Playing with History: Historical Video Games

I am not only a scholar, but also an avid gamer!  My favorite type of game is Historical Fictional Video Games. History provides amazing plots and backdrops to a participatory cinematic experience.  While gamers are transported to another time, they are also learning about history too.  The stories may not be completely accurate, but gamers are able to get a fair amount of information that may help them on their next test!  Here are a few of my favorites:

Oregon Trail (1830s)

This is the first original historical video game; this game has been around for YEARS!  What was super frustrating was having my family die before we got to the destination!  It made the journey real by having the gamers in charge of making hardcore decisions like whether to cross the river with your stead or to wait it out.  This game was absolutely so much fun!

The American Girls Premiere (1776 – 1940)

I was so excited when this game came out!  I know it definitely shows my age, but I was able to not only use plots from the books but also historical events that occurred during that time!  My favorite thing was having my mom and dad watch my finished plays!

Titanic: Adventure Out of Time (1910)

I got this game when I was in 7th grade!  I loved playing RPGs and this game definitely was unappreciated.  You had the option to make decisions and it impacted the game.  The game follows the timeline of the ship’s untimely demise, but there is a mystery that is twisted within it!  Knowing that the Titanic is going down, you realize that you are definitely running out of time.  It’s worth a play!

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (1980s)

If you are looking for a game that isn’t set too far in the past, GTA: Vice City is the game for you!  You can what the ’80s were all about without watching a Molly Ringwald movie.  I love the free play in Rockstar games; you are able to do side missions or the main mission.  It all depends on what you want to do! And if the clothes don’t give you a blast from the past, the music certainly will!

LA Noire (1940s)

LA Noire follows a detective as he solves tons of murders in LA.  What is amazing about this game is that you had to use your intuition to figure out if someone is lying or telling the truth.  Making the wrong accusation could make solving the case harder or longer.  Rockstar games used the same technology that James Cameron used for Avatar!  In comparison to Oregon Trail or Titanic: Adventure Out of Time its easy to see how far gaming technology has come.

Assassin’s Creed III (Late 1700s)

This is THE game that everyone is talking about!  It will be released at the end of the October.  This game is revolutionary because its the first time in the Assassin’s Creed series that the setting is the United States, its also the first time that the video game’s protagonist is Native American.  (The companion game for the PS Vita, Assassin’s Creed III: Revelations features an African-American female as the lead.) Assassin’s Creed is creating serious buzz with their diverse characters.

Got any other history-based video games you like? Let me know in the comments section!

VaNessa Thompson is a graduate student at Lawrence Technological University majoring in Technical and Professional Communication.  She graduated with a BA in Communication from Michigan State University where she was a NSCS member.  Currently, she is one of NSCS’s Social Media Ambassadors and one of Dormify’s Style Advisors!  In her free time, she blogs and vlogs!  Feel free to tweet her @nessabirdie!