An “Alternative to the Pen”? Perspectives for the Design of Historiographical Videogames

Abstract

This article presents how the tools of videogame design can be used to convey historical arguments, and to what extent historians could benefit from creating such videogames. We begin by positioning our argument within the literature on the writing of history, linking it to formal and writing issues, which leads us to delve into various definitions of what “videogames for history” could be, and what operational frameworks could be derived from those definitions. We then confront some key principles of design to a selection of actual videogame projects to discuss the possibility of “historiographical game design” to be considered as “an alternative to the pen” (Chapman, 2013, p. 329) for historians. Our goal is to identify general principles in the design of historiographical videogames, to provide an improved and refined definition of these games from a design perspective and to formulate general guidelines to inform further explorations through research-creation projects.