Gaming the Past

Theory, design, research,and use of historical games in and beyond history education. Look here for links to current research, lists of available historical video games, reviews, and essays on a variety of topics connected to historical games. Created and maintained by Jeremiah McCall (jmc.hst@gmail.com; @gamingthepast), teacher, historian, researcher, and author of Gaming the Past

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Interactive History Class 2019 – Teacher’s Log #3 (Week of 10/21)

October 21, 2019 Jeremiah McCall 1 comment

Disclaimer: often shockingly little/ sometimes no proofreading; just trying to get the ideas out fast and frequently for those interested

In the second teacher’s log, I wrapped with a historical problem space diagram for “Courtisans [sic] of Versailles.” I received solid analytical papers from the class; we talked about them, then moved on to the meat of the French Revolution itself and playing Polyslash’s We. The Revolution (Steam & Good Old Games.)

And then, we got bogged down. Partly because it was my first time teaching this permutation of Interactive History and the first time I had taught the Revolution in years. Partly because of the complicated beast that is, We. The Revolution. I’ve learned some lessons in the process that hopefully will be helpful.

First, the parts where I’d like to improve. If we study games about the French Revolution again next year, I need to cut the lengthy classes on the early years of the Revolution (1789 – 1791) and focus on the years 1792 – 1794 where the events of the games are

Categories: Practical advice, Teacher examples

GTP Designer Talk 4 – Richard Bodley Scott

October 10, 2019 Jeremiah McCall 1 comment

In this episode I talk with designer Richard Bodley Scott about his ancient battle game, Field of Glory 2.

Richard is an active participant on the Slitherine forums, so you can reach him via https://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=477

Field of Glory 2 is available at Slitherine https://www.slitherine.com/game/field-of-glory-ii

and Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/660160/Field_of_Glory_II/

Reviews and Commentary

Bill Gray’s Wargamer.com Review
Tim Stone’s Rock Paper Shotgun – Flare Path Action Report
Harley’s BigBossBattle.com
Tj Denzer’s Gamewatcher.com
Three Moves Ahead (Podcast) Episode 409

Categories: GTP Designer Talks Podcast

Interactive History Class 2019 – Teacher’s Log #2 (Week of 8/26)

August 30, 2019 Jeremiah McCall 3 comments

Disclaimer: often shockingly little/ sometimes no proofreading; just trying to get the ideas out fast and frequently for those interested

In the first log, I ended by talking about the board game Court[iers] of Versailles, an outstandingly-designed game of cut-throat politics at Louis XIV’s Palace of Versailles. The initial procedure I’m working to establish as a regular class rhythm is:

Front-load just a little bit, some reading/watching/listening and note-taking homework, and discussing just a bit class about the topic,
Learn to play and play the game for 2 or 3 classes
Pause for a class while playing to analyze and diagram the game’s historical problem space
Play a little more, and
End with a critical discussion of the game using the historical evidence and prepare for an assessment. In my case that is likely some form of formal or informal essay since effective analytical and persuasive writing is a very important teaching objective for us at CCD. It could conceivably be any number of different kinds of assessments.

It’s a bit of a headache learning the game. CoV is not difficult to understand, but the rules, unfortunately, were not effectively translated into English, have many typos and errors, and are difficult to learn without the motivation of someone who wants to learn a game for fun, or an experienced guide. If you can get your hands on a copy, though, it is really a great foil for looking at ideas of nobility and court life at Versailles. Plus, since there are a lot of social “take-that” mechanics, the game tends to capture students’ interest.

Categories: Uncategorized

Interactive History Class 2019 – Teacher’s Log #1 (Week of 8/19)

August 30, 2019 Jeremiah McCall 2 comments

disclaimer: shockingly little/ sometimes no proofreading; I’m just trying to get the information and ideas out there fast.

So as some may know, I launched the second iteration of my Interactive History class, a senior elective at Cincinnati Country Day School. Last year it ran as a third quarter elective. While the class was very successful, I found it readily apparent that a reformed and expanded semester-long course could be even more successful. I had learned it was overly idealistic to suppose, in the first run of the course, that, say, reading one article on World War I would provide students enough refresher and new evidence to deeply critique a game on the topic. Hence the key difference (other than class time) in my approach this year: rather than encounter a briefer and necessarily more superficial investigation of the relevant history before playing a game, teach a small number of historical units in-depth and focus most of the games on these units. Then, arguably, students could learn and do history in a deeper more meaningful way through a variety of media and channel that learning into more rich and substantive play, analysis, and critique of historical games.

Categories: Practical advice, Teacher examples Tags: Historical Problem Space, Teacher Guide

GTP Designer Talk 3 – Philippe Malacher

August 13, 2019 Jeremiah McCall 1 comment

8/12/19 – I had the pleasure of talking with Philippe Malacher, lead designer at Ageod, who has released Ageod/Slitherine’s Field of Glory: Empires. FoG:E is a turn-based strategy game where players guide one of the states of the third century BCE Mediterranean in a struggle against other powers. The episode will be available soon on Spotify, Google, and Apple.

Field of Glory: Empires at Slitherine Games and at Steam

Reviews and Commentary

Strategy Gamer’s Review
Bill Gray’s Wargamer Review
Tim Stone Rock Paper Shotgun The Flare Path

Categories: GTP Designer Talks Podcast

History and Game Links April – June 2019

July 7, 2019 Jeremiah McCall 1 comment

Historical Video Games

China: Mao’s Legacy, Steam blurb: “Year 1976, the stormy Cultural revolution has died down, hard times of hongweibing and public critics are coming to an end. Old and sick Mao Zedong will soon leave China to his comrades from CPC. The Cold War is coming into a new phase…
Crusader Kings, Iron Century, The latest update (and free) for Paradox’s strategy/role-playing/diplomacy game set in the Medieval period. Iron Century starts players in the 10th century.
Dawn of Man Steam blurb: “Command a settlement of ancient humans, guide them through the ages in their struggle for survival. Hunt, gather, craft tools, fight, research new techs and face the challenges the environment will throw at you.”
- 3MA Podcast
Fort Sumter: The Secession Crisis. A well-received port of Mark Herman’s board game of the same name. Steam blurb: “Can you drive the Secessionist into the Fort Sumter trap that gave Lincoln his historic victory? Can you successfully use the issue of States Rights to divide Northern opinion? Fort Sumter let’s you explore this seminal moment in American history in a fast-playing, easy-to-learn card driven game.”

Categories: link lists