History in the age of the avatar : reconciling video games to promote historical learning

Abstract

Video games are ready to advance beyond their recreational origins and make a worthwhile contribution to public discourse. The social sciences are the most appropriate field to lead the way for new genres of video game. A comprehensive "history video game" will require the combined efforts of social science professionals, game designers, and programmers. To this audience, I propose certain criteria to incorporate into game narrative and game design. These criteria fall within three categories that help to organize this thesis: goals of history, social studies themes, and civic dispositions. These criteria were adapted from among the 2010 National Curriculum Standards of Social Studies, Indiana Academic Standards in World History and Civilization, and in Geography and History of the World. Additionally, I use my experience of nine years of teaching social studies in an alternative high school to reflect on skills and knowledge that are relevant and useful to developing an understanding of the world and a perspective on time. For a rationale of video games as worthwhile discourse, I compare and contrast theories of book history with video game structure in general and predict the relatedness of the new genre of a "history video game." This reveals the distinction between the goals of literary works and historical works. It highlights the issues of transforming game design from its traditional narrative structure to a structure serving the interests of the history discipline. Further, I evaluate how the criteria of social studies themes apply to the four most popular examples of video game series that were designed with a historical premise: Sid Meier's Civilization, Total War, Assassin's Creed, and The Sims Medieval. Finally, I examine mechanics of game play that promote cognitive development that directly relates to civic dispositions. The act of learning history is a reflective and growing process that is well-suited to the structure of game mechanics if game design is adapted to the needs of historical learning. Creating and using avatars forces respect for multiple perspectives. The ability to replay scenes and examine "what if' scenarios dissociates history from the dogmatic view that history is destiny.