The Uprising: A Role-Playing Game as an Educational Aid in an Archaeology Seminar Course

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Leveling Up: Gaming and Game Design in Archaeological Education and Outreach" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In this paper, I discuss an analog role-playing game (RPG) entitled “The Uprising,” which I designed for an undergraduate university course on the archaeology of the senses. I reflect on how gaming in the classroom builds on recent pedagogical research and promotes participation not possible with traditional lectures alone. I summarize the gameplay and game design choices and elaborate on how the students and I have collaborated to improve the game during the two semesters of its use. I discuss how the RPG format combines student choice, chance, and information from the archaeological record to promote an engaging educational experience. I share student feedback, mention some fun and unanticipated outcomes of the game, and consider how the activity may evolve in future iterations. Finally, I provide some context about how the game fits with other assigned activities and materials and how broader elements of the course design, including the syllabus itself, may benefit from a degree of “gamification.” I conclude that, though it incorporates elements of fiction and creative interpretations of the archaeological record, the RPG activity helps students relate to the ancient past in a unique way that befits an exploration of the archaeology of the senses.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Leveling Up: Gaming and Game Design in Archaeological Education and Outreach   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37780.0