Medieval-Themed Video Games For History Teaching: A Systematic Review

What the paper says

In recent years, medieval-themed video games have emerged as increasingly relevant educational tools, for history teaching, recognised for their ability to foster historical understanding, digital literacy, and critical thinking across a variety of learning environments. This systematic review investigates how these games are incorporated into educational practice and interrogates the narratives they construct about the medieval past. These aims are grounded in prior research on game-based learning and on the cultural analysis of medievalist representations. Guided by the PRISMA protocol, fourteen peer-reviewed studies published in the last ten years were identified, selected, and analysed to provide a structured and critical overview of current research in this area. The findings reveal a strong predominance of commercial titles particularly strategy and role-playing games that reproduce Eurocentric, militarised, and masculinised representations of the Middle Ages. Nevertheless, several studies report innovative pedagogical strategies that embed these digital resources within intentional didactic frameworks, aligning them with curricular objectives and supporting immersive experiences, enquiry-based learning, and the development of disciplinary historical competences. Such practices highlight the capacity of video games to operate as complex cultural artefacts, rather than mere motivational tools. Despite this potential, significant shortcomings remain. These include a lack of sustained critical engagement with symbolic and ideological representations, the scarce incorporation of gender-sensitive or intersectional perspectives, and the limited connection between explicit educational aims and the cultural content of the games. Addressing these gaps requires stronger pedagogical models that connect the analysis of digital representations with the development of historical thinking, digital literacy, and critical reflection. Overall, this study underscores both the opportunities and limitations of medieval-themed video games as didactic resources. It stresses the importance of inclusive, reflexive, and gender-aware approaches that challenge dominant historical imaginaries and contribute to the formation of culturally literate, critical, and democratically engaged citizens.