So happy I could contribute the text Historical Theory and Game Design to the amazing Writing Game Histories anthology by @enwright.bsky.social, Iain Donald, and @doktornick.bsky.social! ✍️🕹️📜 Hit me up if you want to chat about anything related to historical game development 😺 Link in the comment!

LOVE THIS! Here’s the US link:

Writing Game Histories edited by Esther Wright, Iain Donald & Nick Webber explores how games shape—and are shaped by—our understanding of the past, offering a clear introduction to the fast‑growing field of Historical Game Studies. Discover the book https://bit.ly/4sAXVLm

Publication day. Thank you to @enwright.bsky.social, Iain, and Nick for making this so. I think this is a meaningful contribution to the field of historical games. My chapter is on historical rhetoric and board games, with a case study on Crisis: 1914. lnkd.in/evi5Z7Nw

@mitchcerda.bsky.social @tesswatty.bsky.social @rbrandis.eu @hollynielsen.bsky.social @murthynikhil.bsky.social

And that includes the work of our amazing contributors, obvs: @docrandom.bsky.social @times-new-roman.bsky.social @copperkeerthi.bsky.social @alexvandewalle.bsky.social @robehoughton.bsky.social @writegameread.bsky.social @poppywilde.bsky.social @edvollans.bsky.social &

So happy to see this book finally out in the world & hopeful for what it represents for Historical Game Studies. There's so much enthusiasm out there for this work, but we're at a point where we need to take stock of the (amazing) research & practice that already exists. I hope this book helps us to

It's publication day for Writing Game Histories!! 🥳🎉 Please do recommend it for your library, but it's also out in paperback so not as hideously expensive as academic books can be: www.bloomsbury.com/uk/writing-g... @doktornick.bsky.social @doni.bsky.social @historygamesnet.bsky.social

This is next week! Come and join us! #historicalgames #gamingthepast

Don’t forget to sign up to our Analogue event this coming Tuesday (19th May, 16:00 UK time) over on TicketTailor! www.tickettailor.com/events/histo...

New on the HGN blog today! Guest speaker for our upcoming “Analogue” discussion panel Liz Davidson (@beyondsolitaire.bsky.social) reflects on 3 recent historical board game projects, and the balance between “authenticity” and “accuracy” in game design: www.historicalgames.net/accuracy-vs-...

A quick reminder: We’re still gathering responses for the HGN Impact Survey. If the Historical Games Network has shaped your work, teaching, research, or thinking in any way, we’d really value your perspective. ⏱️ Takes 2–5 minutes Kindly click this link forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/Respon...

Izzy will be one of three panellists for our online discussion on 19 May, on the theme of Analogue (and) Historical Games. You can find out more about that event and book tickets, at www.tickettailor.com/events/histo...

New today on the HGN blog - the first post from our event panellists! Izzy Bartley explores the coloniality of collecting in museums and Western boardgames. www.historicalgames.net/parallel-play/ #gamestudies #historicalgames #gtp #skystorians

Doctoral Researcher in Historical Game Studsies: academicpositions.co.uk/ad/universit...

it's that time of year again...are you a historical videogame player living in the Netherlands? do you want to contribute to player-focused research on past-play? come sign up for a gameplay session so i can watch you 👀 for science! check out edu.nl/cd849 to learn more 🏛️🎮⚔️🎲

Come help us shape the future of video game heritage in Scotland! New AHRC PhD opportunity for anyone interested in video game heritage and want to work with National Museums Scotland, Abertay Uni and Uni of Glasgow, apply! Applications due 11/05/2026 ce0173li.webitrent.com/ce0173li_web...

Your perspective matters! We’re assessing HGN’s impact, and your input will shape our future work. If you’ve attended an event, read our blog or followed us, we’d like to hear from you. ⏱️Survey takes only 2–5 minutes Thank you for being part of our community forms.cloud.microsoft/e/3vawgZSsST

Our Analogue theme event will take place online on Tuesday 19 May, 16:00-17:30 UK time - just 2 weeks away! We're joined by the excellent Izzy Bartley, @beyondsolitaire.bsky.social, and @theoldkingscrown.bsky.social. Tickets here: www.tickettailor.com/events/histo... #gamestudies #skystorians #gtp

Just your regularly scheduled share of this masterpiece by @tomgauld.bsky.social

We're announcing our new theme: Analogue. It's an open call, and full details are available on the HGN blog here: www.historicalgames.net/call-for-con...

We're trying something new - if you've signed up to the mailing list, you should have the first HGN newsletter (baby steps). We've moved e-mail platforms so do check any spam or junk folders! If you have signed up you can here: www.historicalgames.net/contact/

If you need evidence that the HGN blog is the place to go for quality #historygames writing, look no further than this piece. Absolutely fantastic dive on the complexities of video game time - even in historical games that may look very simple on the outset.

New HGN blog for our “Fictions” theme: Marie Rodet writes about USAWA - an Afrofuturist game co-created with Kenya-based game studio Jiwe. The post explores the use of fiction as historiographical method, the “problem of representation”& ethical game design: www.historicalgames.net/fiction-as-h...

On the HGN blog: an interview with @drandrewsneddon.bsky.social & Dr Victoria McCollum @ulsteruni.bsky.social on the amazing Witches of Islandmagee project. Huge thanks to Kirstin Mitchell (HGN Research Assistant Extraordinaire) for leading this conversation! www.historicalgames.net/interview-wi...

Step inside the Empire Exhibition of 1938 — rebuilt as a fully interactive 3D model with 6 guided tours. The Exhibition is now almost forgotten. This project helps us revisit its legacies with fresh, decolonial perspectives. Download the 3D model + lesson plans here: sit.gsa.ac.uk/project/deco...

Are you a scholar in Games Studies, Museum Studies and/or Digital Humanities and want to help NMS develop research in Collecting Video Game Heritage? Come and apply to be an IASH Fellow at the University of Edinburgh! Applications Opens - Dec 25 Closes - April 26 www.iash.ed.ac.uk/iash-nationa...

Just a reminder that this call is open if the overlap of history, fiction and games is your thing!

Some Sunday ready over on the HGN blog! Today’s new post from @xurvermilion.bsky.social explores the potential of videogames as a way of engaging students with historical research, and key skills in critical analysis: www.historicalgames.net/students-his...

And now, Writing Game Histories (2026) with cover art (courtesy of @murthynikhil.bsky.social’s Syphilisation) www.bloomsbury.com/uk/writing-g...

come hang out with us tomorrow! we'll be discussing digital drip and (inevitably) talking shit about dress to impress 🕺

hey y'all! my questionnaire on player experience in historical videogames is now LIVE! if you play videogames about the past, we want to hear from you! edu.nl/7w3yn

I'm keynoting the Animex Symposium next week! My talk is titled "The promises and pitfalls of posthuman and postanthropocene games". It currently consists of a series of bleak, existential questions. And some pics. What more could you ask for?! #GameCultures #NetZero www.tees.ac.uk/minisites/an...

At some point I’ll do a thread that overviews the chapters in more detail, so watch this space. But for now, it is going to be an affordable(?!) academic textbook, and please ask your library to buy one!!

@tesswatty.bsky.social @murthynikhil.bsky.social @poppywilde.bsky.social @alexvandewalle.bsky.social @edvollans.bsky.social @times-new-roman.bsky.social @copperkeerthi.bsky.social & more not on BlueSky.

I am so grateful to my co-editors (& my @historygamesnet.bsky.social co-conspirators & friends) @doktornick.bsky.social @doni.bsky.social for being in this with me. And our contributors are such a stellar lineup, too: @hollynielsen.bsky.social @robehoughton.bsky.social @writegameread.bsky.social +

The book, really, is designed to be a starting point: a textbook that introduces students (and anyone else who’s keen, too) to a range of frameworks and lenses for studying history and games. It draws on academic researchers and game makers to explore key areas in theory and practice.

A project that started with a DiGRA23 workshop is finally, nearly out in the world! Coming May 2026 from Bloomsbury’s Writing History series, Writing Games Histories is a collection of essays on historical game studies methods&approaches. Find the ToC here: www.bloomsbury.com/uk/writing-g...

We're happy to announce the call for contributions for our new HGN theme: Fictions! Following a successful event last month, this theme explores the relationship between history and fiction in games, and how they shape each other. www.historicalgames.net/call-for-con... #gamestudies #gamingthepast

As part of our reboot of the @videogamecultures.bsky.social conference series, we have our first book coming out, of papers from the 2023 conference in Klagenfurt, Austria. It should appear in the wild on 6 November. Details here: www.sidestone.com/books/explor...

I’m over here trying to enjoy PSLF and this comes across my screen. Sigh. IGN claims his classes are “a world first.” FIRST TIME IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD, EVERYONE!!!! NEVER BEEN DONE BY ANYONE EVER!!!! Meanwhile, I and many others have been doing this for a decade or more.

After some technical hiccups (including a broken laptop), I'm happy to annouce the first prototype of my new game, 'Galar', is available for download! 🧵1/5 #historygames #gamingthepast #gamestudies #gamedev #archaeogaming

If you missed our Gender panel event on Tuesday, you can now watch the recording of this fantastic discussion here via our Youtube Channel! Featuring @verysrsgames.com @katexe.bsky.social @tesswatty.bsky.social & @ide4fix.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtP3...

Maybe, I just clicked on the "Release Demo" button for The Abbess Garden and maybe you can play it now 😱 store.steampowered.com/app/3873090/... (it's a cozy and historical gardening game ;) ) #indiedev #cozygame #gamedev

Wrong tag! It was in fact the wonderful @ide4fix.bsky.social who was part of the discussion.

Fantastic discussion of gender and historical games with @leandrowallace.bsky.social , @verysrsgames.com and @tesswatty.bsky.social this afternoon, thanks very much to @historygamesnet.bsky.social for hosting us and everyone who came and participated!

Apropos the recent RDR2-adjacent *discourse*, @readdead.com’s work is a phenomenally in depth consideration of RDR2’s literary, cultural & historical contexts. You should check it out, incl. this hugely valuable demographic assessment of all significant characters (1/2) readdead.com/2025/07/02/r...

New blog post! Our final panelist for this afternoon's Gender theme, Leandro Wallace reflects on how we think about and engage with gendered play spaces in and around video games, and what we can do to create welcoming and diverse ones: www.historicalgames.net/what-we-play/

Last call for our exciting online panel discussion with experts on history, games and gender! 16:00 UK time >>today<<.

Featuring @inkle.co 's Expelled!, @shaunaitcheson.bsky.social 's The Excavation of Hob's Barrow, and @jesawyer.bsky.social 's Pentiment. All briefly, but hopefully will spark some discussion in our HGN panel on Gender, coming Tuesday! More and register here: www.historicalgames.net/gender/