Historical Momentum for Silverheart

Lately there has been real historical wind in the sails for Silverheart! I am working on translating the game into English to reach a wider audience, and at the same time Silverheart has been in the spotlight in several arenas. At Berger historielag I recently gave a talk on roleplaying games as a method for communicating history. Before Christmas, Ken Mikkelsen highlighted Silverheart as an example of how roleplaying games can support learning and reflection in teaching. Read more about it in his excellent article here.

Silverheart – a game for communicating history

Silverheart is a roleplaying game rooted in the silver mining history of Kongsberg. The game has simple rules that make it easy to learn, yet it gives players the chance to explore a historical setting in depth. That makes it perfect for teaching, historical societies, and anyone who wants to experience the past through play and human interaction.

In his article, Ken highlights Silverheart as a strong example of how roleplaying games can be used to communicate history in an engaging way. In his report from visits to two folk high schools (Bjerkely and SKAP), he discussed how such games can build useful skills in communication, creativity, and collaboration. That a Norwegian roleplaying game with such deep historical roots is used in this context shows how much potential it has.

History Through Action

When I visited Berger historielag, the participants got to experience for themselves how roleplaying can bring history to life. We started with a short introduction (20 minutes) on how roleplaying games can be used to communicate history, before diving into a play session (40 minutes) where the participants created their own characters and played out a historical situation. Spirits were high, and it was fun to see how the participants immersed themselves in the story and found connections to actual historical events. Stolen silver from the mines had apparently spread all the way to Berger! In the form of some relatives' silver buttons.

This confirms what I and many others have experienced: when you get to play out a situation instead of just reading about it, history becomes more engaging and easier to understand. Silverheart makes it possible to experience Kongsberg's past in a whole new way, and gives players a feeling of being part of the story.

A Method With Great Potential

Both the talk at Berger historielag and Mikkelsen's report show that roleplaying can be a powerful method for communication. A play session takes some effort, but it offers an experience of the past that goes beyond what an ordinary history lesson can deliver. Roleplaying games can be used by teachers, historical societies, and anyone who wants to explore the past in an interactive way.

History has a lot to tell – and with roleplaying as a method, we can experience it in a whole new way!

-Karl Otto