Conference, Get-together & Workshop / Games Forum Z

Game Time: Exploring History Through Play

How do video games represent the past and bring history to life? How accurately do they portray historical events? How do game designers balance between facts and creative storytelling? Can games be used in the classroom as tools for history education? Can they be used to improve our understanding of historical processes and promote social, political, and cultural activism ?

For this Forum Z, Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History teams up with Rotondes, Game On, and the BTS Game Programming and Game Design to explore the intersection between history and play.

The event will take place as part of the Game On convention and will consist of a rich programme of activities taking place in the Grande Salle and the Container City:

The Black Box

will host a round of talks. Industry professionals, designers, scholars, and educators will share their insights exploring the interplay between history and video games. At the end of each talk, the audience will be able to ask questions and discuss with our speakers.

In the Studio 2

the public will have the possibility to go back in time and experience a VR tour of the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris before the tragic accident of April 2019. (courtesy of Ubisoft)

In the STUDIOS 3 & 4

we will present a historical board game workshop in collaboration with the BTS Game Programming and Game Design.
The Codex Aureus of Echternach, one of the most beautiful manuscripts in the world, is an illuminated eleventh-century gospel written entirely in gold. Its fascinating history through the centuries will be the backbone of the workshop. Working in teams, the participants will learn the ropes of game design and create their own unique board game. The groups will then pitch their games to the audience, and the best one will win a prize.

The Grande Salle

will display a selection of historical video games that the visitors will be able to try. Among the titles: The Oregon Trail, Civilisation, Pentiment, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Valiant Hearts, This War of Mine, The Guild, Train to Sachsenhausen, Through the Darkest of Times, Assassin’s Creed Discovery Tours: Odyssey.

Those who missed them on Saturday will have another opportunity to try our game selection on Sunday, November 5th during Game On.

Programme:

Workshop

STUDIOS 3 & 4
>15:30 — 18:00
Suitable for ages 14 and up
The Codex Aureus of Echternach: From the Scriptorium to the Gaming Table

Historical Board Game Workshop in collaboration with the BTS Game Programming and Game Design.
(Maximum 30 participants, 15 participants in French and 15 participants in English. The workshop is free of charge, and places will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis)

Registration required here

Conferences

BLACK BOX
>14:00 — 18:00

>14:00
Deborah Papiernik (Ubisoft)
History and Video Games: How to Engage Different Audiences in the Discovery of our Heritage

>15:00
Nick Webber (Birmingham City University)
Historical Games Network: What is Video Game History? History in, of and around Video Games

>16:00
Jeremiah McCall (Cincinnati Country Day School)
Gaming the Past: The Power and Promise of Games in History Classes

>17:00
Marie-Paule Jungblut & Johannes Pause (University of Luxembourg) ; Emmanuel Guardiola (Cologne Game Lab)
The Migrants’ Chronicles 1892 Game: Using History to Raise Awareness about Modern Humanitarian Crises

>18:00
Historical Board Game Pitch Presentations and Awards

Virtual reality

STUDIO 2
>14:00 — 19:00
Ubisoft’s Notre-Dame de Paris: Journey to the Past in VR

Exhibition and demo

GRANDE SALLE
Sat 04.11 >14:00 — 19:00
Sun 05.11 >12:00 — 18:00
Historical video game expo and demo

The Oregon Trail, Civilisation, Pentiment, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Valiant Hearts, This War of Mine, The Guild, Train to Sachsenhausen, Through the Darkest of Times, Assassin’s Creed Discovery Tours: Odyssey.