Hitpoints & History will be January 31, 2026!

Gameplay: Intent, Agency, and Historical Authenticity

You control the buttons you press. Gameplay has the ability to shape how we view games and can influence the way we view history. It is the culmination of not only the choices that developers and players make, but the evolution of the experience over time and across games. From translating hieroglyphs to parkourinrg off of temples, the way that players interact with their worlds defines how they see them. That interaction changes all the time, between different modes of storytelling and media. The connection between developer intent, player agency, and historical authenticity is the central focus of Hitpoints & History 2026.

What is Archaeogaming?

Archaeogaming, short for video game archeology, explores the past through digital and non-digital gaming and also explores a game as a historical artifact itself.