We are in 1854. The schooner, loaded with wine, sets sail from the port of Patras and begins its journey through the Mediterranean, heading for Constantinople. There she will unload her cargo, the shipowner will collect the money from the sale of the cargo, make the necessary repairs and the ship will continue its journey. This may well be a historical narrative. But it is also a round of the board game of the Institute for Mediterranean Studies “SeaLiT – Mediterranean Ships and Trade in the Long 19th Century”, created by Dr. Apostolos Delis and designed by Corina Doerr.

Designed for groups of 2-4 people, SeaLiT invites players to take on the role of a ship owner and through the game grow their business and improve their ships while facing dangers such as sea battles or pirates. At the same time, they have the opportunity to learn about the main types of ships that were used in maritime trade, the important ports of the time, the goods, as well as the operation of the shipping industry. The player with the most money and whose ships and goods cost the most wins the game.

This game is part of a multi-year study within the Seafaring Lives in Transition (SeaLiT) research project.

Greek and foreign scientists are participating in this, who are comparatively studying the development of navigation throughout the Mediterranean and Black Seas. But how did the board game appear among various scientific publications? “It was completely spontaneous,” says Mr. Delis, who is also the SeaLiT project leader. “I started working on this a long time ago, maybe because I played strategy board games in my student days.” Thus, the study, which began in 2013 under the auspices of the Institute for Mediterranean Studies, was not intended to be turned into a game. Ultimately, however, after various gaming tests with fellow historians, it took the form of a 120-round table, one for each year of the time period covered.

But why was the 19th century chosen as the time frame for the game? As its creator informs us, the so-called “long 19th century”, i.e. the period from the French Revolution to the First World War, brought fundamental structural changes in maritime transport that affected maritime societies – and not only. “That’s when the ways of transportation change, professions change, the structure of the maritime business, the appearance of ports and cities change,” he notes. In fact, during this period of time, conditions were created for the birth of the Greek national state.

“All this information that can be seen in the game could be a history book,” concludes Mr. Delis, who even uses it to teach his students at the University of Crete. However, anyone who does not have knowledge of maritime history can enjoy it, he assures. The bottom line is that “players have fun, take risks, take risks and compete.”