SAA

VIDEO GAMES AND ARCHAEOLOGY
Figure 3. Screenshot from Apotheon. Image by AlienTrap Games (freely downloadable as wallpaper at http://www.apotheongame.com/).
the opportunity to relate to these events and immerse themselves
in the architecture and material culture of World War
I, the development team not only did extensive archival
research in collaboration with historians but also included
the results of this research into the game as a collection of
facts and artifacts that players can discover and browse.
Archaeology has more to offer than an “authentic” experience
of the past. It can also provide exciting, untapped
themes or designs. For instance Apotheon, a platform
released in 2015 by AlienTrap, is set in mythological ancient
Greece (see Figure 3). The game borrows its design from the
black figure pottery style (seventh–fifth century B.C.E.) of
classical Greece. This creates the impression that one is playing
a character as portrayed on an ancient Greek vase while
moving through different mythological scenarios. Despite
several chronological and/or mythological inaccuracies, the
developers have created a beautiful setting based on ancient
material culture, bringing the enjoyment of this style to a
wider audience in a unique way. An interesting discussion
piece by Gilles Roy (2015) analyzes the aspects that make this
game interesting and compelling.
Video games equally have a lot to offer to the field of archaeology,
particularly in two core areas: public outreach and
research. At a basic level, video games can introduce the concept
of archaeology to the public by implementing archaeology
as a gameplay mechanic. The immensely popular World
of Warcraft by Blizzard Entertainment, for instance, has
incorporated archaeology as an in-game profession. Even if it
provides a simplified version of archaeological practice, it
does introduce archaeology to a huge and global audience.
Archaeological and heritage outreach has also been done
extensively through the world-creating game Minecraft by
Mojang. Here, archaeologists can learn from recent initiatives
by museums that engage virtual and physical visitors
through Minecraft projects. The Tate (2014) in the United
Kingdom, for example, collaborated with artist Adam Clarke
to virtually reconstruct not only the museum’s galleries but
also the individual artworks. Players can enter the galleries
and step into the paintings and works of art to explore the
worlds behind the paintings. A similar project is currently
being undertaken with the British Museum. 6 Together with
the public, they aim to reconstruct the entire museum
through a large-scale crowd-sourcing project. The VALUE
group has explored the possibilities of using Minecraft for
archaeological reconstructions, by running a crowd-sourced
event aimed to collaboratively rebuild the recently destroyed
Temple of Bel in Palmyra, Syria, for example. 7
With regards to archaeological research, video games can be
used as platforms for experimental archaeology. Colleen
Morgan (2009), for instance, has rebuilt Çatalhöyük to investigate
a number of topics. One of these concerned the reconstruction
of ovens, which have been found extensively on the
site (Morgan 2009:476). Morgan was able to experiment with
these ovens and buildings in Second Life to test the effects of
smoke on living conditions.
14 The SAA Archaeological Record • November 2016