Exploring the archaeology in (and of) video games.
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Dr. Stéphanie-Anne Ruatta is an ancient historian and expert in Classical languages who works full-time for Ubisoft: Québec, that rare career path in which some historians and archaeologists see themselves […]
Let’s get this out of the way first: Heaven’s Vault (inkle Studios, 16 April 2019, on Steam and PS4) is the best archaeological game I’ve ever played. It is also the best […]
NOTE: The following “review” was done as a 2019 April Fools joke. A real review will be forthcoming once the embargo lifts on April 16. Heaven’s Vault (inkle studios) will […]
Heaven’s Vault is a new, archaeological digital game (available Spring 2019 from inkle Studios) that breaks many boundaries in how archaeology and archaeologists have been portrayed. In the game, players: …uncover […]
We did this to ourselves. Humanity’s core set of needs include: food, water, protection from the environment (i.e., clothing and/or shelter), survival of the species. A fifth core need must […]
Introduction Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey continues the franchise’s deep dive into Antiquity, featuring over 60 hours (so far, for me) of deep play in the Greek world of the 5th century […]
Over the past few days (thanks to Peter Campbell) I have read about hyperobjects (Timothy Morton), manufactured/intentional landscapes (Edward Burtynsky), and archaeological drift (Þóra Pétursdóttir, Bjørnar Olsen), which have become […]
I was asked by an archaeology undergraduate student recently if a video game is from the past, present, or future when it is being investigated archaeologically. Archaeology does like to […]
SPECIAL GUEST POST! Nick Pearce is the Creative Director and founder of Modern Storyteller, which is deep in development of The Forgotten City. It’s both rare and welcome to hear from […]
I conducted the Legacy Hub Archaeological Project in between the release of No Man’s Sky v1.3 (Atlas Rises) and v1.5 (NEXT), documenting the abandoned player settlements and communication stations of […]
Thanks to a thought-provoking email from my friend and colleague Florence Smith Nicholls, I wanted to explore the ideas of mapping and colonialism in No Man’s Sky, something I had […]
Introduction The diverse archaeogaming community of practice shares one grand challenge that stands out over all others: publication. This brief post breaks the challenge down into three major points: 1) […]
Introduction Archaeology and archaeological missions are now part of No Man’s Sky in the version 1.5 “NEXT” update. Much like the Archaeology skill and mechanic in World of Warcraft’s “Cataclysm” […]
I wonder if Hello Games was listening to the #archaeogaming hashtag on Twitter over the past year when they decided to include archaeology in No Man’s Sky: NEXT (v1.5). Granted the […]
POST UPDATED ON 27 JULY 2018. SCROLL TO BOTTOM FOR NEW DATA. The latest iteration of No Man’s Sky, v1.5 “NEXT”, marks the second extinction-level event in the game’s two-year […]
Part of my No Man’s Sky archaeology project is to find the homeworlds of those players who left their star systems in search of the Galactic Hub prior to the release […]
