New video game brings Carnegie’s world to life

Education: Game developed by Abertay graduates will be rolled out to schools across the country

Philanthropist Andrew Carnegie would surely be impressed by a hi-tech game being rolled out across Scottish schools.

The educational computer game that charts Carnegie’s life has been created by Abertay University graduates.

Included in The Legacy is a digital version of his birthplace in Dunfermline and the chance to catch rats aboard the ship that took his family to America.

Aimed at S1 to S3 pupils, the game features sound clips recorded in factories in the early 1900s.

Created by Orthrus Studios, a team of university graduates, it will be piloted across six schools and could be released internationally.

Oliver Smith from Orthrus said financial backing from the Carnegie Birthplace Museum Trust, the Carnegie UK Trust and the Hunter Foundation had allowed the project to become a reality.

“The game is going to be used in conjunction with a module of learning that’s being rolled out in high schools across Scotland, and they are aiming to go international with it.”.

The finished game begins in Carnegie’s birthplace cottage and takes in the world’s first Carnegie Library, now part of the award-winning Dunfermline Carnegie Library and trading ship the SV Wiscasset.

In the project, supported by Abertay computer arts lecturer Lynn Parker, players solve puzzles in factories, learn about looms, decipher telegrams and Morse code and find out about steel production.

Gamers play as a character called Sam from the year 3000 – somehow information about the steel magnate has been lost and Sam travels back in time to find it.

A prototype has been trialled at Dunfermline High School and at Castlebrae Community High in Edinburgh.

Teachers have asked that the game, working on almost every platform, be included as an integral part of the module.

It has an editor tool where teachers and pupils can created their own levels based on pieces of Carnegie’s history.

“It’s all about making the player feel involved and like you can actually be there,” Oliver said.

The Legacy is available from carnegiebirthplace.com/teaching-resources/

It’s all about making the player feel involved and like you can actually be there. OLIVER SMITH ORTHRUS STUDIOS

Screengrabs from The Legacy, a computer game that helps tell the story of Andrew Carnegie.