@robehoughton.bsky.social
Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of Winchester. Author of The Middle Ages in Computer Games. Co-organiser of the Middle Ages in Modern Games conference. Italy; Investiture Contest; Games.
🚨NEW ARTICLE OUT🚨
My most recent paper on historical agency & games is available in open access!
It deals with environmental studies, posthumanism, fantasy, the 'ontological turn' in the philosophy of history & my upcoming video-game, Galar.
Quick thread on the contents 🧵1/6
#gamestudies #gtp
Das Buch-Cover von »Spielgeschichte(n)« auf orangefarbenem Hintergrund.
Welche Geschichten erzählen wir über Spiele? Wie ergibt sich aus den vielen Einzelgeschichten eine eigene Geschichte des Spiels?
https://www.transcript-verlag.de/978-3-8376-6640-3/
@letobili.bsky.social
#Spiel #Computerspiel #Geschichte #GameStudies
Happy international women’s day!
As an international woman I demand that you wishlist our game that’s out in a couple months (May 6th)
store.steampowered.com/app/3350750/...
Homer Simpson fades backwards into the hedge.
25.02.2026 22:24 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Nomination deadline coming up 2026-02-27!
Ensure your type of #digitalHumanities or #CLS or similar is represented!
dhawards.org/dhawards2025...
Or if lack of https is a worry, go direct to the Google form at: forms.gle/zRbPaw8hoBEo...
"Coding Medieval Worlds 6: Manuscripts and Mechanics" banner.
Looking forward to Coding Medieval Worlds 6, now one week away! We've got a great array of panels and discussions on this year's theme, including on research for #GameDev, history as mechanics, and getting information across to players!
Find out about these events at: exilian.co.uk/codingworlds/
Coding Medieval Worlds 6 A workshop for historians and game developers, 20-22 February 2026 Key Talks & Panels Saturday 21st February 14:00 Coding Medieval Worlds Keynote by CMW convenor James Baillie. 18:30 Mechanics & Medievalisms Panel with Vinicius Marino Carvalho & Steven Anastasoff. Chaired by Tess Watterson. Sunday 22nd February 14:00 Research for Medieval Games Panel with James Holloway, Rob Houghton & Maxime Durand. Chaired by Kjelda Glimmerveen. 18:00 Communication and Information Panel with Lu Yahuai, Brian Bucklew & Jason Grinblat. Chaired by Mariana Lopez.
Along the way, as well as lots of space for open-format discussion on key problems in medievalist game dev, we'll be hearing from @jubalbarca.bsky.social, @jfg.land, @gonzohistory.bsky.social, @robehoughton.bsky.social, and @vinicius-marino.bsky.social among other excellent speakers :)
13.02.2026 20:48 — 👍 13 🔁 2 💬 2 📌 5
A copy of the book ‘Ancient Egypt in Video Games’ edited by Jennifer Cromwell
Always exciting to get the latest delivery off @dgb-history.bsky.social’s ‘Video Games and the Humanities’ conveyor belt!
06.02.2026 14:30 — 👍 103 🔁 24 💬 7 📌 3
📣 DEMO OUT NOW 🎮
FOLK EMERGING is a
🔥 stone Age
🦣 nomadic
⏳ turn-based
⬢ 4X strategy
Play the demo here 👉 store.steampowered.com/app/4352180?...
Cover of a book with a woman in purple standing in front of a TV camera, looking up. It is a shot from the show HBO Rome. The cover says: Audio-Visual Roman Women: Gender, History and Sceen Media. Facing it is the first page of a chapter: "Chapter 16: An Expedition Into Agency: The Portrayal of Roman Women in Expeditions: Rome"
Publication Day! Very pleased to see 'Audio-visual Roman Women: Gender, History and Screen Media' come out today, complete with my chapter on the agency of the female protagonist in Expeditions Rome.
Open access here: www.bloomsburycollections.com/monograph-de...
Thanks very much Jenny, what a lovely thing to find in my feed! I hope you're having a great break.
26.12.2025 16:38 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
My paper "'Was Barbarossa Not German?!' Nation, History, and Identity in Civilization Players’ Online Discussions" has just been published in the new issue of Eludamos! Very happy to see this out in the world
eludamos.org/index.php/el...
CounterPlay - another play conference:
www.counterplay.org
If you love play, this should be of interest:
The Playful Learning Conference (1st-3rd July, 2026) is open for submissions. Get those ideas submitted by the 2nd Feb!
Theme this year is "into the woods."
playfullearningassoc.co.uk/submit-a-ses...
Excited to be doing two talks this week in Istanbul on the Ottoman game projects I have worked on! Thanks to Tommaso Stefini for helping to organize the talk at Sabancı Uni. (Tuesday) and Emir Alışık for helping to organize the conversation and Q and A at ANAMED (Thursday) #gamedev #ottoman
13.12.2025 07:36 — 👍 20 🔁 7 💬 1 📌 1
And now, Writing Game Histories (2026) with cover art (courtesy of @murthynikhil.bsky.social’s Syphilisation)
www.bloomsbury.com/uk/writing-g...
Interested in game-writing?
In early 2026 we'll be publishing a kaleidoscope: short articles by 100+ game writers - experts, freelancers, and juniors - about the craft.
~1/3 of them are in: multiple bangers, from some very famous names and games.
Sign up to be notified when it's ready here:
A screenshot of the article’s title and author on the Games & Culture website.
I wrote a new article: it’s on the Fallout franchise, & it’s just been published in Games&Culture
I’m currently trying to wrap my head around a bigger project on historical video game promotion and branding & this article is a slice (in progress) of that
+ it’s open access!
doi.org/10.1177/1555...
A short message in English and then Spanish. Looking forward to presenting in Uruguay next week 😊 I'll be talking about the #EAD methods (Enhanced Audio Description) - our work on sound design for accessibility. For more information on our work, please visit our website enhancingaudiodescription.com
07.12.2025 16:45 — 👍 19 🔁 5 💬 5 📌 0
The front cover of the book: 'Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire'
For those who enjoy ebooks on Kindle, it seems that 'Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire' is *massively* discounted today down to $1.99 in the US and £7.99 in the UK. Which feels like a pretty good deal really.
US: www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Ri...
UK: www.amazon.co.uk/Star-Wars-Ri...
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...
I'm delighted to be part of this volume with a plethora of awesome people. The immediate paperback edition is an additional nice touch.
08.11.2025 19:53 — 👍 11 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 0
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...
Hurrah! My new book, Europe in the Eleventh Century: Beyond Revolution and Reform is officially published today by Oxford University Press. 1/5 global.oup.com/academic/pro...
16.10.2025 07:47 — 👍 161 🔁 39 💬 15 📌 3
O Middle Ages in Modern Games, a Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (FURG) e o Laboratório de Pesquisa Arqueologia Interativa e Simulações Eletrônicas (ARISE) tem o prazer de convidar a todos para uma sessão temática no I Congresso Brasileiro de Arqueologia Digital. O archaeogaming e o estudo de jogos medievais se beneficiaram de um crescimento expressivo na última década. De um lado, praticantes de arqueologia e história medieval têm incorporado metodologias para integrar jogos como formas de análise e divulgação de suas pesquisas. Por outro, especialistas em game studies têm reconhecido a importância da arqueologia para o estudo da dimensão material dos jogos e da vivência de pessoas em espaços virtuais. Convidamos estudantes, pesquisadores e profissionais da Arqueologia medieval e afins a integrarem uma sessão temática direcionada às novas fronteiras de pesquisa nesta área. O evento ocorrerá nos dias 8 a 12 de dezembro de 2025, em formato online via YouTube, no período norturno (18h às 21h, horário de Brasília) Tópicos incluem (mas não estão restritos a): Archaeogaming e Idade Média Representações de arqueólogos em jogos medievalistas Arqueologia de espaços virtuais Modelagem 3D e criação de assets para jogos Cultura material da Idade Média em jogos digitais A Idade Média em jogos analógicos Medievalismo e roleplay Uso de jogos para o ensino de história ou educação patrimonial Simulações analíticas Realidade virtual/aumentada e o passado medieval Materialidade de jogos medievalistas Usos políticos e ideológicos da cultura material em jogos medievalistas Olhares decoloniais/anti-eurocêntrico sobre a arqueologia digital e jogos medievais Para mais informações ou eventuais dúvidas, favor escrever ao Dr. Vinicius Marino Carvalho no email midagesmodgames@gmail.com Favor enviar título e resumo da apresentação por meio do link: https://sinsc.furg.br/fichainscricao/7823 Esperamos ansiosamente sua participação!
Temos o prazer de anunciar nossa sessão temática no I Congresso Brasileiro de Arqueologia Digital, organizado pelo @archarise.bsky.social
Se você trabalha com jogos medievalistas ou #archaoegaming sob qualquer ótima, esperamos sua inscrição!
#historygames #medievalsky
The Middle Ages in Modern Games conference, the Federal University of Rio Grande (FURG), and the research society ARISE (Interactive Archaeology and Electronic Simulations) are pleased to announce a thematic strand at the I Brazilian Conference on Digital Archaeology. Archaeogaming and medievalist game studies have enjoyed noteworthy popularity since the past decade. On the one hand, practitioners of medieval history and archaeology have started to devise methodologies to integrate games as research outputs and vehicles for outreach. On the other hand, game studies experts have acknowledged the importance of archaeology to deal with the material dimension of games and the human experiences within virtual spaces. We invite students, researchers and professionals working with medieval archaeology and related fields to submit proposals for oral communications exploring these themes. The event will be held online and broadcasted via YouTube between 8-12 December, from 6 to 9pm (UTC -3). Topics include (but are not restricted to) Archaeogaming and the Middle Ages Depictions of archaeologists in medievalist games The archaeology of virtual environments 3D modeling and asset creation for games. Medieval material culture in modern games The Middle Ages in analog games Medievalism and roleplay Games as tools for history teaching and heritage education Virtual/augmented reality and the medieval past The materiality of medievalist games Political and ideological uses of material culture in medievalist games Decolonial/Anti-eurocentric approaches to digital archaeology and medievalist games For more information or questions, please contact Dr. Vinicius Marino Carvalho at midagesmodgames@gmail.com Submissions are open until the 5th of November via the following link: https://sinsc.furg.br/fichainscricao/7823 We hope to see you there!
We're pleased to announce we're putting together a thematic strand at the 1st Brazilian Conference on Digital Archaeology, organized by @archarise.bsky.social.
If you work with medievalist #historygames and/or #archaeogaming in any capacity, we'd love to hear from you!
#medievalsky
Anyone interested in forming a virtual co-working/writing group of humanists without current institutional affiliation/independent scholars?
I can't be the only one desperately missing both community and time on my calendar for my "side projects"!
#medievalsky #dh #bookhistory #humanities
www.medievalitas.com/post/medieva... @medievalists.bsky.social
12.09.2025 23:25 — 👍 9 🔁 3 💬 1 📌 0
Apply to be on season 5! Details available on our website. 🩷
26.08.2025 15:58 — 👍 22 🔁 10 💬 0 📌 2There's still a couple of weeks left to get your abstracts in for our @imc-leeds.bsky.social strand next year! We how to see a lot of you there. Deadline 17 September.
02.09.2025 08:30 — 👍 13 🔁 5 💬 0 📌 0
