Historical games of all kinds are made up of many components, combining elements of gameplay, interaction, agency and challenge with modes of representation such as images, characters, narrative and space. The environments of historical games sit precisely at the intersection between gameplay and representation. In historical games, space and the environments it contains not only […]
So. I’m a curator and a game designer. I work on a lot of different sorts of games: games to play at home, games for museums, games for festivals, games for schools, occasionally even games for computers. Often, these are games with some sort of connection to history, usually made as half of Matheson Marcault, […]
In recent years, different types of video games have created new opportunities to explore and learn about history. With technology improving at a formidable rate, pushing the fidelity and possibilities to uncharted territories, it raises even more questions about the value of historical references, research, and re-enactment in games as a tool to teach history. […]
Adam Chapman is absolutely right to be cautious about prescribing the use of games in education uncritically. We need to be careful about selecting and using games that are effective as learning tools and that can be meshed with course content (McCall, 2016), and – perhaps most importantly – that are sensitive towards serious topics […]
This is first guest post from one of the panelists, Kasia Smith. You can sign up for the event on via our Eventbrite here. This will take place on Wednesday 13 April 2022, at 16:00 UK time (15:00 UTC). Kasia is a Regeneration Manager with North Ayrshire Council. Previously Kasia was the Regeneration Officer delivering on […]
We’re thrilled to be announcing the panel date/time and our wonderful speakers for the theme of Education and Historical Games. You may have seen our call for contributions for the theme, which focuses on the challenges that face both educators and developers when making games about the past. The theme kicked off with the fantastic […]
Practical and Ethical Concerns In my last post, I explained why I hesitate to wholeheartedly recommend the use of historical games for the delivery of content in formal education. In particular, I considered the potential for overlapping biases, which can influence the research discourse surrounding games and learning. I also explored the potentially troubling dominance […]
Playing with Pedagogies Studying history in games often involves moving between diverse academic fields, regularly finding oneself amongst scholars from literary studies, film studies, media studies, educational sciences, psychology, and of course those from the more conventional sections of archaeology and history. Many of these scholars will be encountering the field of historical (or vanilla) […]
Apologies for the long delay! It seems like an age since we posted and somehow it’s now March! At HGN we initially paused content in solidarity with the strike action taken by University staff across the UK. HGN decided not to post new content and cross the digital picket. This strike action continues and we […]
Just a quick post to recap on our third HGN event, for our (Post) Colonialism theme, that took place on 15 December. We were pleased that the panellists and the audience, generated a fascinating discussion and raised lots of thought-provoking questions. In case you missed this, or would like to watch it again, you can […]