U.S. History Computer Games Home
Note: see Gaming the Past (my book) for a more extensive list of games along with descriptions and basic information.
Online Games
Ancient Americas
Colonization & Caribbean
Revolutionary War
Underground Railroad & Road to Civil War
- Underground Railroad - National Geographic
- Mission U.S.: Flight to Freedom
- Abraham Lincoln’s Crossroads – National Constitution Center
Westward Expansion
- Building a Sod House
- Go West across America with Lewis and Clark
- Rail, Sail, or Overland Mail (Smithsonian National Postal Museum)
Modern Government
- The Road to the Capitol - Congressional election game
Commercial Games and Demos
Unless otherwise noted, the demo versions of these games are all available in the section at Filefront.com (Thanks to Filefront for providing direct link assistance).(Often the demo versions contain enough functionality for use in class)
Colonization & Caribbean
- 1701 A.D. (Anno 1701)
- Sid Meier’s Pirates
American Revolutionary War
- Birth of America
- Birth of America 2: Wars of America (Ageod)
- For Liberty!
American Civil War
- Take Command: 2nd Manassas
- American Civil War: Gettysburg
- American Civil War (Ageod)
Industrial Era
World War II
Modern City-Builders
Modern Politics
- Supremacy
- Democracy 2
- Political Machine
- Elections – Your Adventure in Politics
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Join the Playful Learning Initiative
As part of the Learning Games Network team, I am working to develop the Playful Learning Initiative. Interested in sharing and learning from other teachers about games in the classroom (in all subject areas not just history)? Join the initiative by sending me an email or registering at Playfullearning.com
Gaming the Past is here
Gaming the Past, a book devoted to providing practical guidelines for teachers who want to use historical simulation games effectively is published by Routledge.
Series of games developed with the of Sandra Day O’Connor exploring the three branches of government. The games allow the students to be congressmen, the president, lawyers protecting the amendments, and even Supreme Court Justices.
They are great learning tools and my students seemed very engaged.
I’ve only had a chance to play Do I have a Right with some students for half an hour. It was more a race against time than I might have preferred, but it definitely did a good job getting the students to think about what each amendment protects and addresses and practice judging between legitimate and illegitimate claims that one’s constitutional rights have been violated. Seems like the others may be a bit deeper from what you mention.
‘~- I am really thankful to this topic because it really gives up to date information ;.,
Glad to hear you find this helpful. You may be interested in my book, Gaming the Past, which will be coming out at the end of May. It’s meant to be a practical guide for teachers to selecting simulation games, designing lessons, managing classes, and assessing learning. It has lists of games in U.S. and World History with brief descriptions and connections to National Standards.
http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415887601/