Abstract
Today's youth have grown up immersed in technology and are increasingly relying on video games to solve problems, engage socially, and find entertainment. Yet research and vignettes of teachers actually using video games to advance student learning in social studies is scarce (Hutchinson 2007). This article showcases how social studies teachers used the Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings in a seventh-grade world history class. On the basis of our experiences, we believe video games provide students with a digitally relevant world in which to explore abstract concepts and theories that are all too common in social studies. Outside of providing strategies and advice to teachers when integrating video games in the social studies, we identity challenges and issues inherent in their classroom use.