Museums are digitizing their collections of 3D objects. Video games provide the technology to interact with these objects, but the educational goals of a museum are often at odds with the creative forces in a traditional game for entertainment. Efforts to bridge this gap have either settled on serious games with diminished entertainment value or have relied on historical fictions that blur the line between reality and fantasy. The Vessel project is a 3D game designed around puzzle mechanics that remains a game for entertainment while realizing the benefits of incorporating digitized artifacts from a museum. We explore how the critical thinking present in solving puzzles can still encourage engagement of the story the artifacts have to tell without creating an historical fiction. Preliminary results show a preference for our in-game digital interaction over a traditional gallery and a desire to learn more about the artifacts after playing.