Playing with Fire: Confronting History’s Dark Past

For its November edition, History@Play teams up with Game On.

How can a game make us confront the darkest chapters of our past? How can interactive experiences challenge us to reflect on political conflict, social upheaval, and the legacies of difficult heritage?

Video Games designed for purposes beyond entertainment are increasingly tackling complex historical and political themes, engaging players in critical reflection while immersing them in compelling narratives.

For this year’s participation in Game On, and in collaboration with Rotondes, the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung  (BPB) and Paintbucket Games, History@Play turns its attention to video games that confront difficult history and heritage.

Programme

“6 Weeks”, talk and live demo session with Dr. Felix Zimmermann (Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung) and Yannick Pawils (Paintbucket Games)

In Room 5, join us for an exclusive look behind the scenes of “6 Weeks”, a forthcoming historical-political game set in 1970s West Germany that immerses players in the tense atmosphere of social unrest, radical movements, and state responses to political violence. Dr. Felix Zimmermann, consultant for games culture, civic education, and extremism at the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (Federal Agency for Civic Education, BPB), will introduce the project while Yannick Pawils, developer at the award-winning studio Paintbucket games, will give the audience an insight on the game developer’s perspective and on the process of turning complex and controversial historical moments into a video game.

The workshop participants will have the chance to try an unreleased alpha version of the game.

This session is intended for an adult audience and is particularly aimed at educators, game developers, and anyone with an interest in history, politics, or games.

The workshop, free of charge, will be held in German and every participant will receive a goodie bag. Places are limited, please register.

Paintbucket Games | Rust & Research

In the main hall, the general public will be able to explore several of Paintbucket Games published titles, all of which address challenging episodes of history through interactive storytelling. The featured games will include:

• The Darkest Files – Players take on the role of a prosecutor investigating Nazi crimes, piecing together evidence, interviewing witnesses, and confronting the moral challenges of seeking justice after the war.
• Through the Darkest of Times – A historical resistance strategy game set in Nazi Germany, where players lead a small underground group fighting back against dictatorship through leaflets, sabotage, and survival.
• Beholder 3 – A dystopian surveillance game in which players are forced to spy on tenants and report to an authoritarian regime, highlighting the ethical dilemmas of power, control, and resistance.
• Erinnern. Bullenhuser Damm – An interactive experience commemorating the children murdered at the Bullenhuser Damm school in Hamburg, encouraging players to engage with memory culture and historical responsibility.
• Max Mannheimer – Ben Jakov – A narrative game about Holocaust survivor Max Mannheimer, exploring his story and legacy while fostering reflection on memory, trauma, and resilience.

Playing with Fire evokes the risks and responsibilities of engaging with the darker sides of history, those that burn, unsettle, and yet illuminate. The title also recalls another kind of fire: the flames that once roared through Belval’s blast furnaces, shaping the steel and the stories of this landscape before it became a site of knowledge, culture, and innovation.

• Add to calendar