| Summary: | <p>Video games now comprise the largest sector of the media entertainment
industry. Hundreds of video games, spanning a huge variety of genres and
platforms, use extinct animals and/or palaeontological themes as a basis for
their gameplay. Because of this, many players, especially children, spend
long periods of time engaging with and being immersed in palaeontological
concepts and themes. Video games may be the first medium of implicit or
tangential science communication they engage with, especially with regards
to palaeontology. However, commercial off-the-shelf video games are not
primarily designed to be educational tools, and the proliferation of some
common tropes can disseminate harmful and/or unethical (mis)information
regarding palaeontology. This paper introduces the major types of
palaeontological video games and discusses their educational potential. We
highlight the most common palaeontological tropes, both positive and negative, observed in video games to better equip science communicators regarding the
perception of palaeontology (and ancient animals) in this massively
influential medium that they may encounter when undertaking scientific
engagement. Furthermore, by highlighting common misconceptions and harmful
tropes, we aim to bring awareness to game developers, who may be unaware that
they could be propagating negative tropes about palaeontological science.</p>
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