Valletta: Streets of History: Documenting the Process of Developing a Location-Based Game in the Area of Maltese History and Culture

"Valletta: Streets of History" documents the design and development of a location-based augmented reality mobile game, funded by the Malta Arts Council, that invites players to act as detective-historians investigating lesser-known episodes of nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century Maltese history in Valletta. Its central argument is that detective-game mechanics can simulate the method of archival research while balancing recreational and educational aims, a balance the authors contend many serious games fail to achieve. The project is positioned within theory on historical games, intangible cultural heritage, and detective fiction, and is presented as one of the first outdoor AR games focused on Maltese history.

The development process is described in detail. A pilot game, "Burn the Witches," helped secure funding, after which roughly three months of archival research preceded a six-month production phase. Three thematic strands were selected, poverty, the 1813 plague, and the Jewish community, based on archival accessibility and a deliberate preference for marginalised, microhistorical narratives. The authors acknowledge that such selection is inherently biased and describe their choices as intentionally surfacing underrepresented groups. Narrative choices include partial fictionalisation and the retention of racist and erasing archival traces, such as an anonymised "black girl" reference, which are framed as educational prompts. Mini-games, including the "ħabba" coin game that models socioeconomic unfairness, are used to connect gameplay with historical conditions.

On the technical side, the team found that projecting AR models onto real sites was more robust than QR-code markers, which weather or passers-by can remove. The game was built in Unity with AR and GPS assets, and playtesting required in-situ visits to each location. The art direction favours impressionistic, journal-style illustration in earthy palettes, treating locations as narrators. The project's grounding is evidenced by a reference list of roughly seventy sources spanning Maltese history, games-based learning, public history, and location-based design.