An online game set at one of Northumberland's best known Roman forts has been launched, in the hope of providing a new educational resource for budding video gamers and archaeologists.
Vindolanda Adventure aims to bring to life real-people from the world-famous Vindolanda tablets, Tagomas and Lepidina, and it is hoped through playing that children will learn more about computer science and the ancient world. Players journey back to Hadrian's Wall at the start of the 2nd century AD and work through a series of mini-games and adventures to discover how our understanding of life on the Roman frontier is still relevant today.
Characters embark on a series of mini-games to get the two "sprites" Tagomas and Lepidina to achieve their quest to attend the birthday party mentioned on the Vindolanda writing tablets, which contains the earliest example of a woman's handwriting in Europe. During the games, players can access the online archives and the aim is to introduce children to career opportunities open to them through studying computer science, history and archaeology.
Read more: New exhibition at Northumberland museum displays oldest Hadrian's Wall souvenirs
The game is a collaboration between UK's largest games development studio Creative Assembly, Newcastle University and the Vindolanda Trust and is primarily aimed at seven to 11-year-olds. Barbara Birley, Curator at the Vindolanda Trust, said: "By using the foundations of artefacts and the archaeological site, this project has developed an innovative way for young people to interact with their ancient past.
"Through the mini games the children will get to develop their skills in understanding Vindolanda and the Romans. In the games archive, they will discover how games are developed and encourage them to consider careers in the heritage industry or games development."
Dr Claire Stocks, senior lecturer at the School of History, Classics and Archaeology, said: "The game and exhibition will support learning in the classroom and at home and shows how studying the ancient world and computer science can be fun and exciting. We hope that it will show students the possibilities that are open to them if they choose to study these subjects further."
You can play Vindolanda Adventure here.
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