Gaming Through History Resources

This page is updated regularly as new games are found or published.

Note: The games below are a collected and evolving list, not a promotion. They are all secular to the best of the author’s knowledge. The ages or rating listed are from the manufacturer, but your family or classroom needs may be different. If you’d like to add a game to this list, please use the contact form and let me know!

Historical Games

Chess (Europe)

Three Men’s Morris (Europe)

Nine Men’s Morris (Ancient Rome, popular in the Middle Ages Europe)

Royal Game of Ur or “The Game of Twenty Squares” (Egypt to India)

Backgammon

Senet (Ancient Egypt)

Mancala (Africa)

Sungka (Phillipines)

Mehen (Ancient Egypt)

Draughts

Latrunculi or “Mercenaries” (Ancient Rome)

Patolli/Patole (Aztec)

Petteia (Ancient Greece)

Go (Ancient China)

Duodecem Scripta (Rome)

Unidentified Turkish Game

Terni Lapilli (Rome)

Hnefatafl (Viking Chess)

Bo/Liubo (China)

Chaturanga (India)

Pachisi and Chauper (India)

Gyan Chauper (original snakes and ladders- India)

Hounds and Jackals (Egypt)

Stick & Hoop game (Mesoamerica)

Snake and hoop game (Mesoamerica)

Hoop and ball game (Mayan)

World History (General)

Board/Card Games:

Timeline Series (Chronology, events, inventions, ages 8+)

Chronology (Chronology, ages 14+)

Perspective: The Timeline Game (Chronology, ages 12+)

Cardline: Globetrotter (Geography, ages 8+)

10 Days in the U.S (Geography, Culture, ages 8+)

10 Days in Europe (Geography, Culture, ages 8+)

10 Days in Africa (Geography, Culture, ages 8+)

Trekking the World (Geography, Culture, ages 10+)

Continent Race (Geography, ages 7+)

Professor Noggins card game series (Various)

Innovation (Tech and innovation throughout history, age 12+, multiple expansion packs)

History of the World (Ancient to WW1, ages 12+)

BrainBox World History (Inventions, ages 8+)

Brainbox All Around the World (Geography, Culture, ages 8+)

The Colonists (Civ. building, multiple eras, ages 12+)

Through the Ages (various, civ building)

20^th century (civ building)

Steam Rollers (history of trains)

The Big Story Game (Influential people in history)

Raccoon Tycoon (Civilization building, ages 8+)

Classical Historian- various history themed games

Catan

Viticulture (Pre-Modern Tuscany, agricultural dev., expansion packs, ages 13+)

Video/Online Games:

Civilization (middle school and up)

Kerbal Space Program (Space Program, All Ages, PC)

IL-2 Sturmovik:1946 is a simulation game that includes all of the original IL-2 content and has a Teen rating. 

Banished is a city building strategy game that allows you to guide a group of travelers as they start life in a new land. 

Minecraft and Minecraft Education (all ages)

Hearts of Iron (middle school and up)

Europa Universalis IV (high school and up)

Total War (high school and up)

Assassin’s Creed (high school and up, possibly middle school and up, rated M)

World History (Pre-History)

Board/Card Games:

Sapiens (ages 10+)

Evolution (ages 12+)

On the Origin of Species (ages 12+)

Neanderthal (ages 12+)

Stone Age (ages 9+)

Video/Online Games:

Spore (various platforms, rated E)

Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey (middle school and up)

World History (Ancient)

Board/Card Games:

7 Wonders (Ancient Civ, ages 10+))

Mummy Rummy (Ancient Egypt, ages 6+)

Imhotep (Ancient Egypt, ages 10+)

Pyramids (Ancient Egypt, ages 10+)

Relic Runners (Artifacts, Archaeology, ages 10+)

Praetor (Ancient Rome, ages 12+)

Trajan (Ancient Rome)

Mythology math game

Scarabya (ancient civ, archaeology)

Thebes (ancient civ, archaeology)

Kings of Israel (ancient Israel?

Bird Cage Press Go Fish Ancient Egypt

Minerva (Rome)

Santorini (Ancient Mythology)

Mythos (RPG based on Homer’s Odyssey)

Sorcerer and Stones (Ancient China/Taoist)

Concordia (Ancient Rome, Economic Development, Civ., ages 13+)

Video/Online Games:

Total War: Attila (Ancient Rome, Teen)

Imperator Rome (Ancient Rome, middle school and up)

World History (Middle Ages/Renaissance)

Board/Card Games:

The Taverns of Tiefenthal (general Middle Ages, ages 12+)

The Quacks of Quedlinburg (general Middle Ages, ages 10+)

The Castles of Burgundy (Renaissance or Medieval France, ages 12+)

Richard the Lionheart (Middle Ages, 12th c England, Crusades, ages 14+)

Notre Dame (14^th c Paris, ages 10+)

Catan: Merchants of Europe (late medieval)

Orléans (Medieval France, economic dev., expansion packs, ages 13+)

A Feast for Odin (Vikings, ages 14+)

Catan: Rise of the Inkas (Inca Civ., ages 12+)

Inis (Ancient Ireland, ages 14+)

Video/Online Games:

Crusader Kings II (Teen).

Banner Saga (Nordic, middle school and up)

World History (Early Modern 1600-1900)

Board/Card Games:

The Castles of Mad King Ludwig (19th c Bavaria, ages 13+)

Merchants and Marauders (Golden Age of Piracy) expansion

Cruel Necessity (English Civil War)

Video/Online Games:

Victoria II (19^th c, Teen)

Sid Meier’s Pirates (Everyone) 

World History (Modern 1900-present)

Board/Card Games:

Ticket to Ride: Europe (Railroad Expansion, ages 8+)

Diplomacy (pre-WW1 Europe)

The Grizzled (WW1)

Memoir ’44 (WW2)

Axis and Allies (WW2)

Twilight Struggle (Cold War)

The Cuban Missile Crisis/ 13 Days: The Cuban Missile Crisis

Video/Online Games:

Steel Division: Normandy 44 (WW2, Teen, PC)

Hearts of Iron IV (WW2, middle school and up)

American History:

Board/Card Games:

Timeline: American History (Chronology, ages 8+)

Trekking the National Parks (Geography, ages 10+)

Scholastic Race Across the U.S.A (Geography, ages 8+)

Brainbox All Around the U.S.A (Geography, Culture, ages 8+)

Founding Fathers (early US Govt)

The Presidential Game (election process)

Guess That President (US Presidents)

Made for Trade (Colonial America)

Trailblazer (Pre-colonial America through modern time)

1754 Conquest

1775: Rebellion

1812: The Invasion of Canada

Way Back When in History (US History from explorers to the civil war)

A House Divided (Civil War)

Great Western Trail (westward expansion, ranching)

Lewis & Clark (Westward Expansion, 1803)

Discoveries (sequel to Lewis & Clark)

Ticket to Ride: First Journey (Railroad Expansion, ages 6+)

Ticket to Ride (Railroad Expansion, ages 8+)

Catan Histories of America: Trails to Rails (westward expansion, railroad, US economy)

Freedom: The Underground Railroad (US 1800-1865)

New York 1901 (architecture)

1960: The Making of a President (Cold War)

Constitution Quest (us constitution, early govt)

Chicago Express (railroad expansion)

Western Legends (American Wild West)

The Oregon Trail Card Game (westward expansion)

Nunami (Inuit, ages 10+))

Black Wall Street (20th c Black History, ages 8+)

Puerto Rico (Civ. Building, ages 13+, would supplement heavily with the Indigenous history of Puerto Rico)

Video/Online Games:

When Rivers Were Trails (Native/ Anishinaabeg, all ages)

Never Alone/Kisima Ingitchuna (Iñupiat/Alaska Native, all ages)

The Oregon Trail

Ultimate General: Gettysburg (Civil War)

Ultimate General: Civil War (Civil War)