From the study of archaeological remains of game pieces to modern videogames, historians within the Manchester Metropolitan Game Centre engage with games and gaming in different ways to explore life in the ancient world. We focus on three key areas of research.

Videogames and the Ancient World

How are ancient cultures displayed in videogames and why do they provide such a popular background for a range of game genres, from action and adventure to strategy to mobile games? Can such games be used for educational purposes, both those with intended educational resources (such as the Discovery Tour in recent Assassin’s Creed games) and those without? Network member, Dr Jenny Cromwell, is particularly interested in how aspects of ancient Egypt are incorporated within videogames as well as how such games can be used within a classroom setting.

The 2020–21 pandemic created particular problems in undertaking fieldwork. During the initial lockdown, Manchester Metropolitan University archaeologist Ben Edwards recreated the site that he works on (Bryn Celli Ddu, Anglesey, Wales) in Minecraft, together with his daughter. Not only did Minecraft Educational Edition allow him to build the site, but it is also available for others to explore.

 The Manchester Metropolitan Game Centre have hosted a range of talks on history and videogames, which you can view here:

• Jenny Cromwell, ‘Games and History (Assassin’s Creed Origins)’ (May 2019)

• Jane Draycott, ‘Playing Cleopatra’ (Feb. 2020)

• Ben Edwards, ‘Archaeology and Gaming: The Bryn Celli Ddu Minecraft Experience’ (Nov. 2020)

Publications on the topic include:

• Jenny Cromwell, ‘Review of: Christian Rollinger (ed.), Classical Antiquity in Video Games: Playing with the Ancient Past’ (July 2020)

• Jenny Cromwell, ‘Review of: Ross Claire, Ancient Greece and Rome in Videogames: Representation, Play, Transmedia’ (Aug. 2021)

• Ben Edwards et al., ‘The Bryn Celli Ddu Minecraft Experience: A Workflow and Problem-Solving Case Study in the Creation of an Archaeological Reconstruction in Minecraft for Cultural Heritage Education’, Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage 14/2, pp. 1–16.

Roleplaying History

Together with colleagues in Leiden, Hamburg, and Warsaw, Dr Jenny Cromwell is involved in a project that uses the mechanics of Dungeons and Dragons 5e to explore the history of the early Islamic world (ca. 8th century AD). Through roleplaying, this group is interested in several questions, including: What challenges are posed by the use of historical settings in roleplaying games? What kind of ethical issues are involved in roleplaying characters from diverse cultural and historical locations? How can roleplaying games be used to explore untold stories within the ancient world (e.g., women, poor, children)?

You can hear more about the project here:

• ‘Dice on the Nile: TTRPG Actual Play Podcast’ (6 May 2021)

• ‘Dice on the Nile: Roleplaying History’ (12 May 2021)