Beyond the museum walls: games that let you step into history

By Hannah Doctor-Loeb

What does war look like through the eyes of a child? For those far from conflict, it may be difficult to imagine. A new narrative adventure game, We grew up fightingMac begins to answer that question through the stories of Anna, Valerie, and Melissa.

Co-developed by Prague-based studio Charles Games and Sarajevo’s War Childhood Museum, the game features real-life testimonies from children who grew up in the conflict.

The museum, founded after the 1992-95 war in Bosnia, is building one of the world’s largest archives of wartime childhoods. The organization is part of Sight of Conscience, a global network of organizations that confront difficult pasts to encourage dialogue.

The game reflects that work, offering a record of events, but also a window into what war looks like from a child’s perspective.

We grew up fighting Not a conventional game: no scoring, advancing or winning. It draws on the real-life experiences of children growing up in conflict zones, with a focus on Bosnia and Ukraine, using immersive wartime sketches to bring their stories to life and foster empathy and awareness among players.

The approach is part of a larger EU-funded research effort known as MEMENTOES, in which museums, historians and game developers explore how video games can tell difficult stories from the past and reach audiences beyond traditional exhibitions.

They use virtual reality and other immersive techniques to make the painful history more palpable for players.

“The game is not just about portraying survivors as suffering or victims,” ​​said Jasminko Halilović, founder and director of the Sarajevo Museum, which focuses on wartime childhood experiences. “It’s also about family life, friendships, education and dreams and hopes.”

A new way to tell an old story

Museums have long struggled with how to communicate complex and often traumatic histories. Through the MEMENTOES collaboration, researchers from Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Greece, Ireland and the Netherlands set out to test whether video games could provide a new way to reach larger – and younger – audiences.

Games are a great tool to make cultural heritage tangible, accessible and memorable to the public

We grew up fighting MEMENTOES is one of several titles developed by the team, which brings together curators, researchers and game designers.

Project coordinator Nikolaos Dimitriou, a senior researcher at the Center for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH) in Thessaloniki, Greece, was a bit skeptical at first, but intrigued by the idea of ​​interactive storytelling.

“When I was younger, I played video games just for fun,” he said. “At some point I thought I was spending too much time on them. But this is different. It’s like taking a history class, but in a more interesting way.”

Step into the past

as well as We grew up fighting, The MEMENTOES team has also developed two different gaming experiences. one of them, Those from belowUsing virtual reality to revisit the 1956 mining disaster in Marcinelle, Belgium.

Developed with Causa Creations, with input from Le Bois du Cazier Museum in Marcinel, another conscience site on the network, and victims’ relatives, it places players inside a coal mine, confronting the harsh realities faced by miners.

another game, The Gulag DiaryTakes players to a Soviet-era forced labor camp in Siberia

It was developed in collaboration with researchers from the Computer Science Institute of the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (ICS-FORTH), a Czech-based research and educational enterprise that documents the history of the labor camp (Gulag) through expeditions, survivor testimonies and digital reconstructions.

Based on a real-life expedition and historical information from Gulag.cz, the game follows a researcher exploring the remains of a fictional gulag in the Siberian wilderness, connecting players to the experiences of the victims.

“Players find objects left behind by prisoners,” said Stavrola Ntoya, who led the project’s scientific work. “Each item reveals a personal story, helping players understand what life was like in this camp.”

Walking a thin line

Using games to explore sensitive historical issues brings its own challenges. Unlike traditional exhibitions, games are interactive, and this raises questions about tone, accuracy and respect. It can be a very fine line to tread.

“What we try to do in the game is the same as our exhibition: show how complex these experiences are,” says Halilovich. But striking the right balance isn’t always easy.

“One challenge was not to ‘gamify’ the experience too much,” says Ntoa. “The goal wasn’t to make it fun. It was to make it interesting and a valuable learning experience.”

Achieving that balance requires close collaboration between developers, historians, and those whose stories inspired the games

“When you use physical evidence, it can be unique and identifiable,” Halilovich explained. “We worked closely with contributors to ensure they were comfortable with how their stories were presented.”

More than just information

The games attract audiences and focus historical injustices. “Games are a great tool to make cultural heritage tangible, accessible and memorable to the public,” said Dimitriou.

But their real power may lie in building empathy – by putting players in someone else’s shoes and experiencing events from their insides.

Thanks to the game, people anywhere in the world can now engage with our collection.

“If players can understand the layered consequences of war for children, we also hope it will help them understand the importance of peace,” Halilovich said.

Preliminary findings suggest that this approach may have a real impact. In some cases, researchers have found that middle school students are involved We grew up fighting may change their attitudes towards refugees.

And lessons learned are not confined to the past.

“These issues are not just historical,” Dimitriou said. “Children are still growing up in war zones today. Helping people who relate to those experiences is so important.”

Beyond visiting museums

Although the research collaboration behind these games ends in 2025, the work is far from over. We grew up fighting The Steam video game platform is set for a wider release, including an educational version and a commercial version.

For Halilovich, the potential goes beyond a single project.

“Thanks to the game, people anywhere in the world can now engage with our collection,” he said. “It was not possible before.”

As museums look for new ways to connect with visitors, digital tools are becoming increasingly important, consistent with efforts across Europe to digitize cultural heritage and make it more widely accessible.

Games are beginning to play a key role in that change, especially as they bring immersive technologies and rich digital archives to players’ homes and classrooms to carry museum messages.

“They allow our stories to expand beyond the walls of the museum,” Halilovich said. “And to reach people who might not otherwise walk through our doors.”

The research in this article was funded by the EU’s Horizons programme. The views of the interviewees do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission. If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.

–

This article was originally published by Horizon, EU Research and Innovation Magazine with Creative Commons Attribution

***