WHAT IS ARCHAEOGAMING?
The first recorded use of the term “archaeogaming” appeared in June 2013 on Andrew Reinhard’s Blog, in which he discussed the archaeological basis within World of Warcraft, and argued that there is the potential to explore the gameplay and construction of these worlds using an archaeological methodology.
The practice of applying archaeological framework and methodology to video games was later expanded upon in Reinhard's 2018 publication Archaeogaming: An Introduction to Archaeology in and of Video Games. We expand upon his definition below.
The practice of applying archaeological framework and methodology to video games was later expanded upon in Reinhard's 2018 publication Archaeogaming: An Introduction to Archaeology in and of Video Games. We expand upon his definition below.
The study of archaeology in and of video games, tabletop games, and games represented in media. Archaeogaming-based research aims to apply archaeological tools and methods to investigate them as landscapes, sites, and artifacts in order to understand how archaeology, archaeologists, and the ethics of the real world discipline are both portrayed and perceived by players and game developers.
WHAT CAN ARCHAEOGAMING STUDY?
Very briefly, archaeogaming is the study of humans via games. Archaeology studies humans through material culture and games are quite certainly that. However, games and game worlds are so much more. They are human-created worlds, interactive stories, and they impact the real world in real ways. Real-world human ideas go into the creation of and interaction with games and game materials, and then that game world and its material interact with human ideas in the real world. This makes games an interesting kind of human artifact in that they are both archaeological sites and portable artifacts, and they can be studied as both at the same time.
Anything archaeology studies, so can archaeogaming; it's just all filtered through a man-made lens. Everything in a game or game world is intentional. It has a purpose, from the trash in a dignity Street Fighter game to the particular color of a pixel in a highly rendered character face. What can this intentionality tell us about the minds that created this game, wrote the story, designed the character, the city, the tools, the code, and so on.
Games are both social criticism and time capsules. A game from the 90’s predicting the grungy hardcore cyber world of the imagined 2020s is both a peek into social constructs and expectations of the ’90s as well as a snapshot of world views and social ideologies. In this we can use games to help us understand what was important to the past, via the emphasis of certain themes in games during a time period.
Games can show us shifting social roles, growth, and maintenance of economies, the spread of cultures across borders, and even the changing political beliefs of various groups of people. Games can synthesize the rise and fall of civilizations by mimicking global situations, pandemics, climate change, resource scarcity, and the effects of war. Games can also give us a glimpse of what peace and cooperation can look like by simulating real-life socialization, community, education, and sharing. At the end of the day, games can teach us a lot!
WHAT IS ARCHAEOGAMING CON (ARGACON)?
Fall 2020, Sara Head, host of the ArchyFantasies Podcast, brought together a group of like-minded archaeologist-gamers to create a one-of-a-kind event: A gaming convention and archaeological conference to share ArchaeoGaming research and gameplay with a virtual audience.
ArchaeoGaming Conferences (ArGaCons) take place every year, with discussions, seminars, and gameplay streamed live through Twitch and YouTube. Archaeology has both influenced and existed in games for many years. ArGaCon aims to broach this intersection academically and to make the subject matter accessible to all. In doing so, archaeologists and gamers will be able to create an engaging and inclusive space where the fields can coexist and further extend archaeology’s exposure to the public, and vice versa.
ArchaeoGaming Conferences (ArGaCons) take place every year, with discussions, seminars, and gameplay streamed live through Twitch and YouTube. Archaeology has both influenced and existed in games for many years. ArGaCon aims to broach this intersection academically and to make the subject matter accessible to all. In doing so, archaeologists and gamers will be able to create an engaging and inclusive space where the fields can coexist and further extend archaeology’s exposure to the public, and vice versa.