🎮 Video games are no longer just entertainment. They are tools for change. The #BristolDigitalGameLab is pioneering this shift, asking not just what games are, but what they can do for society. Watch the full video to learn more 👉 bit.ly/3KNNe7Q @richardcole.bsky.social @mikesamuel8.bsky.social

I had a fantastic conversation with Dr Sarah Jones this summer for the University of Bristol Humanities Learning and Teaching Network podcast series about using VR and video games in the Classics and Ancient History classroom.

Double publication alert! Both the below focus on @ubisoft.com's #Assassin'sCreedOdyssey as a case study, demonstrating not only how influential the game has been on my own (and others') thinking, but also on the development of games studies scholarship more broadly. #BrisotlDigitalGameLab

Double publication alert! Both the below focus on @ubisoft.com's #Assassin'sCreedOdyssey as a case study, demonstrating not only how influential the game has been on my own (and others') thinking, but also on the development of games studies scholarship more broadly. #BrisotlDigitalGameLab

A callout for last minute signups for a #BristolDigitalGameLab research study on Monday 28 July to test a new game, developed by Meaning Machine in partnership with the University of Bristol and Bristol Museum & Art Gallery.

Incredibly excited to share this collaborative article with @richardcole.bsky.social, out now in Convergence! We hosted an active play experiment to explore how players make choices in historical games, and which role history plays (or doesn't) in this process: journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Day 5 of #BristolDataWeek wrapped up on Friday. We had our Applied Data Analysis in Python: scikit-learn training session, Museums of Languages: A Concept Game Jam with Bristol Digital Game Lab, and the Careers in Data Science seminar with Compass CDT. #BristolDataWeek2025 #BDW2025

Looking forward to rolling the dice for this tomorrow with @alexvandewalle.bsky.social!

Wishing you were choosing your next adventure from the Illithid? Join Dr. Richard Cole & Dr. Alexander Vandewalle at Hitpoints & History this weekend to discuss #Baldursgate3. Tickets 20% starting today! Https://hitpointsandhistory2025.eventbrite.com

Congratulations to Dr @richardcole.bsky.social who is a University Enterprise Fellow for 25/26! 🥳 Richard will make use of the Fellowship to develop the Bristol Digital Game Lab's pioneering work around games for public service Read more about the new cohort 👉 bit.ly/4cnHFqi

We're extremely lucky to be hosting the one and only Dr Glaire Anderson at the #BristolDigitalGameLab next month. On Wednesday 7 May 2025 @ 17:00, hear Glaire talk about “Lessons from ‘Leaving Arabistan’: New Possibilities for Academic & Games Industry Collaborations.” buytickets.at/bristoldigit...

It was inspiring to meet fellow contributors at this book launch and take part in the wider discussions prompted(!) by this volume.

I can't quite believe this is happening, but from August I'll be taking up the role of Lecturer in Digital Futures at the Bristol Digital Futures Institute @bdfi.bsky.social. It's an incredible opportunity to support the growth of the Institute, with the first five years frontloaded with research

Really enjoyed co-presenting a Classics and Ancient History / Bristol Digital Game Lab research seminar with @richardcole.bsky.social in Bristol earlier this week! We discussed our active play experiment where we tested how/whether history impacts players' in-game character decisions.

Join @richardcole.bsky.social and me Tuesday 11 March 2025 15:30 UTC for a hybrid Classics and Ancient History / Game Lab research seminar! We'll be presenting our work on exploring player responses to historical video games. Click here (& scroll down) for details on location & Zoom link!

💥 Great to see the research of Dr Beth Rebisz (@uobrishistory.bsky.social), Dr Richard Cole (@clahbristol.bsky.social), Prof Ed King & Dr Paul Merchant (HiPLA) feature in the latest Research Frontiers newsletter Read the issue to find out more about our research 👇 bristol.ac.uk/research/imp...

Looking forward to presenting today at the AI and Writing for Games: Revolutionising Play and Design webinar.

This was such a fantastic conversation. @lexie-henning.bsky.social is the most accommodating host and her questions were nuanced and thought-provoking throughout. It does help that we share a love of all things Classics and gaming, which definitely comes across.

Today on Ancient Office Hours, Dr. @richardcole.bsky.social , a lecturer in Digital Classics at the University of Bristol, drops by to discuss merging the ancient world with contemporary digital media, the Virtual Reality Oracle project, and the future of VR in education, particularly in classrooms.

🚨FINAL #CFP: (Generative) Artificial Intelligence and Teaching the #AncientWorld Conference - June 25-26, 2025, @uniofreading.bsky.social. Abstracts Due: February 7, 2025 Full Details: edwardasross.wordpress.com/events/gener... #AI #Classics #Teaching @ics.bsky.social @classicsforall.bsky.social

Have you ever wanted to take part in video game research? The Bristol Digital Game Lab needs you to help us conduct research on player responses to ‘First Person Talkers’. We’re looking to recruit 60 people to test out a prototype murder mystery game called DEAD MEAT (Meaning Machine).

🎮 And Drs @mikesamuel8.bsky.social & @richardcole.bsky.social introduce their project which seeks to address a gap in support & resources for new fathers through an immersive, narrative-based video game Mike's research 👉 bit.ly/40Tn0Gz Richard's research 👉 bit.ly/4gePqiV [3/3]

📽️🎮 As the Global Game Jam kicks off this weekend, we're thinking back to our Algorithmic Bias event organised by the #BristolDigitalGameLab & #CentreforCreativeTechnologies Watch the full video to learn how gaming can help us tackle key societal issues 👉 bit.ly/40Boowq @richardcole.bsky.social

New publication alert! My chapter, The AI question, or what if Homer had ChatGPT?, is out now in the Routledge Handbook of AI and Literature. Its about how we can make use of existing questions of authorship to interrogate generative AI. #Classics #AI #Homer www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edi...

The HGN has worked with HISTOLAB to create a video tutorial, Video Games in the History Classroom, exploring how teachers might use games to engage their students. It uses @charlesgames.bsky.social Attentat 1942 & Svoboda 1945: Liberation as examples histolab.coe.int/activities/t... #gamingthepast

Looking forward to talking about my current project Virtual Realities as Time Travel tomorrow at the 'Games for Preserving Cultural Heritage' hybrid conference organized by the Play & Preserve team at Uppsala University. Check out the great line up of talks! www.facebook.com/events/11304...

As 2024 draws to a close, we caught up with some of our Faculty Research Centres & Groups to learn about their highlights from the year and things to look forward to in 2025 Read about our Centres 👉 bit.ly/3ZCTV0u Read about our Groups 👉 bit.ly/3Vy9LrS

As we near the end of the year, I'm pleased to share some of the #BristolDigitalGameLab's highlights from 2024. We also look forward to what the Lab will be up to in 2025! bristoldigitalgamelab.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/2024/12/13/e...

Hey @richardcole.bsky.social, do you have a fancy term in work for references to historical record / content in games? As I work w/ students on design projects & playing more games, I feel your work points (for me) a spectrum of historical references exist in a historical game #gamingthepast 1/ 🧵

To mark the recent release of #GladiatorII, I put together some brief thoughts on what the two films can tell us about the nature of spectacle, both ancient and modern. #Gladiator #spectacle #ancienthistory #film #areyounotentertained #movies www.tiktok.com/@officialbri...

CfP alert! 📢 Mythological Game Studies Conference @maciejpaprocki.bsky.social and I are organizing an online conference on mythology & video games (May 2025). We're interested in everything games, myth, mythology & mythologies! Abstract deadline: Feb 2! For more: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Interested in #Classics, #Gaming, and #XR? Then come along to the New Directions (hybrid) conference, 3-4 June at the University of Bristol's #BristolDigitalGameLab! We have 24 incredible presentations from academics and industry, and lots of games to play! buytickets.at/bristoldigit...

Excited to travel to Bristol next month for @richardcole.bsky.social's New Directions in Classics, Gaming & XR Conference! I'll be presenting on how game feel, while underexplored, is an important, promising, and potentially expressive medium for classical reception. #archaeogaming

Announcing the call for New Directions in Classics, Gaming, and Extended Reality, a hybrid conference at the University of Bristol and online, 3-4 June 2024. Deadline 31 March. Looking forward to talking, playing, and experiencing the future of Classics, gaming and XR! #BristolDigitalGameLab

Check out the #BristolDigitalGameLab's End of Year Wrap Up bristoldigitalgamelab.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/2023/12/06/e... It looks at the vibrant array of events we put on this term for scholars, students, and enthusiasts to delve into the multifaceted world of digital gaming. Here's to more in 2024!

[2/2] Interested? Sign up to our Discord via discord.gg/h2XPtJfGut. For our first event (December 4, 18:00 UTC), we’ll host Smite. No experience required – only finishing the tutorial! After that, we'll discuss dates & games together in Discord. Archaeogaming / AncientBluesky / ClassicsBluesky

[1/2] As scholars, we’ve spent years discussing ancient-themed video games. What we haven’t done so much is *play* them together. Join @richardcole.bsky.social & me for Antiquity Games Night – monthly events for scholars, students & designers to play antiquity games together!