Assassin's Creed Odyssey used by teacher to give history lessons

It’s fair to say that in recent years, wider society has been catching on to just what an incredible medium gaming is. Video games aren’t just fun. They’re compelling, informative, and good for our mental health.

In fact, one school teacher recently hit the headlines for using Assassin’s Creed Odyssey to teach history garnering praise from all. Why not? Of course, just because a game is set during a particular time period, it doesn’t mean that it’s wholly historically accurate, but many games do put immense effort in trying to maintain as much historical accuracy as possible. We may as well utilise that effort to teach young people history in a way that they might find fun and appealing. I recall at university, Rockstar Games’ Red Dead Redemption 2 being referenced during a seminar on depictions of the American West. There’s no reason why we should limit ourselves to depictions conveyed only through TV, film, and literature.

Assassin’s Creed Codename Red is the next instalment in the franchise and is due to take us to Feudal Japan.

As reported by AFKGaming, the teacher in question is known as Mr Mahathey who used Assassin’s Creed Origins to teach his students about Ancient Greece. While playing a segment of the game, Mr Mahathey stopped by the various buildings to convey information about Greek architecture, whilst also explaining where soldiers would be stationed and how the architecture provided a beneficial defensive position.

The video has already been viewed over 2.5 million times on TikTok. “That's smart. I would 100 percent pay way more attention if my teacher did this,” one viewer wrote, while another added, “This is how teaching should be done. Not with AC specifically. But creating a teaching style that students can relate to and engage with.”

The notion that playing video games is ‘lazy’ or ‘bad for you’ needs to be a misconception banished to the past. Let’s celebrate and utilise games to their full potential.