Museum apps: gaming meets cultural heritage
Three Italian museum apps blend gaming with cultural heritage. The MANN (Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli) released 'Father and Son', a 2D side-scrolling narrative game exploring love, dreams, and fear through a son's journey to discover his archaeologist father. Players traverse historical eras from Ancient Rome to Egypt, the Bourbon period, and modern Naples, experiencing the 79 AD eruption of Vesuvius in Pompeii. The app is free on iOS and Android. The Louvre's 'The Messenger' originated as a 2001 Canal+ computer game (rated 61/100) and was re-released on the App Store in 2012 by Microids, receiving high user ratings despite mediocre critical reception. It costs €3.99 on iOS. The Russian Museum of Arms created 'Heroes and Arms', a free app on iOS and Android featuring 3D-modelled weapons from the Russian Empire, USSR, and Soviet Republic. Users can disassemble, reassemble, and fire weapons, with slow-motion and X-ray views, alongside technical and historical information about Russian battles and politics.
Key facts
- Father and Son is the first video game published by an archaeological museum (MANN Naples).
- Father and Son is a 2D side-scrolling narrative game exploring love, dreams, and fear.
- Players traverse Ancient Rome, Egypt, Bourbon period, and modern Naples in Father and Son.
- Father and Son includes a segment set in 79 AD Pompeii before the Vesuvius eruption.
- Louvre – The Messenger originated as a 2001 Canal+ computer game rated 61/100.
- The Messenger was re-released on the App Store in 2012 by Microids.
- The Messenger costs €3.99 on iOS.
- Heroes and Arms features 3D-modelled weapons from Russian Empire, USSR, and Soviet Republic.
Entities
Institutions
- MANN (Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli)
- Louvre
- Canal+
- Microids
- Russian Museum of Arms
Locations
- Naples
- Italy
- Pompeii
- Russia