As promised in last week’s update, we are now firmly in the terrain of Ethics and Historical Games. You may have seen our call for contributions for the theme, which focuses on the difficult questions developers must face when making games about the past, and the difficult questions players must encounter when playing them. These […]
Our first HGN event, for our Historical Truth theme, took place on 26 May. It was very successful, our speakers were great and the audience provided some great questions and engagement. You can find the video below. This event officially marked the end of our first HGN theme, and so we now move into the […]
How can creatives make history entertaining and accurate? Although we are seeing green shoots pointing to normality, the comforting duh duhnn sound of the Netflix app still offers welcome escape. Recently I was drawn to The King, directed by David Mechod and starring the wonderful Timothee Chalamet. The King tells the story of the lusty […]
At the risk of stating the obvious and revisiting an often-addressed point of interest in historical game studies: game design and gameplay both problematize and upend history. By most definitions of agency and gameplay, surrendering any amount of control to the player is, well, the whole point. The results of playing, then, are degrees of […]
Our take in our Lovecraft + Aztecs title – Javier Rayón Javier Rayón is the writer and director of Dream of Darkness, a Lovecraft+Aztecs video game for PC. With his startup he tells the real mysteries of history, starting with his hometown of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán, current Mexico City. Humanity is at a […]
If you’re wondering what’s coming up on #HGN, or you would like to contribute to the discussions on the site, read on! As you might already have seen, our first theme – Historical Truth – is now underway, with a first post from our Event Chair, Adam Chapman. You will be able to find content […]
In 2014, while working as a postdoctoral fellow at the LiNCS research centre at the University of Gothenburg, I was given the opportunity to design a course as part of the centre’s fantastic DSES (Doctoral School in Educational Sciences) program. These courses invited PhD students from universities all over the world to come to Sweden […]
What is the Historical Games Network? The Historical Games Network (HGN) brings together academics, game makers and other cultural workers to explore the relationship between history and games, of all kinds and broadly defined. We aim to engage a diversity of perspectives, to support – and offer a platform to – new voices in the […]