This is a mostly serious and occasionally tongue-in-cheek open response to Kevin Bacon’s (@fauxtoegrafik) thoughtful and honest blog post “Nameless Gameless.” I’m hoping it will spark some open dialogue between a variety of folks interested in cultural heritage and meaningful play (and of course, those...
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At the end of November, Brooklyn-based indie game studio Sortasoft launched a Kickstarter to raise funds for Meriwether: An American Epic. Inspired by a trip taken along the Lewis and Clark National Historic trail, Meriwether allows players to command the Corps of Discovery as Meriwether Lewis and voyage across North America....
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A lot of players care about the histories of the fictive worlds they spend their time in. Case and point, a handful of World of Warcraft books have made it on the New York Times Bestseller list. As I have been thinking about these game world histories it strikes me that there are two different modes here, and I am curious to see...
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Why is it that when we set out to talk about history and play, we always end up talking about games? One thing that attracted me to the blog you’re reading right now, besides the terrific set of co-conspirators Ethan has assembled, was its title and the broad set of topics that title implies. Play the Past, not Game the...
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If you do me the honor of reading my posts here on Play the Past, you’re going to see me use the word “practomime” a lot. “Practomime” is a word I made up. I made it up because there was no word in any language I know that refers to what I have come to believe is an essential connection between games and...
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Collaboratively edited and authored, Play the Past is dedicated to thoughtfully exploring and discussing the intersection of cultural heritage (very broadly defined) and games/meaningful play (equally broadly defined). Play the Past contributors come from a wide variety of backgrounds, domains, perspectives, and motivations (for being interested in both games and cultural heritage). More information on all of our contributors can be found here. A full rundown of our community and commenting policy can be found here. If you are looking to get in contact with us (for whatever reason), point your browser here and drop us a line.
