The Brief

To mark the 350th anniversary of the most devastating fire in London's history, the Museum of London commissioned a set of 3 maps to educate and engage a young audience with one of London's most infamous historical events.

The Build

We developed 3 unique Minecraft adventure maps which recreate the setting of 17th century London before, during and after the fire. In the first map, the players explore the architecture of pre-fire London. In the second map they learn about, and assist in, the efforts to limit the fire’s damage – encountering characters and narratives relevant to the event. The final map gives the players opportunity to design their own version of the new city, whilst learning from the lessons of the several proposals by contemporary architects.

The Result

The project gained huge media attention worldwide, and a report on it was broadcast on China’s national television network. The project was also mentioned in the UK Houses of Parliament by Lord Ashton, the Minister of Culture, Media and Sport as an exemplar of positive digital museum practice.

To date the project has gained over 30,000 downloads and over 1 million views of project-related video content on YouTube. The project has been downloaded in over 113 different countries including China, France and South Korea.