History Games for Boys? Gender, Genre and the Self-Perceived Impact of Historical Games on Undergraduate Historians

Abstract

Historical games have a demonstrable impact on the development of their players’ formative understanding of history and it is increasingly clear that these media influence perceptions of history in the undergraduate classroom. This article considers the interactions of game genre and player gender identity as determining factors for the impact of historical games on undergraduate perceptions of history through a survey (n=172) conducted at the University of Winchester. The article highlights correlations between maleness, strategy and action games, and high levels of reported influence of games on historical understanding. On this basis, it argues that genre of game is the main driver for influence over historical perceptions and that gender identity correlates indirectly with this influence.