Trade Wars Teacher Lesson Guide
Teacher lesson guide target: Use this page for lesson planning, classroom setup, curriculum alignment, common mistakes, and related resources for Trade Wars. The playable game is /games/trade-wars.
Trade Wars puts you in charge of trade policy. Set tariffs, answer retaliation, protect industries, and watch how consumers, producers, and trading partners respond.
Lesson objective
Students should finish the activity able to explain the economic decision rule behind the game, describe at least one missed prompt, and connect the result to a graph, data point, incentive, or policy choice.
Classroom setup
Use Trade Wars during international economics. Split students into consumer, producer, worker, and trading-partner perspectives before the reveal.
Concepts and curriculum alignment
Key concepts covered: international trade, tariffs, trade policy, comparative advantage. AP Macro Unit 6: Open Economy - International Trade and Finance; AP Micro Unit 2: Supply and Demand; IB Global economy: International trade; IB Global economy: Protectionism
Practice Path
Common Mistakes
- Saying tariffs are simply good or bad without separating winners, losers, and total welfare.
- Forgetting that retaliation can reduce gains even when one protected industry benefits.
- Mixing up comparative advantage with absolute advantage when explaining trade patterns.
Teacher debrief prompt
Ask students: Which clue changed your answer, what economics rule explains the change, and what would you do differently on a rematch?
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Why Trade Wars Teacher Lesson Guide Helps
Trade Wars is a free interactive international trade game on EconArena. Students make short decisions, get immediate feedback, and use related definitions, tools, and AP/IB links to connect gameplay with classroom economics.
Citation source: https://econarena.com/games/trade-wars/about
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Saying tariffs are simply good or bad without separating winners, losers, and total welfare.
- Forgetting that retaliation can reduce gains even when one protected industry benefits.
- Mixing up comparative advantage with absolute advantage when explaining trade patterns.
Best Practice Path
Classroom and Self-Study Use
Use Trade Wars during international economics. Split students into consumer, producer, worker, and trading-partner perspectives before the reveal.
Next best action: Play one policy round, review comparative advantage, then try PPP Challenge or Currency Crash for the exchange-rate side.