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Museums · Library · Game

Every age left a trace.

Online museums, books and a game for exploring history through evidence. Your companions are Veritas and Aletheia, two fictional travellers who have come to understand us.

Explore the museumsPlay the alpha
  • Prehistory is free.
  • You can read every exhibit without signing up.
  • For families and classrooms, from age 10.
Aletheia and Veritas, seen from behind, look at Earth through a large window aboard the ship Arca.
Aletheia, on the left, and Veritas look at Earth from the ship Arca. Illustration made with AI.

01What you can do today

Three doors, one story

Start wherever you like. The museums, the books and the game share the same places, characters and sources.

The Lady of Elche, an Iberian stone bust with large coils on either side of her face.
Lady of Elche5th–4th century BCE · Museo Arqueológico Nacional, MadridPhoto: José Luis Filpo Cabana · CC BY 3.0

Available today25 museums · 959 exhibits

Museums

Objects, places and people from cultures all over the world, each with its sources.

You can read the exhibits without an account. To walk through a museum in 3D, create a free account.

See the museums
Antes de las ciudades (Before Cities)First volume in the series, in SpanishProvisional cover

Available todayVolume 1 · free online, in Spanish

Library

The first novel in the series can be read in full online.

No sign-up and no email address needed.

Read Volume 1 (in Spanish) See the library
Game screenshot: the Sarımğara camp at the foot of a large rock shelter, with a fire at the cave mouth and small figures, late in the afternoon.
The Sarımğara campGame screenshot, without the interface

Available today · alphaFree · in your browser · 3 to 4 hours · in Spanish

Game

Step into a camp from more than 11,000 years ago and help its people through ten adventures.

No account needed. Your progress is saved in this browser.

Play the alpha

02The story

In 1974, Earth sent a message to the stars

It begins with a real message and carries on as a science-fiction adventure.

Illustration of the Arecibo radio telescope, its great dish set among forested hills.
The Arecibo radio telescope, Puerto Rico. Illustration made with AI.

The Arecibo message and the site of Çakmaktepe are real. The beacon, Arca, the Avenyth, their travellers and the Sarımğara clan are fiction.

  1. 1974Real

    The Arecibo message

    On 16 November 1974, the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico sent 1,679 ones and zeros towards the star cluster M13. Arranged in 73 rows of 23, they form a picture: numbers, DNA, a human figure, the Solar System and the telescope itself.

  2. Fiction

    The beacon

    A beacon belonging to the Avenyth, a distant civilisation, finds the trace the signal left in time and alerts its network.

  3. Fiction

    Arca

    The Avenyth decide not to reply yet. First they send the ship Arca to meet the people who asked the question.

  4. Fiction

    Veritas and Aletheia

    Two travellers from Arca open windows onto the past. They can watch and help, but never change what happened.

  5. c. 9600 BCEReal place

    Çakmaktepe

    This is where the first window opens, in what is now south-eastern Turkey. A group of hunter-gatherers was spending more and more time here.

03How we work

We tell you what we know, and what we don't

Every exhibit uses four labels, always the same ones, so you can see how much we can say for sure.

An example: Ötzi, the man the Alpine ice preserved for about 5,300 years
LabelWhat it meansFor Ötzi
VerifiedThere is enough evidence to support the basic idea.He had 61 tattoos and an arrowhead lodged in his shoulder.
PossibleIt fits the clues, although another explanation may exist.Many of his tattoos sit over worn joints. They may have been meant to ease pain.
DebatedSpecialists interpret the evidence in different ways.What he did for a living. Some see a chief; others, a herder or a shaman.
ReconstructedWe imagine it from clues, and we say so.His face. The portrait takes a 2023 DNA study into account, but the features are imagined.
Read Ötzi's exhibit

We give a face to people who left no portrait

Nobody painted Ötzi or the man in grave 43 at Varna. Giving them a face helps us see a person where only remains were left. Every recreation explains what it is based on and what we have imagined.

How we work with sources Open documentation: 20 public documents
Recreated portrait of Ötzi on a black background, wearing a bearskin cap and a coat of light and dark strips.
Portrait recreated with AI
Real person

Ötzi

The Alps, c. 3300 BCE. His body, his clothes and his tools survived.

Recreated portrait of a Copper Age man wearing gold ornaments, on a black background.
Portrait recreated with AI
Real person · recreated from their remains

The important man of Varna

Bulgaria, c. 4500 BCE. He was buried with a sceptre and a wealth of gold ornaments. We know neither his name nor his face.

Portrait of a fictional character: Kael, a long-haired man in hide clothing, on a black background.
Portrait made with AI
Fictional character

Kael

c. 9600 BCE. He never existed: we invented him for the game, in a real place, Çakmaktepe.

04The game · free alpha

Before Cities

The first campaign takes you to Sarımğara Çakmaktepe, around 9600 BCE. You explore the camp, meet its people and help them with everyday problems: fire, warm clothing, food. Nobody hands you the answer; you work it out from the clues.

Play the alpha

Free, in your browser and, for now, in Spanish only. The first load downloads over 100 MB.

Your travelling companions

Aletheia and Veritas will join you

Both will cross the first window with you. Aletheia asks whose voice is missing; Veritas asks what we can verify. Both listen, compare evidence and help without deciding for you.

In the alpha, Aletheia and Veritas are with you from the start, though you cannot see them yet.

Concept portrait of Aletheia
Avenyth · travelling companion

Aletheia

Wants to hear from everyone.
Joins you as you get to know them.

Concept portrait of Veritas
Avenyth · travelling companion

Veritas

Pays attention to details.
Helps you check your ideas.

The people of Sarımğara

Fictional characters

These are some of the people you will meet in Sarımğara. Other adults, children and elders share the camp with them. Their names, faces and choices are invented, and their portraits are made with AI. The place, the tools and the remains are real.

Concept portrait of Kael
Hunter and protector

Kael

Knows the paths and the hunt.
Welcomes you to the camp.

Concept portrait of Tala
Experience and care

Tala

Prepares hides for warm clothing.
Helps people who need a hand.

Concept portrait of Oru
Painter and storyteller

Oru

Paints and tells stories.
People listen by the fire after dinner.

Concept portrait of Bora
Tracker

Bora

Follows animal tracks.
Shows you what to look for.

Concept portrait of Sira
Gatherer

Sira

Gathers plants for food.
Keeps some for later.

Concept portrait of Lorn
Craftsperson

Lorn

Works with stone and wood.
Shows you how he tests his tools.

Fictional character portrait: Ena
Luma’s mother · Tala’s daughter

Ena

Makes a necklace for her daughter.
Shares the work with her family.

Fictional character portrait: Daro
Explorer · Kael’s brother

Daro

Meets people on his journeys.
Returns with news and a promise.

Fictional character portrait: Luma
Seven years old · Ena and Daro’s daughter

Luma

Wants to choose a necklace bead.
Always has another question.

Ten adventures

The alpha can now be played all the way through, from the arrival to the end.

  1. 1.0Arrival · The beads of SarımğaraFour small stones are still missing for the necklace Ena is making for Luma.

I · Earning a place

  1. 1.1The sacred fireThe wind threatens the only ember kept ready for the night.
  2. 1.2Warmth for winterOne of Tala's garments lets the wind through, and the night will be cold.
  3. 1.3The aurochs of the steppeA huge aurochs is crossing the area. Hunt it, or let it pass?

II · Learning daily life

  1. 1.4Seeds of changeSira shows you how to recognise plants by several signs.
  2. 1.5Oru's coloursOru is looking for a paint that will not rub off the stone.
  3. 1.6When food runs shortMore people arrive than expected, and there is not enough food.

III · Putting it into practice

  1. 1.7Signs in the nightThe group must get back in the dark, and clouds hide the stars.
  2. 1.8Tracks against the windAfter the rain, the tracks of gazelle, aurochs and people cross one another.
  3. 1.9Carving stone spoons and bowlsAfter an eight-hour walk to Göbekli Tepe, Lorn compares stone bowls with other materials.

IV · Deciding together

  1. 1.10Tala's crossroadsLuma is ill, and the group decides how to support her family.

05Museums by region

Choose where to start

Start with Prehistory, which is free, then follow whichever region draws you in. These cultures meet and influence one another: they are not rungs on a ladder of progress.

Four views of the Willendorf figurine, a small female figure carved in limestone with traces of red ochre.
Willendorf figurineabout 29,500 years old · Naturhistorisches Museum WienPhoto: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen · CC BY-SA 4.0

The beginning

Prehistory

From the first humans to the Copper Age: tools, art and people.

Free94 exhibits

See the collection Walk through it in 3D

The beginning

Africa

West Asia

South Asia

East Asia

Europe and the Aegean

Eurasian steppe

Americas

See all the museums

06Families and schools

For families and classrooms

It is made for anyone from about 10 upwards: clear writing for beginners, and sources for anyone who wants to know more.

In class
Open Ötzi's exhibit and sort what is verified and what is imagined into two columns.
At home
Play the first adventure together and talk about what you would have decided.
The Royal Game of Ur board, with twenty decorated squares, playing pieces and dice.
Royal Game of UrUr (Iraq), 2600–2400 BCE · British MuseumPeople were already playing on this board some 4,500 years ago.Photo: Szilas · CC BY-SA 4.0

Audio guides for every age

The museum reads each exhibit aloud, with a text suited to whoever is listening. You can always choose a simpler version.

  • Children (up to 13)
  • Teens (14–17)
  • Adults

Group visits

Up to 30 people, including the organiser. The organiser prepares up to 20 questions, and the group looks for the answers in the exhibits, individually or in teams.

Adult Patrons and school staff can organise a visit. Joining with an invitation is free.

Organise or join a group visit

Schools

Your school can ask for a yearly price for all its pupils, based on the number of pupils and the museums you need.

Ask for a school price

07Prices

Clear prices

Prehistory is free. For the other museums you will pay once, with no subscription.

Payments not yet active

Until payments are switched on, all museums remain open with your free account.

  • Prehistory

    Free

    The museum and the game. They will stay free once payments are switched on.

  • Ticket

    $2.50 per museum

    One-off payment: the museum stays in your account, with the 3D visit, the gallery and the audio guides.

  • VIP pass

    $3 per museum

    Everything in the ticket, plus extra stories with sources. If you already have the ticket, you only pay the difference.

  • Lifetime Patron

    $49 once

    Every museum with a VIP pass, for ever, and everything we publish later.

Prices in US dollars (USD), taxes included.

See prices and Patron

08In the works

Coming next

None of this is ready yet. We share it so you know where we are heading.

Character conversations
You will be able to ask the museums' characters questions, starting with Prehistory.
Comic
The story as a comic, in manga and in a vertical format for phones. For now there is only a script for the pilot, not yet drawn. See the pilot script
Teaser
A short video that introduces the story. It is in production.
PC and consoles
A more detailed version of the game, with group play for up to five people. No release date yet.
Community
The Patrons' community: a moderated space to suggest exhibits and report mistakes.
Shop
Printed books and a few objects from the project.
See the project status

09Questions

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost?

Prehistory is free. Each of the other museums will have a $2.50 ticket or a $3 VIP pass, paid once, and Lifetime Patron will cost $49. Until payments are switched on, all museums remain open with your free account.

Do I need an account?

Not to read the exhibits or Volume 1, or to play the alpha. You do need one to walk through the museums in 3D and save your visit. The account is free and we never ask for a card.

What ages is it for?

Anyone from about 10 upwards. The audio guides adapt to each age. If you are under 18, ask a parent or guardian to help you create your account.

How do I organise a visit with my class?

Create your account, open Group visits and set up your educator profile. You can invite up to 29 people, and each joins with their own free account. To use it all year, ask for a price for your school.

Is the game available yet?

Yes, as an alpha: the whole Prehistory campaign, free in your browser and in Spanish only for now. It takes three to four hours, with mouse and keyboard or touch controls. The PC and console edition has no release date yet.

What is real and what is invented?

The places and objects in the museums are real, and every exhibit cites its sources. When a person has been recreated or invented, the exhibit says so and explains why. In the story that ties it all together, the Arecibo message is real; Arca, the Avenyth, Veritas, Aletheia and the Sarımğara clan are fiction.

Can I talk to the characters yet?

Not yet. The conversations are being prepared and will start with Prehistory. Meanwhile, you can read their stories in the museum.

Which languages is it in?

The website and the museums are translated: choose your language from the menu. The game and Volume 1 are only in Spanish for now.

The first window is ready

Which trace would you follow first?

Explore the museumsPlay the alpha free
Read Volume 1 (in Spanish)