Games

Ancestors: Stories of Atapuerca

Description

How did our ancestors live a million years ago? How was the landscape that they perceived? Were they similar to our species? These questions are the starting point of Ancestors: Stories of Atapuerca, a video game for iOS and Android devices where the player leads a human group within the region of Atapuerca. Each level of the game is a story about the ancestors that an Elder tells to a Homo Sapiens clan one night by the campfire. On each story the player will meet heroes, experience legends and explore myths about the origins of our species. Ancestors integrates the most recent archaeological findings of 2 species (Homo Antecessor and Homo Neanderthal) to portrait a scientifically accurate vision of Prehistory. This depiction covers all aspects of the simulation such as fauna, technology and landscape through a unique fusion between learning and game mechanics. The innovative game design has been created to offer an engaging interactive experience of the past to players. The collaboration between game creators and archaeologists from the University of Barcelona also aims to foster critical reflection on common misconceptions of Prehistory such as the role played by gender and age or the primitive appearance of these human groups.

History

Ancestors is part of ATAEVE project which is an innovative initiative of public outreach of the Digital Humanities supported by the BBVA foundation and led by the research group DIDPATRI – Universitat de Barcelona. The aim of ATAEVE is to promote the use of video games as a learning tool that allows the player to experience the past through computer simulation. The case study of the project is one of the most iconic archaeological sites of European prehistory: the UNESCO World heritage site of Atapuerca. ATAEVE has united a multidisciplinary team of experts from fields as diverse as archaeology, didactics and game design with the common goal of creating a game where scientific knowledge improves the experience of the player through engaging game design. Ancestors is freely available on portable devices and it is localized to English and Spanish. The game has been developed by Murphy's Toast Games, an independent development studio that creates transformative gaming experiences to foster scientific thinking and curiosity about our past.

Julia: A Science Journey

Description

Julia: a Science Journey is an adventure about viruses, society, and life choices. The story begins in 2020 as our main character lives a humdrum teenage life while she deals with high school, her family and her friends. Will you help Julia navigate through the complexities of adult life while the covid-19 pandemic changes her world forever?

History

The covid-19 pandemic changed forever the relation between society and science. Suddenly global health, viruses and vaccines were the main topic of conversation in the streets, scientists became influencers known by everybody in social networks and TV channels alike, fighting against a bombardment of disinformation and fake news. However, do we really understand what a scientist looks like, and what type of work do they have? This is the type of challenge we at Murphy’s Toast Games love to tackle, so we decided to develop a video game not only about science, but about the people that make it happen. At the same time, we were curious about how video games are capable of captivating our attention and promoting learning of very complex game mechanics. So, we decided to transform this idea into a participatory project where players are part of scientific research itself just by playing our game. Our idea was successfully funded by the PANDEMIES programme of the Catalan Research Agency during 2021.

Archaeological Research Initiative

Description

The Archaeological Research Initiative needs you! You are now a member of this elite team of archaeologists with the objective of solving mysterious cases thanks to the most advanced techniques. Identify artifacts, use science, and apply your deductive skills to unbury what happened 2000 years ago.