The Routledge Companion to Video Games and History
1st Edition
Will be published approx. on 18. November 2026
Book
Hardback
796 pages
978-1-032-53000-0 (ISBN)
Description
The Routledge Companion to Video Games and History explores the dynamic intersection between video games and historical scholarship.
This comprehensive handbook delves into the ways video games present, interpret, and engage with history, moving beyond questions of accuracy to examine their potential as tools for education, research, and cultural critique. With contributions from international experts, this volume provides a rich, interdisciplinary perspective on how video games shape our understanding of the past. Divided into three sections, the book covers a wide range of topics. The first section, Making History, investigates how video games construct historical narratives, from counterfactual storytelling to the representation of indigenous and postcolonial histories. The second section, Analysing History, examines the portrayal of historical themes such as gender, race, religion, and economics, as well as the unique ways video games engage with cultural memory and historiography. The final section, Playing History, explores the experiential aspects of historical games, including their use in education, fandom, and reflective game design, while also addressing their role in shaping political and cultural myths.
This companion is an essential resource for historians, game designers, educators, and researchers seeking to understand the evolving relationship between video games and history.
This comprehensive handbook delves into the ways video games present, interpret, and engage with history, moving beyond questions of accuracy to examine their potential as tools for education, research, and cultural critique. With contributions from international experts, this volume provides a rich, interdisciplinary perspective on how video games shape our understanding of the past. Divided into three sections, the book covers a wide range of topics. The first section, Making History, investigates how video games construct historical narratives, from counterfactual storytelling to the representation of indigenous and postcolonial histories. The second section, Analysing History, examines the portrayal of historical themes such as gender, race, religion, and economics, as well as the unique ways video games engage with cultural memory and historiography. The final section, Playing History, explores the experiential aspects of historical games, including their use in education, fandom, and reflective game design, while also addressing their role in shaping political and cultural myths.
This companion is an essential resource for historians, game designers, educators, and researchers seeking to understand the evolving relationship between video games and history.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Postgraduate and Undergraduate Advanced
Illustrations
8 s/w Tabellen, 34 s/w Abbildungen, 34 s/w Photographien bzw. Rasterbilder
8 Tables, black and white; 34 Halftones, black and white; 34 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 246 mm
Width: 174 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-032-53000-0 (9781032530000)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Robert Houghton is a Senior Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of Winchester. He has published extensively on engagement with the medieval period in games of all sorts, including most notably his 2024 monograph The Middle Ages in Computer Games: Ludic Approaches to the Medieval and Medievalism.
Kate Cook is currently a Lecturer in Greek Culture at King's College London. Her research focuses on women in historical video games, and gender and language in Greek Tragedy. She has published on a range of topics related to gender in historical games, and was the co-editor of Women in Classical Video Games (2022).
Chris Kempshall is a public historian who specialises in transnational experiences of allied warfare and modern media representations of history. He is the author of numerous academic works on these subjects, including; The First World War in Computer Games (2015). He is currently the Historical Consultant for BlackMill Games. His book The History and Politics of Star Wars: Death Stars and Democracy was published by Routledge in August 2022.
Kate Cook is currently a Lecturer in Greek Culture at King's College London. Her research focuses on women in historical video games, and gender and language in Greek Tragedy. She has published on a range of topics related to gender in historical games, and was the co-editor of Women in Classical Video Games (2022).
Chris Kempshall is a public historian who specialises in transnational experiences of allied warfare and modern media representations of history. He is the author of numerous academic works on these subjects, including; The First World War in Computer Games (2015). He is currently the Historical Consultant for BlackMill Games. His book The History and Politics of Star Wars: Death Stars and Democracy was published by Routledge in August 2022.
Content
Section One: Making History 1. What is History in Video Games? 2. Method and Methodology in Historical Game Studies 3. Counterfactuals: An Alternate Path for Historical Game Studies 4. The Semi-Fictional Basil: History, Historical Video Games, and Transmedia Characters 5. Elsinore's Hamlet: Adapting historical plays into video games 6. Postcolonial, Mythological, and Imagined: Indian History's relationship with Video Games 7. Video Game Genres and Ancient History 8. Historical Indigenous Game Design: Drawing on Indigenous knowledges to craft historical video games 9. The African Video Game Industry: Rendering Visible and Forging Cultural Identity through Indigenous Heroes and Myths 10. Mobile games and antiquity: Simply a complex simplification of the past Section Two: Analysing History 11. Of Monuments and Military Men: The Ancient Mediterranean in Video Games 12. The Military Shooter and its Discontents: Enemies in War Games 13. Historical Characters in Antiquity Games 14. Building Religions: The Representations of Ancient Mediterranean Religion in Historical Strategy Games 15. Rome Was Built in a Day: Economies of the Ancient World in Historical Video Games 16. Seen But Not Played: Children in Ancient Historical Video Games 17. Medicine in Historical Roleplaying Video Games 18. Periodisation beyond Sid Meier's Civilization: Standing the Test of Time? 19. Women & Sexism in Historical Games 20. 'Is it really that bad?' A feminist reading of Pentiment 21. '"...it's really pathetic seeing a grown man cry": Masculinity and the Medieval 22. Iron-clad Bodies, Fluid Beings. An Idea-historical Approach to Queer and Posthuman Bodies in Medievalist (Roleplaying) Games 23. Brothels, Buffs, and Breeding: Sexuality in Historical Video Games Anise Strong 24. Cultural Memory, Games, and Company of Heroes 2: The Soviet Union as Barbaric Asiatic Hordes 25. Race and the Digital World Wars: Representing non-white soldiers in First World War and Second World War video games 26. "What else have these people hidden away in here?" Slavery and Memory in Historiated Games' Blackhaven Section Three: Playing History 27. 'Interact with history like never before': Modding the Past in Historical Video Games 28. Fandom in History Games 29. History as Political Myth. An exploration of two central functions of historical settings in digital games 30. Black games, Historical Settings, New Future? 31. Advertising America in Rockstar Games 32. Ludic Learning and Historical Computer Games: Audience education through Isonzo 33. Historical Games in Class: An Introduction for Educators 34. Navigating the Labyrinth: Engaging the Past through Reflective Game Design in Pentiment 35. Medieval Lore on the Bohemian Civil War in Kingdom Come: Deliverance - Using Historical Gameplay for Research and Scholarship on Localised Military Massacres