Video Games and Imagining the Ottoman Past: A Discussion of the Educational Games The Hajj Trail and Seyahat

Speakers: Tyler Kynn
Discussant: Erdem Kabadayı
Date & Time: 18 December, Thursday, 17:00
Location: ANAMED Auditorium

This conversation will explore two educational games set in the seventeenth-century Ottoman world—The Hajj Trail (2021) and Seyahat: A Journey to Mecca (2024) developed primarily by Professor Tyler Kynn. The Hajj Trail is a free, text-based browser game that follows the early modern Ottoman pilgrimage route from Sarajevo to Mecca, drawing on primary sources to immerse players in the social history of the Ottoman world. Seyahat: A Journey to Mecca—currently in development and available for free on Steam—serves as its spiritual successor, shifting from text to a visual medium inspired by Ottoman painting. The goal is to immerse players more deeply in the historical experience and reimagine the Ottoman past through visuals rooted in its own artistic traditions.

This conversation will reflect on how lessons from developing The Hajj Trail shaped Seyahat's design, mechanics, and educational goals. Both projects were guided by a broader recognition: games, whether used in classrooms or not, profoundly influence how students imagine the past. Ultimately, the discussion considers whether scholars can—or should—engage in game development to reach wider audiences, challenge dominant narratives in games, and connect students with Ottoman history in the digital spaces they already inhabit. Together, the two games serve as experiments in using design, content, and classroom integration to meet these aims.