It is very nearly International Games Week; this is an initiative run by volunteers from around the world to reconnect communities through their libraries around the educational, recreational, and social value of all types of games. Here at the British Library we are excited to be hosting the narrative games convention AdventureX on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th November, and to get the party started on Thursday 8th November we are delighted to run, in partnership with The National Archives and Wellcome, a Digital Conversation event on the topic of History and Games.

Our star Digital Conversation panel features:

• Toni Brasting, Creative Partnerships Manager at Wellcome Trust, who collaborates with games studios, designers and scientific researchers to create games that inspire conversations about health.
• Andrew Burn, Professor of Media Education at the UCL Institute of Education, who will launch MissionMaker Beowulf, a digital platform which empowers students to make 3-D adventure games.

A video showing the process of making a game in Missionmaker Beowulf, followed by a video capture of the game

• James Delaney founder and Managing Director of BlockWorks, who built Minecraft maps for Great Fire 1666 at the Museum of London, to mark the 350th anniversary of London's Great Fire. Furthermore, this summer they teamed up with English Heritage on a castle building project.

Kenilworth Castle in Minecraft

• Rob McLachlan, founder of Lost Forest Games and creator of Winter Hall, a narrative exploration game about the legacy of the Black Death, which was awarded second place in Developing Beyond (a games development challenge set up by Epic Games and The Wellcome Trust).

Trailer of Winter Hall by Lost Forest Games

• Nick Webber, Associate Professor at Birmingham City University, whose research explores the impact of virtual worlds and online games on the practice of history.
• Stella Wisdom, Digital Curator for Contemporary British Collections at the British Library, who has collaborated on multiple games initiatives.

The Digital Conversation event takes place in The Knowledge Centre at the British Library on Thursday 8th November, 18.30- 20.30; for more details including booking, visit: https://www.bl.uk/events/digital-conversation-history-and-games. Hope to see you there.

This post is by Digital Curator Stella Wisdom, on twitter as @miss_wisdom.