Digital historical games

Given the massive commercial successes of the medium in recent years, digital historical games (i.e. games that utilise historical settings) have rapidly become one of the most widespread and successful forms of popular history. This, alongside their chosen historical content, makes them potentially highly influential histories that are generally experienced in informal settings. Similarly, the possibilities of a new form of history also raises interesting new questions for formal educational settings that must be answered. Despite, the widespread nature of games as cultural products, historical game studies (though benefitting from disciplinary diversity and featuring much good research) is still a somewhat scattered and incoherent field that can therefore be difficult for students to access. The Historical Representation in Games course pulls these strands together into a unified curriculum that provides a foundational basis for approaching historical games (both digital and non-digital) and exploring their possibilities and limitations as a form of history.