Elsewhere, they can try their hand at archery, or learn to write from the local scribe. At one point, gamers are tasked with giving a sermon inspired by Jan Hus, a Czech religious radical executed in 1415. Releasing their product in 2018, the Czech developers received praise for the historical depth of their creation – a fact readily appreciated by anyone who's played it.

As the art historical consultant and concept art coordinator at Warhorse Studios, she was instrumental in the development of Kingdom Come: Deliverance, a role-playing title set in 15th-Century Bohemia. Nowak is in an excellent position to explore these shifts.

Where once it was mere window-dressing, history expert Joanna Katarzyna Nowak argues that recent games 'really follow' the past. Speak to industry insiders, however, and you get the impression that history has lately elbowed its way to greater prominence. Around the turn of the millennium, Medal of Honour: Allied Assault let shooter fans relive the chaos of the Normandy landings. As far back as 1986, for instance, punters became pirates in the 18th-Century strategy title Pirates of the Barbary Coast. Video games have always borrowed from history. Zoom in, and they'll notice the buzzing of biplanes, and how every shell blasts soil up into the air. On a strategic level, players are encouraged to appreciate the attritional nature of trench warfare, each attack incrementally denting their army's resources and national morale. This partnership can be glimpsed in the game's canvas – and its smallest specifics. 'We wanted to create that authentic World War One experience,' says Chris Becker, The Great War's lead designer, noting that Petroglyph worked with London's Imperial War Museum to make their product as 'plausible' as possible. But it's clear that the team at developer Petroglyph Games took its setting seriously. This is hardly the first game to use history as its frame. Super Mario Bros: The ultimate video game icon Responsible for everything from organising troops to launching observation balloons, gamers can lead the fight from both sides of the wire – either as the Allies or Germany – using an aerial view of the battlefield and a large map of Belgium and France. Released on 30 March, The Great War: Western Front turns players into generals, mixing grand strategy with the slog of the trenches. There are many images of World War One sewn into the popular imagination, but now video gamers are able to experience the conflict's Earth-churning intensity as if first-hand.

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