The History Respawned Podcast

Bob talks with Dr. Tyler Kynn about his project The Hajj Trail. Topics include game development as a historian, games in the history classroom, games about non-western history, and history games as scholarship.

In the 10th Anniversary Episode of History Respawned, Bob talks with Dr. Glaire Anderson about working with Ubisoft on Assassin's Creed Mirage's Codex and its History of Baghdad feature. Topics include historians using game development tools, teaching game developers medieval history, and de-centering northern Europe in medieval history. *Audio from a video episode published on November 20, 2023:...

Bob talks with Jon-Paul Dyson from The Strong National Museum of Play about Atari 50. Topics include the history of Atari, game preservation, and what's new at the Strong Museum in 2023. For more on The Strong, visit: https://www.museumofplay.org/ Please consider supporting us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/historyrespawned *Audio from a video episode published on August 28, 2023: https://www.youtube...

Bob talks with Pieter Van den Heede about The Saboteur (2009). Topics include the Second World War, Second World War memory in North America and Europe, Occupation and Resistance, Collaboration, NPCs in Open World Games, and new trends in Second World War video games. Please consider supporting us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/historyrespawned

Bob and John discuss the history game news coming out of the NOT E3 season, including announcements from Ubisoft, Xbox, and PlayStation. Topics include Assassin's Creed Mirage, Assassin's Creed Nexus, Assassin's Creed Codename Jade, Clockwork Revolution, the Gilded Age in games, Lamplighter's League, Fable, Metal Gear Solid 3, The Pirate Queen, Ecumene Aztec, Last Train Home, Sand, Civilization VI...

Bob, John, and some special guests discuss the best history games of 2022. Topics include Weird West, The Case of the Golden Idol, NBA 2k23, Cult of the Lamb, Horizon Forbidden West, Card Shark, Victoria 3, Train to Sachsenhausen, Atari 50, Crusader Kings 3, The Legend of Tianding, Valiant Hearts Coming Home, Hades II, Contraband, Mask of the Rose, NORCO, Vampire Survivors, Elden Ring, Stray, and...

Bob talks with Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall about her new book, Slave Revolt on Screen: The Haitian Revolution in Film and Video Games. Topics include the historiography of the Haitian Revolution, collecting sources for a book about films and games, Assassin's Creed Freedom Cry, comparing historical games and historical films, and the games of Muriel Tramis. University of Mississippi Press site for...

Bob talks with Kate Cook and Jane Draycott about their new edited collection, Women in Classical Video Games (https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/women-in-classical-video-games-9781350241930/). Topics include the popularity of classical video games, their appearance in the classroom, the relationship between classical games and classical films, and "historical accuracy" and women's history. Games discus...

Bob talks about the history game news from Ubisoft Forward, and then (19:15) chats with Esther Wright about her new book, Rockstar Games and American History: Promotional Materials and the Construction of Authenticity (https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110716610/html). Bob and Esther also talk a bit about the recent leak of Grand Theft Auto 6. Bonnie and Clyde, anyone? Episode top...

Bob and John discuss recent game news, including games announced during Gamescom, upcoming history games releases, and what games they’ve been playing recently. Topics include The Great War: Western Front, Wyrdsong, Pentiment, Age of Empires IV, Tortuga, Under the Waves, Where the Winds Meet, Company of Heroes 3, Victoria 3, Skull and Bones, Mask of the Rose, Nightingale, Papers Please, Control, R...

Bob and John talk through recent updates from Ubisoft, including new game modes for Assassin's Creed Valhalla, rumors of Skull & Bones, and Discovery Tour Lesson Plans. This episode ends (28:12) with a rebroadcast of Civs 101: Germany, in which Bob talks with Dr. Jeremy Best about the German Civ. Topics include the long and complicated history of Germany in Sid Meier’s Civilization, Frederick Barb...

Bob and John run through history game news as well as a list of upcoming history game releases. They wrap up by talking about what they've been playing recently, and Bob's questionable gaming purchases. Topics include Civilization in the Hall of Fame, Assassin's Creed Valhalla more popular than ever, Call of Duty blames WWII, Card Shark, Isonzo, Victoria 3, Steel Rising, Company of Heroes 3, War H...

Bob talks with Peter Hirschmann from Respawn Entertainment about Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond. Topics include the history of the Medal of Honor series, bringing the series to VR, Above and Beyond's Gallery, winning an Oscar, and why WWII games are still so popular. Please consider supporting us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/historyrespawned Music is Symphony 40 in G minor by texasradiofish (c) 2...

Bob talks with Leyla and Soren Johnson of Mohawk Games about Old World, History Respawned’s History Game of the Year for 2021. Topics include the response to Old World, the historical research that went into the game, Old World’s Order System, how Old World fits into the historical 4X genre, and future plans for the game. Please consider supporting us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/historyrespawned M...

Bob talks with historians Dr. Margaret Huettl and Dr. Katie Phillips about their experience working on the latest version of The Oregon Trail from Gameloft. Topics include how they got involved in the project, what their experience was like working with game developers, how they incorporated indigenous history and culture, and how The Oregon Trail remains an important historical touchstone. Please...

Bob and Esports Champion John Harney discuss the best history games of 2021. Topics include Stronghold Warlords, Lake, Humankind, Hell Let Loose, Blackhaven, Jupiter Hell, Loop Hero, Overboard, The Forgotten City, Valheim, Armored Commander 2, Age of Empires IV, Old World, Deathloop, Assassin's Creed Discovery Tour: Viking Age, Wildermyth, Svoboda 1945, New World, March Through Time, Trek to Yomi,...

Bob talks with Maxime Durand, the World Design Director of Discovery Tour for Ubisoft, about Discovery Tour: Viking Age. Topics include the history of Discovery Tour, reaching an academic audience with games, working with scholars for Viking Age, game play changes to Discovery Tour, and Viking Age characters. Support History Respawned on Patreon at www.patreon.com/historyrespawned

Bob and John discuss what they've been playing and what they are looking forward to in the fall. Topics include Amazon's New World, MLK in Fortnite, Assassin's Creed Discovery Tour Viking Age, Age of Empires 4, Call of Duty Vanguard, Diablo 2, Deathloop, Back 4 Blood, Press Reset, and Masters of Doom.

Bob talks with historian and game designer James Coltrain about his new game Blackhaven. Topics include presenting history through games, the importance of historical memory and challenging official histories, the influence of environmental storytelling, and future projects from Historiated Games. Play Blackhaven for free on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1668610/Blackhaven/ Historiated...

Bob talks with Dr. Michelle Brock about the Scottish Civ. Topics include Scotland in the popular imagination, the "Braveheart Effect," Outlander, Robert the Bruce and Scottish independence, golf courses, Scotland and the slave trade, the Covenanter Movement, and Flower of Scotland. *For our talk of slavery, I completely forgot about the Triangular Trade Policy Card. Apologies! We talk about this m...

Bob talks with John about the China Civ. Topics include China's new leaders in Civilization VI, the changing perspectives on Chinese leadership over the twentieth century, state influence historiography, and the problems that game developers and historians share. This episode features audio pulled from a video episode. Please consider supporting us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/historyrespaw...

Bob and John discuss recent gaming news, including Assassin’s Creed Infinity, Deathloop, and Robocop Rogue City. They wrap up by talking about what they’ve been playing recently, including Old World, Resident Evil Village, and Mass Effect 3.

Bob and John discuss E3 2021. History games include Assassin's Creed Discovery Tour Mode, Valhalla's Siege of Paris DLC, Age of Empires 4, Plague Tale Requiem, Immortality, House of Ashes, Gloomwood, Lake, Contraband, and Terra Nil. Other games include Starfield, Halo Infinite, 12 Minutes, Back 4 Blood, Metroid Dread, and Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild 2. Plus, more on Bob and John's playthrou...

Bob and John talk about recent news in historical games, including game reviews in the American Historical Review, the announcement of Victoria 3, ongoing problems at Ubisoft, and new plans for book reviews on Civs 101. They also discuss what they've been playing recently, including Cuphead, Darkest Dungeon, Tetris Effect, Watchdogs Legion, Before We Leave, Crusader Kings III, Sunless Skies, and M...

Bob shares audio from a recent history conference panel called "Taking Video Games Seriously." Topics include the critical analysis of games by historians, using video games in historical research, and teaching American history with video games. Panelists include Jonathan Jones, Anne Ladyem McDivitt, Esther Wright, Jeffrey Lawler, Sean Smith, and Robert Whitaker. The audio from this panel came fro...