World History Explored Through Video Games
It makes sense that real world events have served as inspiration for many books, movies, and shows. After all, history is a story itself. Video games are no exception to using history as setting or plot, and they can be incredible ways to give detailed looks at ancient civilizations from Egypt to Mesoamerica. Check out this list of video games inspired by the history of the world!
Explore Ancient Egypt
Ubisoft
Assassin’s Creed Origins is the latest entry in the long-running Assassin’s Creed series from developer Ubisoft. However, it differs from previous installments thanks to the recent edition of the Discovery Tour. This mode allows the player to simply explore its Ancient Egyptian setting as either a character from the game or as a historical figure like Julius Caeser or Cleopatra.
The mode includes 75 guided tours that were crafted by Egyptologists and covers everything from the Great Pyramids to the daily lives of the citizens of Alexandria. Your character can even participate in the activities of the locals to truly understand how the people lived.
Discovery Tour launched on February 20, as a free update for owners of Assassin’s Creed Origins. You can purchase it as a standalone title for $20 as well.
Discover Mesoamerican Ruins
Mooneye Studios
While heavily fictionalized, Lost Ember is an upcoming game that will allow players to explore Mesoamerican ruins. The developer based the world on the history of the Inca and Maya civilizations. The player takes the form of a wolf who can inhabit other animals. This game emphasizes the diverse wildlife of Mesoamerica.
As players discover new ruins, they also learn more about this ancient civilization. While it will feature its own fictional civilization, the idea of archaeology giving insight into ancient life is very real. Comparing and contrasting the civilization of Machu Kila with the real Mayan and Incan civilizations could also be an interesting activity.
Lost Ember is yet to be released, but you can find out more about it on the Mooneye Studios website.
Understand Greek Myths
Microsoft Studios
Greek mythology inspires many stories in books, movies, and games. Even Rome and Byzantium based their own myths on the Greek gods. Age of Mythology from Microsoft Studios is one such game which covers Greek myths as well as Egyptian and Norse myths.
Through its story, Age of Mythology lets players experience the fabled city of Atlantis, fight the Trojan War, and accompany Odysseus on his adventures. The gods and goddesses play an important role as well as different cities focus their worship on different gods, just as they did in ancient times. While the game is certainly not education-focused, it can get kids interested in the myths of Greece.
Age of Mythology is an older game, but it’s still available to buy through Steam. Find out more on its website.
Let Your Students Discover World History Through Educational Video Games
These entertainment-focused video games aren’t the best for classroom learning. For that, look no further than our Excavate! series of games. Our six civilizations cover a wide variety of world history curriculum. Put your students in the shoes of archaeologists and let them enjoy C3-aligned gameplay.
In Excavate! Egypt, students analyze artifacts from Giza, Alexandria, Karnak, and the Valley of Kings to understand the lives of ancient Egyptians. Excavate! Mesoamerica features sites from the Mayan, Incan, and Aztec civilizations and explores each unique culture. Meanwhile, Excavate! Greece compares and contrasts Athens and Sparta while also letting students learn religion at Delphi and sports at Olympia. Our other civilizations include Rome, Mesopotamia, and the Byzantine Empire.
Gladiator Recovery Shake
Baths Are for More than Bathing
Second Floor with a View
For the Birds
Picture this: A child seated by himself reading a book under a tree’s shade on a hot summer day. A hundred feet away, under the shade of another tree, is another child seated by herself playing a video game on a tablet. In Everything Bad is Good for You, Steven Johnson argues that there is an inherent bias in promoting the reader’s activity as enrichment while deriding the gamer’s activity as wasting time.
of the game, accomplishing short term and long term goals, and depending on the game, may very well be interacting with other players in creating and reimagining the world in which they inhabit. Johnson argues that this may potentially be more intellectually rigorous…but it all depends on the content and the structure of the game.
We here at Dig it™ are proud of our 
I started at Dig-It! Games in November 2016 so I’m still new. I have spent the last eight years teaching high school Spanish and decided to switch fields when I moved to Washington, DC. The switch to technology wasn’t incredibly difficult for me as I grew up around computers and was a Technology Integrator at my last school. My parents were both in the technology field and so my sisters and I never saw it as a strange world. I was lucky enough to grow up in an environment that encouraged me to do whatever I needed to reach my goals. As a teacher, I loved speaking with teenage girls about their futures and encouraging them no matter what the role.
For as long as I can remember, being an artist has been the only thing I’ve wanted to do. I’ve never really changed career paths or aims—
Growing up I was always pushed towards the math and sciences because I naturally good at them, but my heart always called to more creative pursuits. My mother gave me the wise advice that “If you do what you love for work, it’ll become your work and not what you love.” With that in mind I applied to engineering programs across the east coast, before coming across a school that featured a Game Design and Development major. Although heavily computer science based, the major also taught design, animation, 3D modeling, audio, and narration to name a few. I knew instantly that it was a perfect match: a field both technical and creative.
