Over the years there have been many games that have taken inspiration from a variety of different historical time periods. One of which has been Egyptian history. Its unique history has inspired a range of films and documentaries and also video games and online slot games too.
In the gaming industry, well-known features of Egyptian history have served as inspiration such as iconic Pharaohs, queens, and architecture such as the Pyramids. Many games over the years have favoured Egypt for its beautiful scenery that offers the ideal backdrop for video games.
So how have game developers used Egypt and Egyptology for game inspiration? How are they helping to teach gamers about Egypt’s history? Here are just a few games that have been released over the years that have used inspiration from this historical period.
Assassin’s Creed: Origins
Assassin’s Creed is one of the top gaming franchises in the world and Ubisoft have used a variety of historical time periods in each of the game installments. In the main game series, 15th century Florence, Victorian era London, and Ancient Greece, are just some settings that have been used. For the Assassin’s Creed: Origins instalment, Ubisoft decided to set it in Ancient Egypt during the end of the Ptolemaic period (49-47 BC).
Prioritising authenticity
This game is popular for its quality graphics and the visually magnificent remake of Ancient Egypt within the video game is one of a kind. The cultural and environmental aspects of Egypt have been brought out in great detail throughout the video game. As a result, Assassins Creed: Origins has often been described as one of the most realistic recreations of Ancient Egypt in a video game.
According to an article by The Guardian in 2017, Ubisoft used a wide range of talent to help create an authentic Egyptian gaming experience for players. The developed used leading Egyptologists, historians, and also hieroglyphic-decipering AI for authenticity. Experts came together to create a game that was genuine and, while the game is not a wholly accurate portrayal, it aimed to be an authentic one.
Transforming education
The game has been so accurate that even professionals are using the game as a reference for teaching. Earlier this year, Ubisoft shared an article on their website about how there are now even Egyptologists teaching history through the game. ‘Playing In The Past’ is a six-part series that is happening right now up until July, that is dedicated to looking at Egypt’s history through the game. As the games rendition of Ptolemaic Egypt is thought of as one of the most accurate visualisations of Egypt, this is why it’s being used to teach people about this historical time period.
Age of Empires & Age of Mythology
The first game in the Age of Empires franchise delivers an honest representation of both domestic and military lifestyles of ancient cultures and civilisation. Released in 1997, the game has four campaign modes and one of them, Ascent of Egypt, takes players through the history of Ancient Egypt whilst equipping them with skills necessary for the bigger game.
Building the pyramids
For the Egyptian campaign in the game, developers chose the pyramids as the ‘wonder’ of this architectural style. Building this wonder in the game also reflected the effort that it would take to build one. Therefore, this wonder feature in the game requires large amounts of resources and is constructed very slowly.
The Egyptian campaign for the game also takes inspiration from a variety of well-known Egyptian Pharaohs. Player names that are available to choose include Ramses, Thutmose, Seti, Hatshepsut and many more, according to the Age Of Empires Series Wiki .
Egyptian deity inspiration
The time period must have been quite inspirational for Ensemble Studios as some of their later games including it too. In 2002, they developed Age Of Mythology which would take inspiration and mythology from a variety of time periods. The game took inspiration from the legends and mythology of Greek, Egyptian, and Norse. For the Egypt section of the game, they also used inspiration from Egyptian gods, notably important deities such as Ra, Osiris, and Set.
Although gameplay and story is fictional in Age Of Mythology, the gods mentioned were real deities that were worshipped in Ancient Egypt. According to the World History Encyclopedia, there were over 2,000 deities in the Egyptian pantheon, the most notable ones often being used thousands of years later as inspiration for video games and films. They were fundamental parts of Egyptian society and images of them would often be used in the form of statues, temples, and amulets.
Egyptian-inspired slot games
The Egyptian theme not only inspires video games but it dominates among casino slots as well. Online casinos such as Pinkcasino.co.uk have a variety of Egyptian-themed slot games available to play that have been inspired by features of Ancient Egyptian history, such as deities, pharaohs, and pyramids.
Some of the top games to play have been created by developers like Novomatic, Play’n Go, Yggdrasil Gaming and more, and include titles like Cleopatra and Mega Pyramid. With it’s combination of mystery, strong imagery and association with discovering hidden treasures, it’s easy to see why the theme of ancient Egypt resonates with players of slot machine games.
Iconic Egyptian features
There are also well known places and architecture in Egypt that have inspired a few slot games such as the Pyramids, Sphinx, and the Valley of the Kings. Many online slot games have been developed over the years which have used names, imagery, or history from these such as Valley of the Gods, Pyramid King, and Book of the Sphinx.
Religious imagery and inspiration
In the iGaming industry, there has been a wide range of imagery used in slot games that are associated with Egypt such as hieroglyphs and pyramids. Although there were thousands of deities worshipped in Ancient Egypt, there have been a few of the most well-known ones used as slot game inspiration too.
Developed by Novomatic, Book of Ra is an online slot game inspired by the Egyptian god Ra. He was god of the sun, and was believed to have ruled in the sky, on earth, and in the underworld. Other slot games like Book Of Dead take inspiration from the ancient funerary text in Ancient Egypt, the ‘Book of the Dead’, which was intended to help a person journey into the afterlife.
