New Video Game Confronts Slavery’s Legacy Through a Historical Mystery
New Video Game Confronts Slavery’s Legacy Through a Historical Mystery
New Video Game Confronts Slavery’s Legacy Through a Historical Mystery
By Livia Gershon
July 29, 2021
Summary
That's the premise behind the first-person video game "Blackhaven," out now from Historiated Games.
Founded by James Coltrain, a historian and expert on game design at the University of Connecticut, Historiated Games describes itself as a "Historian founded studio making story-driven games." As E.L. Meszaros reports for CBR, the company's first game, "Blackhaven," immerses players in the realistic-albeit fictional-landscape of Blackhaven Hall Historical Society, a ruined colonial estate restored as a museum.
As Roberts tells CPR, the game can offer a jumping-off point for players interested in exploring real historical events and the way they're commemorated.
Reviewing the game for Pfangirl.com, Noelle Adams notes that the game features reproduction of real artifacts and architecture, along with documents based closely on real ones.
Coltrain tells CPR that he hopes historians will become more engaged with video games, which provide an entry point into history for many people today.
Per a statement from the University of Connecticut, Historiated is also developing a related game, "Cassius," set for release next year.
In the meantime, "Blackhaven" is available on Steam as a free download for PCs. "I want to stand on its own as a piece of narrative entertainment, but I also want it to be something that illuminates some themes about history and also is as faithful as possible a game that you want to play," says Coltrain in the statement.
Reference
Gershon, L. (2021, July 29). New video game confronts Slavery's legacy through a historical mystery. Retrieved October 12, 2021, from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-video-game-lets-players-investigate-legacy-slavery-historical-estate-180978311/