VR Archeology: Secrets of Kulikovo Field is a free educational VR experience from Russian studio RIALAB, released on SteamVR in November 2022. Where its stablemate Krusenstern leans into narrative and text, this one puts tangible activities front and centre: you dig, sift, restore, and ultimately pick up a reconstructed medieval bow and fire it. For educational VR, that makes it meaningfully more hands-on than most history titles.

The setting is the Kulikovo Field battlefield in what is now the Tula region of Russia, site of the Battle of Kulikovo on 8 September 1380, in which Dmitry Donskoy led a coalition of Rus princes against the forces of the Golden Horde under Mamai. The battle is regarded as a foundational moment in Russian national identity, though it remains largely absent from British and American history curricula. The game approaches it through the lens of modern archaeology: the site has been excavated for decades, and scientists are still uncovering evidence of the battle.

Players rotate through three roles: archaeologist (excavating the dig site), restoration expert (cleaning and piecing together damaged artefacts in a field laboratory), and re-enactor (handling period military equipment and practising medieval archery). The variety of activities makes it more engaging than a purely passive experience, and the archery mechanic in particular has been highlighted as a genuinely fun and memorable moment.

The Battle of Kulikovo took place on 8 September 1380 on a field where the Nepryadva river meets the Don, in what is now the Tula region of central Russia. It was one of the largest battles of medieval Europe, involving tens of thousands of troops on both sides.

Prince Dmitry of Moscow, later known as Dmitry Donskoy ("of the Don"), led a coalition of Rus principalities against the Mongol-Tatar forces of the Golden Horde commanded by Mamai. The Rus victory, while not immediately ending Mongol dominance over Russia, is considered the beginning of the end of the Tatar Yoke and a pivotal moment in the emergence of a unified Russian national identity. Dmitry Donskoy was later canonised as a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The precise location of the battle was debated for centuries and archaeological investigation of the site is ongoing. The Kulikovo Field State Museum and Reserve was established in 1996 and continues active excavation and conservation work, making it an unusually live and current archaeological site.