It’s not a board game but it’s not really a card game. No matter how you want to define it, it’s Roberta Humble, dealing out Rhode Island history again.

Rhode Side is just another of Humble’s efforts to get the citizens of Rhode Island to know more about the unique little place they live in.

Humble first came to wide attention a couple of years ago, when she published “The Right to Crow,” a book of the Ocean State’s claims for firsts in arts, commerce and law. She followed that with “Rhode Island’s Friendly Faces,” a children’s book that has an old windmill take kids on a tour of Rhode Island Landmarks. Rhode Test, her first game, quizzes players about the state’s history and places, which, as we all know, includes places that existed before we were born but somehow stay in our collective consciousness.

The latest game that went on sale last month tests your ability to identify pictures of buildings, bridges and landmarks that you commonly see along the sides of our highways.

Prof. Roberta Mudge Humble, to be formal about it, teaches writing at the Community College of Rhode Island and is president of the board of directors of the Westerly Armory. Humble grew up in Westerly but now lives on Warwick Neck in Warwick.

She said her first game, Rhode Test, sold all 3,000 copies of its limited edition. Rhode Side is also a limited printing, 2,500, according to Humble, and she said it is beginning to look like a sellout as well.

Humble said the appeal of the first game was as much about prompting personal histories as that of the state.

“People would start playing the game and it would soon be as much about the stories of the people playing than the places featured in the game,” said Humble.

The 125 cards in Rhode Side depict a different roadside site, or sight, in Rhode Island, and the back of the card has questions about the site, ranging from where it is and what it did and, most importantly, getting us to ask why the site is worth saving.

“I included something from each of our 39 cities and towns,” she explained. “Unfortunately, some sites didn’t get in because the box only holds 125 cards.”

The Breakers, Barrington Town Hall and the Ann & Hope in Cumberland made the cut, as well as the Town Pound in Foster and Hearthside House in Lincoln.

“I went to an antique show at the Hearthside House last summer,” said Humble. “The antiques were placed around the house and it was all very nice, and the price of the ticket included a tour of the house.”

The story about Hearthside House is a love story worth retelling here. The man who built it gave it everything a woman could want, all of the amenities available at the time.

“He took his love on a ride out to the house from town and she said, ‘It’s a beautiful place but who would want to live way out here?’ He didn’t say anything. He just turned around and headed back to town. He never brought it up again.”

A couple of the sites, particularly those associated with Rocky Point, are long gone physically but Humble included their pictures because they live in so many people’s memories. But, if she had her druthers, there would be more historic sites being preserved and she is still concerned about landmarks that are threatened because no one visits them or no one is making an effort to preserve them. It’s too late for amusement parks.

“We once had four major amusement parks in Rhode Island,” said Humble. “There was Crescent Park, Rocky Point, Lincoln Park and Island Park. Now we have none.”

Of course, the real point is to get Rhode Islanders involved and interested in saving the remaining buildings that have historic significance. Humble herself is a driving force behind saving the Westerly Armory and is afraid that similar efforts are not being made in Woonsocket for many other endangered sites. She thinks her trivia game is a medium for generating the necessary concern.

“We have to make people curious about these sites,” she said. “I think they can help the sites by visiting them but they won’t visit if they are not aware of them.”

Rhode Side is available for $20 plus shipping through the Westerly Armory website (www.westerlyarmory.com); the site also has a list of area stores, including Borders in Garden City and Twice-Told Tales at 2145 Broad St. In Warwick,

Ocean State Souvenirs in the Airport Plaza; The Open Door, 316 Warwick Neck Avenue; Nostalchic, 752 West Shore Rd.; The CCRI Bookstore, 400 East Ave.; and at Benny’s and CCRI bookstores throughout the state.