What Were Caravanserais?

A thousand years ago, monumental stone caravanserais stretched across the trade routes of Anatolia, in what is now Türkiye. Built during the Seljuk period, these structures provided shelter, food, and protection for merchants, pilgrims, and travellers crossing the Silk Roads.

They were resting places, trade nodes, and cultural meeting points along one of history’s most important networks of exchange.

Many survive today only in fragments. SILK 2.0 brings them back into public memory through immersive digital reconstruction.

Not a Game. An Expedition.

SILK 2.0 is a research-driven cultural experience, not a conventional video game. It was built by an international academic team that has spent years in the field: surveying, documenting, and digitally reconstructing six of the most significant caravanserais on the Silk Roads.

Every arch. Every courtyard. Reconstructed from documented field research.

The six sites you can explore:

Evdir Han  ·  Eynif Han  ·  Sultan Han  ·  Zazadin Han  ·  Kargı Han  ·  İncir Han

Each one is a distinct architectural world. Each one with a story.

Your Journey Begins at the Hub.

You start in a central space inspired by the geometry of a traditional Turkish bathhouse, a twelve-sided hall that radiates outward to all six caravanserais. From here, the choice is yours.

Step through any entrance and find yourself inside an immersive explorable reconstruction: open courtyards and vaulted corridors, all recreated at human scale in VR.

Who Is This For?

SILK 2.0 is for the curious traveller who has never had the chance to visit Anatolia. For the architecture enthusiast who wants to walk inside a building that no longer fully exists. For the history lover who wants to understand the Silk Roads from the inside out.

And for anyone who has ever wondered: what did it feel like to arrive at those gates — dusty, tired, and far from home, and know that you were welcome?

Some places deserve to be remembered. This is how we do it.

GAMEPLAY FEATURES  (STEAM FEATURE LIST)

• Explore Six Reconstructed Historic Sites — Walk freely through six grand medieval caravanserais of the Silk Roads, each recreated from real field research in what is now Türkiye.

• Talk to AI Historical Characters — Meet and speak with AI-driven residents who bring the daily life, architecture, and stories of these ancient crossroads to life in natural conversation.

• VR and Desktop Modes — VR immersion or flat desktop exploration — no headset required to experience the world.

• Reconstructed from field surveys, photogrammetry, and historical evidence — Every environment is reconstructed from field surveys, photogrammetry, and archival records by an international academic team. Not fantasy — research-driven reconstruction.

• AI-Generated Soundscapes 

• Central Hub World — Begin in a beautifully crafted twelve-sided hub inspired by traditional Turkish bathhouse architecture that connects all six sites.

Some places deserve to be walked through again.

SILK 2.0 —  Coming to Steam

STEAM TAGS & CREDITS

Recommended Steam Tags:

Virtual Reality · VR · Walking Simulator · Exploration · Historical · Cultural Heritage · Architecture · Education · Serious Game · Atmospheric · Immersive · Story Rich · 6DOF · Singleplayer · Museum · Middle East · AI Interaction · Simulation · Interactive Experience · 3D Exploration

Project Team:

Directed by

Guzden Varinlioglu

Visual Direction

Mohammed Faraj Al-Suwaidi

Technical Director & AI Systems Development

Koen Maes

Experience Design

Mohammed Qaisar Junaid

3D & AI Assets

Guzden Varinlioglu · Gregory Campbell · Shahnaz Gulshan

Research Dissemination

Guzden Varinlioglu · Shahnaz Gulshan · Saithani Ithayaraaj · Vigneswaran Subramaniyan · Alfiya Shaheen Fayaz  ·  Yuangang Yang 

Music

Ezgi Yurumez

Modelling

Guzden Varinlioglu · Hilal Kaleli · Sepehr Seyedian

Supported by the University of Liverpool and the Andrew Pullin Fund; partnered with Qatar University and BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT; with academic research developed in collaboration with Takehiko Nagakura at the Design Computation Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and field studies supported by the U.S. Mission to Türkiye Grants Program and MIT MISTI Global Seed Funds.

2026