While the value of play often is emphasized only for children, play has a role in higher education as well. Play encourages students to confront new information with curiosity rather than fear and with a flexible rather than fixed mindset. As book history is a complex field—curators, librarians, archivists, booksellers, auctioneers, collectors, artisans, conservationists, and a whole host of other professionals are just as involved in its work and study as students and scholars—play is a wonderful way to address this overwhelm because it generates a positive state of flow. In particular, specially-designed games help students begin to address their book history learning curve. Using two common points of entry for students working with rare books for the first time—“how much is this book worth?” and “this book is really pretty!”—<em>Codex Conquest</em> and <em>Mark </em>help instructors guide students through their own inquiry.
Playing Around with Book History: Codex Conquest and Mark
