It’s All About Meaningful Decisions: Game Design Toward Nuanced Historical Interpretation and Complexity
The following is a position paper I developed for a panel discussion on games as tools for public history presentation and interpretation. I thought I would share it here for further discussion and comment. Panelists were asked to consider a series of questions, I’ve picked these two to serve as prompts for reflectingContinue Reading
Epic Life: The Big Break of BioShock, part 2: the Scholarship Game
I promised in my last post to discuss here three aspects of the humanism of the moment of potential ethical reflection embodied in what I have called the “Death-Disarm Sequence” of BioShock: 1) how the scholarly ruleset is merely a codification of the reflection enacted in these moments, when theirContinue Reading
No More Chocolate-covered Broccoli: Collaboration between Game Designers and Historians is Key
The following post is a short paper I wrote for a panel discussion on creating game experiences at Civil War historic sites. Our moderator suggested that we share our papers for further discussion and comment before the panel. Please join in the discussion, all comments and concerns are greatly appreciated!Continue Reading
Problems of Prestige, part 2: Wearing It on Your Sleeve
One of the most obvious forms of prestige is that of armor. Even in Homer from where I am drawing inspiration for this series, armor is an important visual component linked to an individual. For example, nearly an entire book of the Iliad is dedicated to describing the shield thatContinue Reading
The Royal Game of Ur: a Blueprint for Better Games?
This is a guest article by Namir Ahmed, a Masters Candidate in the Department of Anthropology at Western University, London ON. He’s also the Project Coordinator for the Sustainable Archaeolgy Animation Unit, where he does really fun stuff related to the digitization and visualization of cultural heritage. He doesn’t have a blog butContinue Reading
2012 Holiday Publishing Hiatus
Like the previous years, 2012 has been good to us. We’re now a smidge over 2 years old. 2012 has seen some wonderful articles and equally great conversations. With the holiday season upon us, Play the Past is going on its annual publishing hiatus. As with previous years, this is just aContinue Reading
Holiday Play, 2012 Edition
Well, it seems we’ve reached that time of year again. The semester is winding down (or has wound down), final exams have been taken (or given), grades (or assignments) have been turned in, and many of us are kicking back with our favorite adult beverage in hand. Thats right, folks. The gloriousContinue Reading
What Does Simony Say? An Interview with Ian Bogost
Ian Bogost’s newest game, Simony, offers players an “illuminated manuscript style of the game” with an “auditory experience of the lutes and chants.” To really play it, you should get on a plane and go to Florida where you can climb the dias and play it on the iPad in the installation Continue Reading
Discover Meriwether: An American Epic
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. While watchingContinue Reading
Problems of Prestige, part 1: the World of Homeric Warcraft
One of the most interesting aspects of MMO culture is that of prestige, and we can find a parallel in the ancient Homeric world of Achilles and the Trojan War. In this series, I will look at how prestige factors into the value system of both cultures and consider theContinue Reading