Analog Simulation and the Indian Wars: Encountering the Other Through Board Wargames.

This article examines how board wargames have simulated the Indian Wars and represented Native North Americans from 1960 to 2023, based on an analysis of 125 games listed on the BoardGameGeek database. It finds that these games predominantly focus on iconic and foundational U.S. historical moments—such as the French and Indian War, the American War of Independence, and especially the Great Sioux War of 1876 with the Battle of the Little Bighorn—often reproducing established myths and Eurocentric narratives where Native Americans appear as secondary actors. However, recent decades have seen a rise in more diverse and complex simulations that incorporate traumatic aspects like raids on settlements and offer Indigenous perspectives, sometimes through hybrid game mechanics blending traditional wargame and Eurogame elements. While board wargames remain less numerous and less explored than other media, they are increasingly engaging with contested memories and postcolonial critiques, though games designed by Native Americans themselves remain rare.