The image of Peter I and his era in board and computer games

Abstract

This article explores board and computer games, which represent the image of Peter I and his era. The authors analyzed 96 board games from the nineteenth century to the present, as well as 8 computer games of various genres. The review of games shows that they often touch on historical topics, including the era of Peter the Great. Creating a game for entertainment purposes in some cases implies an educational focus in the study of history. However, any game involves simplification and schematization in the interpretation of historical processes, which contributes to the mythologization of history. On the one hand, the historical content of games is based on the use and interpretation of stable images, stereotypes, myths, and on the other hand, it contributes to the reproduction of collectively shared ideas about the past. The creators of board and computer games include Peter the Great as an iconic figure in Russian history in the gaming context. Games dedicated exclusively to his personality also occupy a significant place in the gaming industry. In them, the image of the first Russian emperor is presented stereotypically and in accordance with the prevailing ideas about him, characteristic of the era to which the game belongs. Computer games are also not free from historical myths in the interpretation of the personality of Peter I and his era, they often act as an analogue of board games both in game mechanics and in terms of content, but at the same time they have wider possibilities for visualizing history.