Prologue: Playing with the Ancient World

Undergraduate Teaching andAssassin's Creed

“…I would also argue that for archaeologists, who are concerned with how to visualize and reconstruct ancient natural and constructed environments, a detailed assessment of the historic backdrops of these games can lead to significant critical discussions. These can go beyond a simple identification of errors in representations so that students can instead discuss why game designers make certain decisions, how they “go about producing ‘authenticity’” (Rollinger 2020a:6), and how this can affect the resulting image of the past. For these discussions, the detailed and well-researched reconstructed worlds of realist simulation games are valuable, as demonstrated in particular by the AC games.…”

“…The AC games are frequently lauded by scholars for their vast, open, explorable, and detailed reconstructions of ancient environments (for instance, Casey 2018; Rollinger 2020b:38). These are created based on considerable research and with the help of academic advisors.…”

“…He noted that they incorporated, in particular, the work of Egyptologist Mark Lehner to help visualize the sphinx and ancient Giza; however, they also included elements of other theories in their reconstructions (Nielsen 2017). The ancient world they create is therefore a synthesis of scholarly opinion (Rollinger 2020b:38), with creative additions to enhance gameplay. In addition to famous sites, the game designers have also researched the flora and fauna of the time, religious and mundane objects, craft traditions, and diverse cultural practices and languages, adding in these elements—what Chapman (2016:123) would refer to as “lexia”—to ensure that the game environments are more authentic, if not absolutely historically accurate (Nielsen 2017; see also Elliot and Kapell 2013:13–14; Serrano Lonzano 2020:56).…”

“…Digital games, however, have yet to be embraced as a tool by the archaeological community in general, despite recent scholarship regarding the potential that such media present for both research and teaching (for example, Politopoulos, Ariese, et al 2019; Reinhard 2018; Rollinger, ed. 2020). I use the term “digital games” to refer to all games played on consoles with a screen, on a digital handheld device, or on a computer.…”

“…The VALUE Foundation, a group of scholars who study archaeology and digital games, have demonstrated that even archaeologists who enjoy playing these historical or archaeologically related games generally do not consider them to be of significant merit for presenting or researching archaeological topics (Boom et al 2020; Mol et al 2016:12–13). Many seem to view these games purely as play, and dismiss these resources due to their overly simplistic, violent, or inaccurate representations of historical topics or the practice of archaeology (McCall 2020:107; Politopoulos, Ariese, et al 2019:164; Rollinger 2020a:2). Discussions with colleagues have revealed that although a few are open to the concept, most are not prepared to consider using this medium in the classroom.…”