The Middle Ages in Modern Games

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Annual Asynchronous Conference, other events and publications. Sponsored by CMRR Winchester, Intellect Books, and Slitherine Games. middleagesinmoderngames.net

In a time of growing political and environmental anxieties, the Middle Ages are often sought as a source of inspiration for alternative futures. Ecologically-minded games like Of Life and Land look to the medieval past to explore alternative, non-exploitative engagements with nature. Medievalist RPGs have long served as possibility spaces for players to interrogate and experiment with notions of sexuality, gender, and identity more broadly. Games like Scriptorium and Traveller’s Rest imagine medieval pasts divorced from the logics of violence often associated with the period. Medievalist fantasy games like Metaphor: ReFantazio openly engage with utopian thinking and our capacities to imagine possible worlds. We invite analytical ‘papers’ (comprising 400-500 words of text or 5-minute videos) and sessions of 3 to 5 papers which address any aspects of the medieval period or medievalism in any and all forms of modern games. We particularly welcome papers addressing the central conference themes of ‘Possible Worlds’ and ‘Possible Pasts’. The conference will be conducted remotely and there will be no registration fee. To promote accessibility and inclusivity, the event runs asynchronously across time zones. We encourage submissions from medievalists, games scholars and developers at any point in their career— especially those from Postgraduate Students, Early Career Researchers and members of any groups under-represented within the academy and industry. We welcome pieces addressing any region globally, and within a broad definition of ‘medieval’ and ‘medievalism’. We are able to accept papers in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. Please send abstracts of no more than 200 words, brief biographies, and indications of time zone and availability as attachments in Word to midagesmodgames@gmail.com by Sunday 3 August.
The title page of The Middle Ages in Modern Games: Conference Proceedings Volume 6 - 2025. Edited by Vinicius Marino Carvalho and Tess Watterson. The cover image is a map of East Asia from the mod 'Raja's of Asia' for Crusader Kings 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!
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!
Landscape image from the Witcher 3, with a man (Geralt) on a horse in the foreground looking out over the ocean from a coastline, with Norse style long ships on the water and dark clouds above.
Game screenshot of The Witcher 3, in the foreground a man Geralt, with white hair, leather armour, and two swords sheathed on his back, is facing away from us, riding a white horse towards a stone bridge into a medieval townscape in the background.
Close up image of Ciri, a white female character with grey hair and yellow 'Witcher' eyes. A 'The Witcher IV' Logo is in the bottom right corner.
A Call for Papers poster for the Middle Ages in Modern Games conference 2025. The banner image is a medieval map of Afro-eurasia.
Call for Papers for strand on 'Temporalities' in the Middle Ages in Computer Games headed with image of green clothed swordsman falling through white void inhabited only by stylised clock faces. Text of call available here: https://middleagesinmoderngames.net/announcements/call-for-papers-mamg-mamo-2025/
A very zoomed out image of a word document featuring a lot of text and multiple colorful images.
The silhouette of a castle behind the title card "The End"
A 16th century mural from the videogame "Pentiment" showing four scenes: the Wild Hunt, pilgrims meeting local saints, the aftermath of a peasant's revolt, and roman ruins beneath a monastery.
Screenshot of an animation of a medieval throne room with blue banners and red carpet, where a feminine person with long blond hair points accusatorially at a masculine person in brown robes. There are other figures in the room, including a seated masculine royal character wearing a crown. A ornate border surrounds the image as a frame, with a gold plaque reading 'A Hearing in the Prince's Court'. The game is The Knight & the Maiden by Stark Raving Sane Games.
Screenshot of a landmass-scale map image from the video game Fall of Bali with a top banner titled 'Choose your Kingdom' and brown text box of unreadable text under the title 'Klungkung'
Poster for the Middle Ages in Modern Games 2024 conference, featuring an illustration of a medieval feast scene with a feminine royal character looking bored and a shadowy figure in the background, from the game King of the Castle by Tributary Games (2023)
A medieval king mounting a horse, waving his sword in the middle of a battle
A Templar knight and a Muslim warrior facing off in combat, surrounded by their dead comrades
Call for Papers The Middle Ages in Modern Games Asynchronous Conference