Test your knowledge of Norwich’s history in a new interactive touchscreen game, from the Heritage Economic and Regeneration Trust (HEART).
Do you know which Norwich entertainment venue was once a Dominican Friary?
True or false – Charles Dickens came to Norwich especially to see a hanging at the Castle?
How old is Snap the Dragon?
Answer these and many more on the new free-to-play HistOracle game, hosted on a special interactive touch table in Fusion in The Forum.
Can you find the ‘path to the past’ by answering a series of questions about the history of Norwich? For every level you complete you light another step on the path in this quiz-style game, bringing you closer to Historic Norwich.
Categories to test your knowledge include the Norwich 12 – 12 iconic buildings spanning 1,000 years of history, people, events, river, the arts, health, religion, construction, law and trade; and there are a mix of question styles, including archive images, films and virtual reality, to get you thinking – from multiple choice and true or false, to pairing images with text (“match the illness to their medieval cures”).
The game is born out of the HistOracle database – a joint project between HEART and the Schools of History and Computer Sciences at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, which was funded by the Technology Strategy Board’s Knowledge Transfer Partnerships programme. The intention of this unique partnership was to centralise the abundant yet currently segregated information relating to the heritage of Norwich in a publically accessible database (the www.historacle.co.uk research tool) and interactive platform (the game). The HistOracle Knowledge Transfer Partnership project was assessed as ‘very good’ by an independent panel.
The interactive touchscreen adaptation of HistOracle was devised by Norwich based heritage interpretation specialists Ugly Studios, to tell the stories of Norwich throughout the centuries to a general audience in a fun interactive quiz, and to encourage people to explore more of the city’s history.
Michael Loveday, Chief Executive of HEART, said: “Our core mission is to make heritage more accessible, engaging and enjoyable for everyone and we believe that the touch table in the Forum certainly does that. However, the table content is the tip of a heritage iceberg, developed over nearly two years in partnership with the UEA and we now need to find further funding or sponsorship to help us to make the content of the database more accessible through the Internet.”
Professor John Charmley, Associate Dean (Enterprise and Engagement) at the University of East Anglia, stated: “UEA is delighted that this collaboration between two of its leading Schools is helping people to get a better access to their own past. The game is a way of encouraging people into using the HistOracle, which provides instant access to sources about the rich history of a fine city.”
The new interactive touchscreen HistOracle game is available to play in Fusion, in The Forum. Fusion is open Monday to Saturday, 10am-5pm (closed Sundays and Bank Holidays), and entry is free.
The HistOracle game was part-funded through HEART’s SHAPING 24 project, a cultural heritage and tourism initiative taking forward the Norwich 12 project with the Belgian city of Ghent. The SHAPING 24 project was funded by the European Union’s European Regional Development Fund (INTERREG IVA 2 Seas Cross-border Cooperation Programme 2007-2013).
Answers to quiz questions:
St Andrew’s & Blackfriars’ Halls; True – Charles Dickens came to Norwich to see the hanging of murderer James Rush; Snap is approximately 500 years old.
Cantor’s Theatre School
