties, and mountain building in order to be able to play. John gifted me the card files to "keep it alive" and Ander Sundell from CWI set up the files for printing decks on demand from Game Crafter.
As an educational card game
As a card game, Erosion does a great job of replicating some of the “randomness of nature” that will yield the different mountains/hillslopes that you draw from the deck. You can also think of the weathering card draws as representing the “randomness” of the climate and geography that weathers particular mountains (as these environments are frequently quite different from the environments the mountains formed in originally). The strategy of game play is where the similarities between the game as a model really differs from the real world. As you play, you must be open about your strategy, that is, as we use this game and each move you make as an open discussion and opportunity to review and learn together. You are still invited to play to win if you so choose!
If you want your own deck
John graciously shared the card files with me and Ander donated his time to set them up for direct on-demand printing so that Erosion can be provided to others to continue using. I have set up a page on Game Crafter for you to purchase the cards at no profit to myself if you wish to use them. The game set up and files are available for download upon purchase.