Red Land/Black Land

Abstract While digital games are used for health intervention, language training, and science learning, there are few instances of games being used to teach archaeology. This is a missed opportunity, as narratives of exploration and discovery make archaeology well suited to digital games. This article discusses Red Land/Black Land, a prototype Civilization V mod (modification of an existing game) that allows players to explore both the process of cultural change in ancient Egypt and the construction of archaeological knowledge about ancient Egypt. As a case study of scholarly game design, the article explores the project’s development. Included is a discussion of play mechanics, the merits and process of modding, and the resources required to build games in academic environments. The article also discusses preliminary efforts to test the game in an undergraduate classroom. Ultimately, the article argues that digital games are powerful tools for communicating archaeology. Instead of falling under the glamour of commercial games, however, scholars should adopt cost effective approaches to game design, looking to mobile play, alternate reality games, modding, and browser based games to realize their vision. The article also argues that the actual process of designing a game is an excellent tool to teach archaeology.