Discover Old D’Hanis: Making A Virtual Game Based On A Community Archaeology Project

Summary

This is a poster submission presented at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

“Discover Old D’Hanis” represents an interdisciplinary collaboration between an archaeologist, Computer Science students, and a Music student at Western University. The game is a virtual reconstruction of the old town of D’Hanis, settled in 1847 by Alsatian and German migrants to Texas. Over time, it became home to Black and Mexican families following the Civil War and Mexican Revolution. Drawing from the Old D’Hanis Archaeological Mapping Project (2018), the game recreates the village plan based on archival and archaeological data, including photogrammetry from seven ruins. Players can wander the town and collect information – archival fragments, archaeological photos and fieldnotes, oral history excerpts, reconstructions of ruins – to piece together the stories of the town and its residents. The game features historic sound design and an original composition based on German folk music. Here, we share our process, the game itself, and our presentation to the D’Hanis community in June 2024.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025   •
• 2025 SHA Poster Submissions

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow