Ready player 1? Archaeological interpretation is often focused on the physical objects from our past, either in excavation, replication through experimental archaeology, or exhibition in museums. But what other ways are available to interact with the past? In this month's episode of Finally Friday, we speak with two experts focusing on the exciting new ways that videogames can be used in archaeology.

Justyna Neuvonen is an archaeologist and game designer studying at the South Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences. Her work focuses on creating a link between game design and archaeology, and creating accessible and innovative platforms for museum visitors to interact with the past. 

Dr Aris Politopoulos is an archaeologist currently working at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. His research focuses on the intersection of video games and archaeology, and he is a post-doctoral researcher at the ‘Past-at-Play’ lab, which investigates the format of ancient games, and how contemporary games deal with the past as a subject matter.

Join us on Friday July 2nd at 18:30 Amsterdam Time on the EXARC Discord server to hear all about the different possibilities that video games can provide for archaeological interpretation, the current state of "archaeo-gaming", and exciting plans for the future. It may sound like an easy topic, but you'll soon learn that it's not all just fun and games!

Follow this link to enter the server: https://discord.gg/MJTUwc8. Once you click, you are prompted to present yourself in 1, 2 sentences and then one of us will let you in.