Exploring the archaeology in (and of) video games.
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Archaeogaming is a collective of gamers who are interested in applying archaeological methods while exploring game-worlds. We are interested in the evolution of gaming worlds and in the use of archaeology while in-game. Archaeogaming was founded by Andrew Reinhard on June 9, 2013.
Guest post by Laurentius Alvin Laurentis Alvin is a Master’s student at Bonn University in Germany (Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität). They hold a BA in history of art and musicology. Their academic […]
This is a guest post by Sherine Hamade with consultations from the Hades beta tester, Cian Sutherland. Sherine Hamade (they/them) is a graduate student studying Public History at the University […]
Terraforming Mars, the tabletop game, has been out for several years now. Since its initial release in 2016, several expansion packs have been released. In the game, you and your […]
Animal Crossing New Horizons has been out for about a month now and there are several new updates which have been announced. In my previous post on Animal Crossing, I […]
With the release of Animal Crossing New Horizons, I have spent a bit of my time exploring my new island, catching bugs and fish, collecting shells and fruits, and navigating […]
This serves as a preliminary analysis of the ACO Discovery Tour. The interactive projects are available here. For more information on these specific project methods, see these posts on the temporal and […]
December 8, 2019, will mark the one-month anniversary of the release of Death Stranding (Kojima Productions), and to commemorate it I wanted to write about the game’s “rapid archaeology” (my […]
Archaeogaming is the archaeology in and of games. This post describes initial work into an investigation of the Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Discovery Tour more info locations and points of interest, specifically that of the temporal locations of the works of art and archaeological materials featured in the game.
Archaeogaming is the archaeology in and of games. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s Discovery Tour presents history through gamification and interaction with points of interest. These points of interest display and present information along with a 2D static image to illustrate the text. These static images come from various global locations. The locations of each of these artifacts have been mapped using ArcGIS online and are presented here to enable a discussion and facilitate research regarding where the source images come from.
Archaeogaming is the archaeology in and of games. This post explores the archaeological and historical documentation of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s Discover Tour as a modern artifact and interpretation of literature, acting as a time capsule of current understandings of Ancient Greece
Archaeogaming discusses the archaeology in and of games. In this guest post by David AJ Murrieta Flores, Heaven’s Vault is looked at as an example for the question about to whom history belongs.
Archaeogaming is the study in and of games. Detroit Become Human serves as a prime example of affective story telling for the purpose of engagement and discussion by a wider public on the issues of civil rights and technology. Archaeologists can use Detroit Become Human as an example for successful public outreach via digital games.
Mountains of Madness is a tabletop game which never mentions archaeology. Some players have suggested that the main characters are archaeologists due to linguistic and cultural tones. Archaeogaming, the study in and of games, looks at this board game to critically analyze perceptions of archaeology in gaming.
The Game Theorists is a YouTube channel which analyzes digital games. In their videos, there are many tools which archaeogamers can (and should) use for their studies. By adding to the list and making these elements known, the archaeogaming community can think of these methods and new ones as a communal effort to improve archaeological methods in digital games.
Horizon Zero Dawn explores themes in the placement of ruins and artifacts for the digital game world. Archaeogaming is the archaeology in and of games and the way that Horizon Zero Dawn explores the archaeological theory behind analysis of artifact.
The definition of archaeogaming needs to expand and encompass tabletop (or analogue) gaming and games. The archaeology in and of tabletop gaming provides an insight into the culture of the historic period but also our own. Historical games found in archaeological excavations and in historical documentation should be encompassed in the definition of archaeogaming since gaming is much more than digital games.
