Exploring history through video games: a journey into the ancient world

Abstract

Studies in fields like cognitive learning and Bandura's social learning theory indicate that people learn and acquire knowledge in various areas of life. This idea could include historical knowledge gained by video game play. Consequently, playing video games with historical themes is a common way for people to learn about history. This study looked into which genre, ESRB classification, and kind of video game platform contains the most historical content to gather valuable information for the next studies on using video games to teach history. In October 2023, information from the top ten video games ever made in each genre as stated on three different video game websites www.ign.com, www.gamefaqs.com, and www.gametrailers.com was analyzed through content analysis. The study's findings indicated that the category of video games with the most historical material was sports. E for Everyone was the ESRB classification with the most historical content. Lastly, the greatest amount of historical content was found in computer games. Researchers and educators who work in the fields of education, learning, or video games may find it easier to locate games that meet their requirements with the help of this information.