The work of Bitcasters and 2KGames in partnership with the Canadian Historical Society and Historical Canada comes this very unique way of learning Canadian colonial history – HistoriCanada, a free expansion pack for the PC game Civilization III: Conquests. They’re also donating 100,000 copies of Civ3 to high schools.
The game starts off in 1525, nine years before Cartier first lands in what is now known as Quebec. Setting the stage for the upcoming cultural collision, players get to play one of the seven First Nations, England or France, to fight for territory.
In this way, players can create their own alternate virtual history, based on real geographical and culture variables. Maybe a history where the Europeans are driven from the New World, or where the French becomes the dominant society. It’s a cool way to teach students that history is more than dates and places and people with funny hats. [via Shacknews]