{"id":"https://openalex.org/W7225415435","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13642529.2026.2757426","title":"\u201cAgainst a darkening background\u201d: Dark Age mechanics in Total War: Attila","display_name":"\u201cAgainst a darkening background\u201d: Dark Age mechanics in Total War: Attila","publication_year":2026,"publication_date":"2026-11-06","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W7225415435","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13642529.2026.2757426"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.1080/13642529.2026.2757426","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13642529.2026.2757426","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13642529.2026.2757426","pdf_url":"https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13642529.2026.2757426?needAccess=true","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S38956679","display_name":"Rethinking History","issn_l":"1364-2529","issn":["1364-2529","1470-1154"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"listed_in":["anvur-class-a","anvur-scientific","erih-plus","jufo-3","norway-2","poland-140","russia-white-list-1","vabb-shw"],"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310320547","host_organization_name":"Taylor & Francis","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310320547","https://openalex.org/P4310320449"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Taylor & Francis","Informa"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by-nc-nd","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by-nc-nd","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Rethinking History","raw_type":"journal-article"},"volume":null,"type":"article","is_traditional":true,"indexed_in":["crossref"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"hybrid","oa_url":"https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13642529.2026.2757426?needAccess=true","any_repository_has_fulltext":false},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5075674777","display_name":"Robert Houghton","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2966-2097","observed_orcids":["https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2966-2097"]},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I184461854","display_name":"University of Winchester","ror":"https://ror.org/03fmjzx88","country_code":"GB","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I184461854"]}],"countries":["GB"],"is_corresponding":true,"raw_author_name":"Robert Houghton","raw_affiliation_strings":["University of Winchester"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2966-2097","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"University of Winchester","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I184461854"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":1,"institutions_distinct_count":1,"corresponding_author_ids":["https://openalex.org/A5075674777"],"corresponding_institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I184461854"],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":0.0,"has_fulltext":true,"cited_by_count":0,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.0,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":false},"cited_by_percentile_year":null,"biblio":{"volume":null,"issue":null,"first_page":"1","last_page":"38"},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11197","display_name":"Digital Games and Media","score":0.9848999977111816,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/3312","display_name":"Sociology and Political Science"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/33","display_name":"Social Sciences"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/2","display_name":"Social Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11197","display_name":"Digital Games and Media","score":0.9848999977111816,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/3312","display_name":"Sociology and Political Science"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/33","display_name":"Social Sciences"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/2","display_name":"Social Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10731","display_name":"Educational Games and Gamification","score":0.004800000227987766,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/3204","display_name":"Developmental and Educational Psychology"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/32","display_name":"Psychology"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/2","display_name":"Social Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T12777","display_name":"Philosophy, History, and Historiography","score":0.00430000014603138,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1202","display_name":"History"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/12","display_name":"Arts and Humanities"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/2","display_name":"Social Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/fall-of-the-roman-empire","display_name":"fall of the Roman Empire","score":0.753000020980835},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/genre-conventions","display_name":"genre conventions","score":0.7149999737739563},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/historical-representation","display_name":"historical representation","score":0.5630000233650208},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/dark-ages","display_name":"Dark Ages","score":0.4569999873638153},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/attila","display_name":"Attila","score":0.5860000252723694},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/player-immersion","display_name":"player immersion","score":0.3070000112056732}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C12713177","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1900281","display_name":"Perspective (graphical)","level":2,"score":0.646399974822998},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C111472728","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9471","display_name":"Epistemology","level":1,"score":0.48829999566078186},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C192209626","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q190909","display_name":"Focus (optics)","level":2,"score":0.4641999900341034},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C95457728","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q309","display_name":"History","level":0,"score":0.4472000002861023},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2781291010","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q178580","display_name":"Period (music)","level":2,"score":0.37450000643730164},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C107038049","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35986","display_name":"Aesthetics","level":1,"score":0.30149999260902405},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C33332235","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18362","display_name":"Theoretical physics","level":1,"score":0.2976999878883362},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C124952713","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8242","display_name":"Literature","level":1,"score":0.2976999878883362},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C144024400","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21201","display_name":"Sociology","level":0,"score":0.2962999939918518},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2779337418","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q217192","display_name":"Dark Ages","level":5,"score":0.29190000891685486},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C57879066","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q41217","display_name":"Mechanics","level":1,"score":0.290800005197525},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C138885662","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5891","display_name":"Philosophy","level":0,"score":0.27059999108314514}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":1,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.1080/13642529.2026.2757426","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13642529.2026.2757426","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13642529.2026.2757426","pdf_url":"https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13642529.2026.2757426?needAccess=true","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S38956679","display_name":"Rethinking History","issn_l":"1364-2529","issn":["1364-2529","1470-1154"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"listed_in":["anvur-class-a","anvur-scientific","erih-plus","jufo-3","norway-2","poland-140","russia-white-list-1","vabb-shw"],"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310320547","host_organization_name":"Taylor & Francis","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310320547","https://openalex.org/P4310320449"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Taylor & Francis","Informa"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by-nc-nd","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by-nc-nd","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Rethinking History","raw_type":"journal-article"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.1080/13642529.2026.2757426","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13642529.2026.2757426","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13642529.2026.2757426","pdf_url":"https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13642529.2026.2757426?needAccess=true","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S38956679","display_name":"Rethinking History","issn_l":"1364-2529","issn":["1364-2529","1470-1154"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"listed_in":["anvur-class-a","anvur-scientific","erih-plus","jufo-3","norway-2","poland-140","russia-white-list-1","vabb-shw"],"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310320547","host_organization_name":"Taylor & Francis","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310320547","https://openalex.org/P4310320449"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Taylor & Francis","Informa"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by-nc-nd","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by-nc-nd","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Rethinking History","raw_type":"journal-article"},"sustainable_development_goals":[],"study_designs":[],"awards":[],"funders":[],"has_content":{"grobid_xml":true,"pdf":true},"content_urls":{"pdf":"https://content.openalex.org/works/W7225415435.pdf","grobid_xml":"https://content.openalex.org/works/W7225415435.grobid-xml"},"referenced_works_count":67,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W140088201","https://openalex.org/W592495163","https://openalex.org/W606509746","https://openalex.org/W1585590435","https://openalex.org/W1608765113","https://openalex.org/W1971326377","https://openalex.org/W1974770603","https://openalex.org/W2001713766","https://openalex.org/W2009735532","https://openalex.org/W2026341039","https://openalex.org/W2033576677","https://openalex.org/W2080951396","https://openalex.org/W2119146910","https://openalex.org/W2129676018","https://openalex.org/W2143799709","https://openalex.org/W2260849677","https://openalex.org/W2276218358","https://openalex.org/W2310778555","https://openalex.org/W2365016978","https://openalex.org/W2478068158","https://openalex.org/W2493679491","https://openalex.org/W2499110028","https://openalex.org/W2513235482","https://openalex.org/W2594325621","https://openalex.org/W2605880839","https://openalex.org/W2624185739","https://openalex.org/W2766137789","https://openalex.org/W2796722142","https://openalex.org/W2886547952","https://openalex.org/W2900099627","https://openalex.org/W2947108329","https://openalex.org/W3003665370","https://openalex.org/W3003719577","https://openalex.org/W3003791930","https://openalex.org/W3004054618","https://openalex.org/W3004267913","https://openalex.org/W3004346533","https://openalex.org/W3135600533","https://openalex.org/W3135943236","https://openalex.org/W3136645816","https://openalex.org/W3136744300","https://openalex.org/W3161169114","https://openalex.org/W3191809022","https://openalex.org/W3197206479","https://openalex.org/W3211749327","https://openalex.org/W4230117400","https://openalex.org/W4230282246","https://openalex.org/W4237992540","https://openalex.org/W4252066030","https://openalex.org/W4255226935","https://openalex.org/W4293186228","https://openalex.org/W4304202564","https://openalex.org/W4304202908","https://openalex.org/W4312740712","https://openalex.org/W4323764661","https://openalex.org/W4385144526","https://openalex.org/W4386623412","https://openalex.org/W4386623466","https://openalex.org/W4386625611","https://openalex.org/W4386649282","https://openalex.org/W4386649312","https://openalex.org/W4386649418","https://openalex.org/W4386649503","https://openalex.org/W4389368050","https://openalex.org/W4391394261","https://openalex.org/W4401736371","https://openalex.org/W6964858563"],"related_works":["https://openalex.org/W3211749327","https://openalex.org/W2774954060","https://openalex.org/W7225118365","https://openalex.org/W7222585223","https://openalex.org/W2188938151","https://openalex.org/W3196744028","https://openalex.org/W7128098827","https://openalex.org/W3119950300","https://openalex.org/W4408801729","https://openalex.org/W6943383310"],"abstract_inverted_index":{"This":[0],"article":[1,94],"addresses":[2],"the":[3,24,57,98],"role":[4],"of":[5,13,26,51,56,74,102,129],"mechanics":[6,43],"in":[7],"facilitating":[8],"time":[9,130],"travel":[10],"for":[11],"players":[12,85],"strategy":[14,41,108],"games,":[15],"with":[16,116],"a":[17,29,46,69,87,112,125],"particular":[18],"focus":[19],"on":[20],"games":[21,109],"that":[22,65],"address":[23],"Fall":[25],"Rome":[27],"and":[28,48,71,106,120,122],"central":[30],"case":[31],"study":[32],"around":[33],"Total":[34],"War:":[35],"Attila.":[36],"It":[37],"argues":[38],"that,":[39,96],"while":[40],"game":[42],"can":[44,110],"provide":[45,111,124],"deep":[47],"complex":[49],"account":[50],"historical":[52,118],"forces,":[53],"their":[54,80,84],"representations":[55],"past":[58],"are":[59],"often":[60],"stymied":[61],"by":[62],"genre":[63,104],"conventions":[64,105],"generally":[66],"lead":[67],"to":[68,82],"flat":[70],"narrow":[72],"perspective":[73],"global":[75],"history":[76],"which":[77],"fundamentally":[78],"undermines":[79],"ability":[81],"transport":[83],"into":[86],"different":[88],"period":[89],"or":[90,100],"culture.":[91],"Nevertheless,":[92],"this":[93],"maintains":[95],"through":[97],"alteration":[99],"rejection":[101],"typical":[103],"mechanics,":[107],"more":[113,126],"thoughtful":[114],"engagement":[115],"varied":[117],"periods":[119],"cultures,":[121],"thus":[123],"effective":[127],"means":[128],"travel.":[131]},"counts_by_year":[],"updated_date":"2026-11-11T12:16:26.678958","created_date":"2026-11-07T00:00:00"}