‘As you write your Odyssey…’: An empirical study of Classics students’ play interests and ergodic characterization in historical video games

Abstract

The various ways that players actually play historical games, and how history – or players’ conceptualization thereof – impacts play processes, remains understudied in the field of historical game studies. This study investigates how players make decisions in historical games, and assesses to what extent such choices are directed by historical considerations or ideas of history. Specifically, we examined this through the perspective of ergodic characterization, or players’ nontrivial involvement in the characterization of their in-game character. We conducted an active play experiment where Classics students from Belgium and the United Kingdom (n = 10) played Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft Quebec, 2018) for eight weeks and reported on their experiences through questionnaires, note-taking, and focus group interviews. We found that players’ characterization decisions in historical games were driven by four play interests: ludic (i.e., characterization based on the gameplay advantages that choices might bring, or to test out specific affordances of the game system), prosthetic (characterization as an extension of the player’s own personality), narrative (characterization based on the character’s narrative and background), and referential (characterization in reference to other characters, including historical ones). We also report other findings related to characterization and the role of history in historical game experiences. This article offers new insights into player experiences of historical games, contributes empirical data to existing research on characterization in games, and advocates for active play as a research method in historical game studies.