Categories
History Adventures Learning Materials

6 Best Games About Historical Pandemics

The world has seen numerous pandemics, disastrously affecting public health. It’s crucial for everyone to be aware of their causes, symptoms, and preventive measures. 

However, most people consider historical pandemics to be not so interesting to gain information about because the long hours of textbook reading tire them out. A fun-filled way to gain this information is through video games! Here are some of the best games about historical pandemics having the perfect ratio of science and adventure.

Global Pandemics: Plague of Athens

Historical Time Period: 4th Century BCE

Image by: global pandemics

If you want to dive into a history lesson without boredom, look at the Global Pandemics: Plague of Athens. Designed to enhance students’ understanding of the role of pandemics in world history, this game offers a fresh perspective on historical events.

The new product integrates digital storytelling with interactive learning design to provide a rich, complex pedagogical experience that helps in a better understanding of the topic.

Players can choose from five significant pandemics in human history and get a real-time experience. The first chapter introduces Nikos, a physician during the Plague of Athens, fighting hard to cure the sick while rethinking his purpose. The interactive historical game series gives a fun touch to history.

A Plague Tale: Innocence

Historical Time Period:  1347 to 1351

Survival has always been a vital element in video games. Based on the deadly Black Plague, this historical pandemic game revolves around Amicia de Rune and her ill brother Hugo as they find their survival from the French Inquisition soldiers and the deadly rats. Set in 14th-century France, this game blends action and adventure phases.

The game mainly consists of survival puzzles and requires great tactics and puzzle-solving abilities. The player plays Amicia, using stealth and limited equipment to escape from troops and rats, incorporating aspects of survival horror games. The award-winning game is considered one of the best games about historical pandemics. 

Killer Flu

Historical Time Period: 1880 to date

Image by: engaget

Developed by the UK Clinical Virology Network, this pandemic game demonstrates how viruses mutate and how difficult it is to spread the virus without mutations. The game focuses on an Avian flu pandemic.

The player takes the role of the virus itself, trying to spread, infect, and mutate throughout the human race. The killer flu pandemic game has added levels of difficulty, making it even more challenging and exciting to play. 

Great Flu

Historical Time Period: June 2009 to August 2010

Image by: popular science

To spread awareness about the Swine Flu, a Dutch Researcher has developed this highly interactive game. Although a bit away from reality, the game lets the users choose their virus, spread it, and then adapt strategies to contain it.

Trying to control a fast-spreading deadly virus is not very simple, and the number of infected can increase rapidly. This game is a fun depiction of some of the realistic alternatives accessible to people facing a pandemic.

A Plague Tale: Requiem

Historical Time Period:  1347 to 1351

Developed as a sequel to Plague Tale: innocence, this upcoming online game is set to release in October 2022. Following the sets of its predecessor, this game takes the story of Amicia and Hugo further.

After escaping the French soldiers, the siblings arrive in Southern France, where they embark on a new journey of finding a cure for Hugo’s disease while combating another wave of rats from The Black Plague.

Antidote COVID-19

Historical Time Period: 2019 to date

The latest edition in the pandemic history, COVID-19, has attracted many game developers to make games inspired by unfortunate circumstances. The games not only proved to be a great pastime during quarantine but also helped spread awareness about the COVID pandemic situation.

Antidote COVID-19 is developed by Pyson Games under the guidance of the World Health Organization (WHO) and input from public health experts. The game is aimed to help individuals protect themselves from the virus and learn about their immune systems in a fun way.

Final Thoughts

These best games about historical pandemics are perfect for understanding pandemics and their cures through history in a non-tedious way. Choose the ones that attract you the most, and let a fun-filled learning experience begin!

Categories
Characters History History Adventures Learning Materials

6 Best Games About Ancient Rome

If a period or setting in history has the most potential to be turned into video games, it’s ancient Rome. Due to the extensive historical documents describing the fantastic people, locations, and traditions of a civilization that lasted over 1,500 years, Rome is one of the most fascinating ancient societies.

The fall of Rome was one of Europe’s most tumultuous periods, and since Roman civilization influenced so many countries, it has captivated people’s interest for ages. There are numerous Rome-inspired books, movies, games, and even fashion!

For now, let’s focus on the best games about Ancient Rome. This best demonstrates how playing and learning may be combined in minutes.

1. Rome: Total War

Game Release Year: 2004

Historical Period: 270 BC to 14 AD

Image by Wikipedia

With its outstanding campaign and addicting core gameplay, Rome: Total War is a real treat for any enthusiast of the Roman era. Most people didn’t think it was feasible to combine real-time strategy and turn-based gameplay, but Creative Assembly did it. Rome: Total War was the first of several games that combined many characters on the screen, allowing players to combat the army against a single console.

The game depicts the peak and last centuries of the Republican period and the initial years of Ancient Rome’s imperial era. At first, the user assumes charge of one of three Roman dynasties, with other non-Roman clans becoming available later.

It gives a thorough understanding of the Roman army’s structure and how the Romans controlled the inhabitants of towns and cities. It also requires the player to think clearly and sensibly to become the Roman Empire’s Ruler. This is what makes it one of the best games about Ancient Rome.

2. Ryse: Son of Rome

Game Release Year: 2013

Historical Period: 54-68 AD

Image by Pinterest

Ryse: Son of Rome is based in Ancient Rome during Nero’s reign, a fascinating period in the empire’s history. While the majority of the game takes place far outside Rome, in Britannia, on the outskirts of the empire, we get a fair look at numerous historical facts and personalities along the way.

The personalities are not a hundred percent historically correct but are inspired by actual events. These include Nero: Rome’s emperor, warrior queen Boudica, Commodus and Basillius: children of Nero and Damocles amongst many others! With a surprisingly sophisticated combat system, players will engage in large-scale conflicts and gladiatorial clashes in the field.

3. Age of Decadence

Game Release Year: 2015

Historical Period: 395 AD Fall of the Roman Empire

Image by Youtube

The game is set in a world based on the collapse of the Roman Empire. Age of Decadence has a sophisticated turn-based combat system and a rich conversation and decision system that has a significant impact on how the world evolves around them.

As they engage in Roman politics and betrayals, gamers get to build their own identity. It’s also one of the few games that give you complete control over your character. You’ll be in Rome. As a politician, your job will be to keep Rome from breaking apart by avoiding hostile attacks. In essence, gamers must aid in the recovery of this civilization. However, because the narrative is set during the fall of the Roman Empire, there is no happy ending.

4. Shadow of Rome

Game Release Year: 2005

Historical Period: 48 BC

Image by Youtube

The storyline is a dramatized account of Julius Caesar’s assassination, centering on two main characters that the player will assume the role of. The first is Agrippa, a warrior whose father is suspected of murdering Caesar and is condemned to combat in gladiatorial theaters. The second is Octavianus, who embarks to prove Agrippa’s father’s righteousness.

In summary, it’s a wonderful chance to witness and participate in the Roman lifestyle. Players appreciate this old Roman game, which they see as both inventive and beautiful.

5. Assassin’s Creed: Origins

Game Release Year: 2017

Historical Period: 49-43 BC

Image by Forbes

The player assumes Bayek, a Medjay, and Aya, his wife, as they fight to defend the people of the Ptolemaic Empire during a period of massive uprisings. The Pharaoh, Ptolemy XIII, battles to preserve his authority while harboring desires to extend his kingdom.

Even though the game is centered in Ancient Egypt during the Ptolemaic period, gamers will still engage with historical personalities such as Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Pompey Magnus, Brutus, Lucius Septimus, and others from Rome’s past.

Image by Youtube

6. Grand Ages: Rome

Game Release Year: 2009

Historical Period: 60-53 BC

Image by Youtube

Grand Ages: Rome is an empire-building and real-time strategy game set during the last period of the Roman Republic. The game depicts actual past events, such as the slave rebellion headed by Spartacus, a former gladiator, and allows players to choose between Julius Caesar and Pompey Magnus.

Players are entrusted with accomplishing missions and establishing a reputation as leaders and politicians. Players must keep the population happy by providing adequate food, religion, and amusement. When players struggle to meet the requirements of their people, crime and sickness may develop, and houses may be abandoned.

The list of best games about Ancient Rome does not end here. It is to get you started. These games not only allow you to get a taste of the Roman culture through characters and settings but also puts you in their shoes. This is because history is not only about learning what happened in the past. You also need to contemplate what could have happened and the possible consequences of those events. This is what these games allow you to do!

Categories
Characters Historical Fiction History Learning Materials

6 Best Games about Alternate History: Learning History the Interesting Way

If you thought video games about history were the ultimate learning tool you needed, you are mistaken. While historic games give you facts and figures about significant past events, games about alternate history allow you to dissect events unlike anything else.

While learning history, often questions are asked about what could have occurred if a single event in history had been altered — a life spared, or possibly a life lost. Thinking about different angles and endings helps gain clarity and understanding about the cause of those events.

You can achieve this in the easiest, funniest way by playing some of the best games about alternate history. These games are incredibly imaginative and thrilling stories that combine genuine historical locations and events with fantasy. Here are some examples that you can try out!

1. Freedom Fighters

Image by Pinterest

After World War II, the US entered the Cold War. The Russian Empire started making its own nuclear arms and financing communist regime reforms worldwide. Although the superpowers never went to war, Freedom Fighters envisions a narrative where the Soviet Union invades New York.

In freedom fighters, you get to take on the role of Chris Stone, who is a plumber-turned-action hero. Together with his brother Troy, he is tasked with gathering rebels and ending the Soviet takeover of New York City.

2. Fallout

Image by Pinterest

In Fallout, China blasted the United States into a radioactive wasteland.  The fact that the 1950s never ended, yet technology evolved, is an intriguing aspect of the game. So, in addition to commercials, music, and fashion from the 1950s, there are robotics and plasma weapons. This difference generates the game’s comic tone amid immense terror, including it in one of the best games about alternate history.

The fallout shows odd equipment that runs on nuclear power because the transistor was never created after World War 2. Fallout uses a reality-based basis and twists it. There might be disastrous variations in how contemporary times played out if something as simple as the transistor was not created — a gadget that many individuals never think about.

3. Homefront

Image by Pinterest

The game’s narrative takes place in the 2010s when North Korea and superpowers clash over the country’s military aggressiveness, which includes a successful nuclear test and the loss of a South Korean ship.

The United States is shown in Homefront in a completely different light than it is presently, with a defense far from the most competitive in the world. As a result, it’s a prime target for a North Korean attack, and it’s up to you to incite a revolt that will liberate the country.

4. Bioshock

Image by Flickr

The alternate history of Bioshock is tough to determine since it exists in several different timelines. Essentially, it occurs in a world when technology progresses at a far quicker rate. This is why, in what seems to be the 1950s, there is essentially futuristic technology.

BioShock transports you to the wreckage of a failed Objectivist civilization. Rapture’s clientele has become substance maniacs addicted to ADAM, a DNA-modifying chemical. You play as Jack, who explores further inside Rapture to learn its mysteries and stop Andrew Ryan, the organization’s commander.

Because cities like Rapture are so remote and cut off from the rest of the world, there isn’t much historical data to draw on. However, it demonstrates a great deal in terms of American customs and beliefs in various situations.

5. Prey

Image by Pinterest

Prey alters history by failing the assassination attempt on President Kennedy, who would live until 2031. This leads to a period of scientific advancement that would result in far more space travel and research. The game goes on to show how you’ll be fleeing from strange aliens that appear to be on the verge of taking over the Earth.

The chronology in the game features humanity’s discovery of the Typhon, aggressive aliens with both physical and mental characteristics. The Typhon was discreetly kidnapped and held in the Kletka space shuttle by the USA and the USSR.

6. We Happy Few

Image by Pinterest

This alternate timeline depicts a World War 2 ending in which Hitler loses power and Germany becomes the German Empire. They then attacked England, which quickly submitted and survived the invasion. Considering how drastically different World War II would have turned out if Germany had control of Great Britain, We Happy Few is dangerously close to reality.

In this game, people living in the Wellington wells had to do something horrible with kids, so they invented a medication to help them recall. This, on the other hand, soon goes downhill. They are joyful because of the drug, but they have no morality. They experience visions and hit anyone who declines to take the pills.

Final Word

Players interested in history may enjoy the mentioned best games about alternate history that explore “what-if?” scenarios. These games follow and modify real history to produce new realities. But because they are based on the authentic culture and technology of the period, you get to learn a lot!

Categories
History History Adventures Learning Materials

Games Based on Important Historical Events: Learning the Smart Way

Video games based on important historical events take you back in time, ensuring that you fall in love with the subject! Historical video games allow players to become active participants in some of the most pivotal periods in human history. Unlike history textbooks, these games provide enormous experiences that cannot be matched by written content. Here are some of the video games based on important historical events that bring history to life!

1.      The Oregon Trail

Game Release Year: 1971

Historical Time Period: 1846–1869

The Oregon Trail is a famous computer game intended to teach youngsters about the hard realities of pioneer life on the Oregon Trail. In The Oregon Trail, players will assume a wagon commander attempting to cross the legendary Trail.

They’ll start in Independence, Missouri, and conclude in the Willamette Valley, Oregon. The game depicts how different classes could travel the Oregon Trail, with a banker having more money and hence more resources than a farmer. It was not uncommon for a group member to become ill and die, and this is no exception in the game.

The fear of wild Native Americans was exaggerated in the imaginations of actual travelers, and this was replicated in the computer game characters. Native Americans would emerge out of nowhere in the game to attack the travelers.

2.      Victoria II

Image from Amazon

Game Release Year: 2010

Historical Time Period: 1836–1936

The Industrial Revolution is more than just a transition from agriculture to industry. The Industrial Revolution sparked a boom in literacy and complex concepts like communism, labor laws, and universal suffrage. Victoria II allows gamers to experience the entire revolution.

Victoria II has a greater focus on internal control than on warfare. This is a massive geopolitical simulation in which you assume command of any state you choose at the start of the Victorian era in 1836 and govern it in real-time for the next century.

It will take the gamers on a virtual visit back in time where they will learn the historical events and take decisions that will help them visualize possible historical alternatives.

3.      Genghis Khan II

Game Release Year: 1992

Historical Time Period: 1184 AD – 1274 AD

Genghis Khan II is a turn-based grand strategy game featuring tactical and strategic phases. The strategy phase focuses on state-building, economic improvement, and diplomacy, while the tactics phase focuses on turn-based warfare between various forces.

There are four time periods covered in the game. Starting from the conquest of Mongolia, the transformation of Genghis Khan, the birth of the Yuan Dynasty to the conquest of the world. Aside from Genghis Khan, gamers can choose from various leaders from surrounding regions in North Africa, Asia, and even Europe.

4.      Battlefield Germany

Game Release Year: 1987

Historical Time Period: 1955–1991

Battlefield Germany is a strategic video game with turn-based gameplay. The game takes place in a hypothetical scenario in which powers of NATO and the Warsaw Pact engage a military conflict across Europe, focusing on West and East Germany.

Based on whatever party was selected, the gamer will enter the play on either side of Europe. When playing as NATO, the primary goal is to keep Soviet forces pinned down long enough for American assistance to come. When fighting as the Warsaw Pact, however, the goal is to eliminate all NATO troops. The game allows the player to view both sides of a significant historical event which is an integral part of any history lesson.

5.      1979 Revolution: Black Friday

Image from Oxford student

Game Release Year: 2016

Historical Time Period: 1978 (Iranian Revolution)

1979 Revolution: Black Friday allows gamers to see the upheavals through the eyes of a photographer who is witnessing the Iranian Revolution. Throughout the game, the player makes timed responses that determine the plot’s fate.

The game developers took hundreds of interviews with Iranians who experienced the revolution. Gamers may get history education through authentic pictures and audio recordings, in addition to picking their own journey in the game to find alternative narratives. By the end of the game, it feels like you experienced the Iranian revolution firsthand.

6.      Valiant Hearts: The Great War

Game Release Year: 2014

Historical Time Period: 1914 (World War I)

Valiant Hearts is a riveting and eye-opening story of the numerous hardships people endured during the Great War.  Valiant Hearts is, at its core, a puzzle game set against the backdrop of a gripping tale. In this game, four characters assist a German soldier in finding his true love.

Valiant Hearts is a unique game. It encompasses a magnificent experience that will warm your heart while also educating you about history. Collectibles from World War I are scattered throughout each level, and locating them reveals detailed descriptions of the object. Each level is organized by a useful chronology and events overview, and each page provides more historical knowledge, statistics, and critical events from WWI.

7.      The Saboteur

Image from change.org

Game Release Year: 2009

Historical Time Period: 1940 (World War II)

The player plays Sean Devlin the Saboteur, a street-tough Irish car racer stuck behind enemy territory in Nazi-occupied France in the 1940s. Sean battles through expansive Paris, slipping into the core of Nazi activities and disrupting their every move, driven by personal vengeance.

This game is unlike any other historical simulation of World War II. Instead of playing the game through the eyes of a soldier, you get to be a spy. Sean Devlin, the protagonist, is modeled on William Grover-Williams’ true story. While the Nazis took his life, his legacy helped lay the groundwork for France’s independence.

These games based on significant historical events aren’t experiences that will offer you a completely accurate representation of a historical period, but they will give you a sense of the era’s settings, culture, politics, military, and other aspects. These games have created a fantastic experience based on a solid historical foundation.

It’s just enough to give you a sense of critical historical events and lure you towards history. Once you develop a budding interest in the subject, you can explore the era or the personality that inspired you the most!

Categories
Characters History History Adventures Learning Materials

Best Video Games About Old West: Take a Trip to the Past

Video games have evolved into one of the most effective means of transporting oneself to other worlds and timelines. If you love cowboys, you must have imagined yourself decked with the signature cowboy hat and leather boots, sitting on the back of a horse. Unfortunately, it took some time for video games about Old West to catch up.

Western video games are highly influenced by the cowboy media that came before them. Westerns were one of the most prominent cinema genres in the 1950s and 1960s. After a period of decline in the 1970s and 1980s, they resurfaced in the early 1990s. Around the same timeframe, western-themed games began to appear in arcades and on home consoles.

The modest West is an essential part of American identity. You must have heard about popular TV shows like Westworld and movies like Unforgiven. When the gaming developers chose to take on the responsibility of recreating the American West into our lives, they were under a lot of pressure to succeed. Fortunately, a few of them have completely grasped what it means to be a cowboy.

1.      Call of Juarez: Gunslinger

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is an action-adventure game. While it has an unrelated narrative from its prequels, it is set in Wild West-like them. The entire concept and execution are brilliant, and the game makes excellent use of the historical context by seamlessly integrating it into the gameplay. You’ll have a blast shooting your way through Silas Greaves’ fascinating narrative and bringing down famous thieves along the way.

In fact, it’s Gunslinger’s narration that really stands out. Enemies, locations, and even time can alter right in front of your eyes as the levels mold themselves around the presented story. All of this adds up to an unexpected, extremely fun, and distinctive combat in Call of Juarez: Gunslinger.

2.      Red Dead Redemption

Red Dead Redemption is, without a doubt, one of the best video games about the old West. It is set around the start of the twentieth century when the unregulated and unpredictable badlands gave way to the government’s growing reach and the development of the Industrial Era.

Red Dead Redemption tells the narrative of former bandit John Marston and leads players on a grand adventure through the American wilderness. Players will face the intensity of gunfights and skirmishes, encounter a diverse cast of people, and combat the severity of one of the world’s few surviving wildernesses along the journey.

Red Dead Redemption is the only game that has taken a passionate and powerful approach to the era. The game not only depicts a previous world but also helps the player think about current events. It’s a must-play for everyone who enjoys the genre or good action adventures overall. Imagine if Red Dead Redemption was such a masterpiece, its successor Red Dead Redemption 2, must have really blown everyone away!

3.      Gun

Image from Gamespot

Until games like Red Dead Redemption were released that effectively mastered the western genre, videogames like Gun aimed to do the same thing only a generation before. Gun is a bold game set in the untamed West of the late-1800s. In an epic narrative of betrayal, greed, and vengeance, players journey across an action-packed wilderness setting, deserts, and busy towns.

You will get to participate in various side quests to improve your gun-slinging and horseback riding skills. Players can discover secret weapons and improve talents and abilities to increase the performance of their weaponry. With such refined gameplay, the only thing to complain about was that it could have been longer!

4.      Hard West

When a terrible sequence of affairs pushes one man onto a road of supernatural disaster and wrath, he must chase down all those who have mistreated him. You have to fight and survive in 8 different story-based situations, as well as over 40 uniquely created turn-based combat operations with your own team of 1-4 people.

Image from Ocean of Games

Characters are engaging, the visuals are fantastic, and the soundtrack is impressive in the Hard West. It is one of the most entertaining videogames of the old West, thanks to its excellent portrayal of history and the implications of your actions.

5.      Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive

Image from hdpcgames

Desperados is a western-style game of strategic and tactical performance. In this character-based game, you’re recruited to hunt the bandits guilty for a train heist in the early Western frontier and must lead Cooper and his gang through 25 stages.

You are responsible for invading an enemy base, rescuing a team member, or fleeing an attack. What is there to complain about with striking visuals, realistic locations, and fascinating and unique characters? Nothing at all!  Desperados 2 Cooper’s revenge is a direct sequel to the previous game and is also surely worth checking out!

6.      Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath

Image from nintendo.co.uk

The game puts you in the position of The Stranger, a mysterious and dreaded bounty hunter. Stranger hunts and captures criminals throughout the game to receive rewards. The final aim is to gather enough moolah (in-game currency) to fund a mystery life-saving surgery.

Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath is a science fiction game largely influenced by western films. It is genuinely creative in its gameplay execution. With its beautiful and finely created masterwork, it provides a gaming experience unlike any other.

Categories
History History Adventures Learning Materials

Learn About the Best History Video Games Through the Years: Part 1

Contrary to popular belief, children don’t need to be wasting time when they spend hours on their laptops or consoles. The video games based in historical times make the children learn a lot by playing them. So the children get to do what they love while staying educational!

Most people consider history to be not so interesting. Here at History Adventures, we ensure that it is anything but that! We make exploring history exciting and adventurous. What better way to do that than play video games while expanding your historic arena?

As video gaming evolved into a multibillion-dollar market, historians have started to recognize the significance of video games as valid historical materials. However, this did happen over a long period. As time passed, video games also changed. Here are examples of the best history video games through the years!

The Oregon Trail 1985

Image by Oregon Trail Deluxe

The first set of instructional video games on the market began with The Oregon Trail on the Apple II by (MECC). It was created to educate kids about the reality of pioneer life on the Oregon Trail in the nineteenth century. If you attended middle school in the 1980s, you’d undoubtedly recall The Oregon Route.

In the videogame, the player takes on the role of a wagon captain leading a group of immigrants via covered wagon from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon’s Willamette Valley in 1848. While playing, it provides plenty of interesting facts about the real-life path.

Photo by Britannica

Since there are so many possibilities, such as picking your wagon leader’s occupation and taking alternative routes, you may play the game several times before becoming bored of the terrain.

Crusader Kings 2004

Photo by Steampowered

Crusader Kings may transport players to the early Middle Ages, but the design emphasis remains firmly on actual history. While casual players may be overwhelmed, you will enjoy Crusader Kings’ close attention to detail and enormous grandeur if you are a history buff.

Crusader Kings is a dynasty simulation that centers on a character whose primary objective is to build and develop their kingdom. The player must manage their dynasty’s familial, financial, tactical, political, and religious matters over four centuries in this game.

Photo by Gog

The Crusader Kings series is set mainly in Europe during the Middle Ages. History’s most significant figures, including William the Conqueror, Ivar the Boneless, and Genghis Khan, have appeared in the series.

Europa Universalis 4 (2013)

Photo by Steampowered

Released in 2013, Europa Universalis tops any gamer’s list. This is mainly because of how it has been designed to start historically with real-time occurrences. The players can control a nation from the Late Middle Ages through the early modern period (1444 to 1821 AD) in this strategy game.

The game is a dynamic map of the world split into provinces that make up countries. You must rule a country by striking a balance between warfare, politics, and finances. You are supposed to do this by making decisions as the ruler of their country and allocating the resources available.

Kingdom Come Deliverance 2018

Photo by Epic Games

Warhorse Studios’ Kingdom Come: Deliverance is a role-playing action game. The emphasis throughout the match was on authenticity. The small ways Warhorse conveys the illusion of living in the Late Middle Ages show best in its narrative of struggle and betrayal.

It is based in the ancient Kingdom of Bohemia. This Imperial State of the Holy Roman Empire was also known as the Czech Kingdom. Despite the game’s enormous open world, the creators ensured that the landscape was populated with factually authentic weaponry, personalities, and structures.

To stay healthy, players must feed, drink, and rest. Moreover, with time, weapons, clothes, and perishable food degrade, so be careful about that!

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla 2020

The Assassins Creed franchise has brought gamers to a few of history’s most iconic times. From Renaissance Italy in the fifteenth century through the American Revolution in the 1700s to Classical Egypt’s Ptolemaic era.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is a game situated in 872–878 AD, released in 2020. It covers the time during the Viking invasions of the British Isles, shown through a fiction that you will surely enjoy. Valhalla does a fantastic job presenting people, ideas, and themes while challenging us to figure out how Eivor, the protagonist, relates to them.

You will get to assume command of Eivor Varinsdottir: a Viking warrior caught up in a decades-old struggle between the Assassin Brotherhood, who battle for harmony and freedom, and the Templar Order, who desires peace through power.

In the words of James Paul Gee

If you’re still not persuaded that games can help you learn history, consider what the ‘godfather’ of Game-Based Learning (GBL) has to say. James Paul Gee is well-versed in the subject, due to his extensive academic study on efficient learning approaches via video games.

For today’s youngsters, James Paul Gee presents a compelling argument for the connection between video games and education. He claims that the new literacy that emerges from gaming fosters skill mastery, responsibility, and command, all of which may be easily applied to wider educational goals.

Categories
Characters History History Adventures Learning Materials

Assassin’s Creed Games: Making History Lessons Fun

70+ Assassin's Creed II HD Wallpapers | Background Images
Photo by AlphaCoders

If you thought time travel was a farfetched possibility, you might be interested to see how you can experience something like it in your history class. Ever since the release of Assassin’s Creed in 2007, the video game has become more of an interactive history resource than just a game. You can travel back as far as the time of Alexandria or find yourself in the streets of Victorian London. With its variety of historical settings, characters and, detailed simulations, Assassin’s Creed is in fact a historical playground!

This article will evaluate and rank the Assassin’s Creed series in order of their historical engagement. Along with the game itself, the recent introduction of the Discovery feature lets you explore 75 guided tours ranging from 5-25 minutes. Gear up to experience history with one of the most popular action-adventure games!

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (2010)

Photo by Ubisoft

This 2010 release is one of the most historically accurate Assassin’s Creed games. It gives you the chance to explore the Rome of 1499 with brilliantly detailed settings! This is the first chapter where Ezio travels to Rome, and the game is centered around dealing with Cesare Borgia. While you learn about Borgia’s fight for power in history books, Brotherhood lets you meet him and experience his temperament!

Assassin’s Creed III (2012)

Photo by G Style Magzine

Assassin’s Creed III sits next in line as the most engaging game come history lesson. This time, you are taken back to the historical marker of the American Revolution. Participate in the turmoil looming around Northern American in the late 1700s and meet the important figures firsthand! Beyond just reading the names of people like Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, this game offers you the chance to interact with them. As the game lets you scramble through old America, find yourself eliminating the colonial Templars and scheme against the assassinators of George Washington. You are at the front line of history! 

Assassin’s Creed (2007)

Photo by Ubisoft

The first edition of the series teaches history through an interesting mix of history and science fiction. Experience the Third Crusade with Desmond Miles. As you walk through The Holy Land, the assassins in this game take a neutral position with no strong side. In the quest for an artifact, the game provides a compelling narrative of the ancestors in the Third Crusades.

Assassin’s Creed: Unity (2014)

Photo by Ubisoft

Imagine Napoleon Bonaparte before he became the iconic general of his time! Unity provides a memorable experience of the events of the French Revolution. French Revolution was easily one of the turning points witnessed by the world. The game follows after Abstergo commercializes the Animus technology, so users can expect a reliving of the history of technology and entertainment. Ubisoft also managed to put forth a detailed replica of notable buildings like Notre Dame. Walk around France as you experience the political turmoil and differing ideas punctuating the French Revolution!

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (2013)

Photo by Ubisoft

Travel back in the time of Pirates with Black Flag! Pirates are undoubtedly one of the most interesting historical characters. Black Flag does a great job at depicting the age of pirates as users control Edward Kenway. As you play Black Flag, you are bound to put on your pirate hats since you will be navigating hugs maps, sailing in all directions, and unraveling the case between Templars within the British and Spanish empires!

Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (2018)

Photo by Ubisoft

Prepare to indulge in the longest game of the series with Odyssey! Going farther than the Egyptian times is a challenging task, but Odyssey makes a great attempt at depicting that world. Relive the years between 431-422 and witness the Peloponnesian War. As the game puts you in the shoes of a sellsword, you get to decide how the narrative in Greece unfolds.

Learning Through the Discovery Tours

Photo by Ubisoft

The introduction of Discovery Tours makes the Assassin’s Creed series a perfect fit for history lessons. With voice-over guides and details, the tours encapsulate everything from routine tasks to monuments and various settlers. Along with action adventures, you can also perform tasks like inscribing scrolls and kneading bread! The tours are made incredibly interactive with a variety of avatars to choose from.

Conclusion

It is evident that tons of historical research have gone into the creation of the series. They are changing the way history is learned and experienced in classrooms. The open worlds and historical timelines are splendidly depicted in every game. While each chapter does vary in terms of historical accuracy, you can expect to absorb plenty of facts and events as you enjoy playing the game!