World History Computer Games Home
Note: see Gaming the Past (my book) for a more extensive list of games along with descriptions and basic information.
Featured Game Reviews
Online Games
Ancient Near East
- Discover Babylon (must download)
- Trading Places – British Museum scripted decision game about an Assyrian trader.
Meso-America and South America
Ancient Greece
- 300 Spartans: Xerxes’ March to Greece – more a set of interactive animations than a full simulation, but still a worthwhile site to complement lessons on the Persian wars.
- Ancient Acropolis Temple – Make a series of construction decisions and see the final Greek temple
- Spartan Education
- Command a Greek Trireme
Medieval Europe
- 1066 The Game
- BBC – Battle of Hastings
- Conqueror - A multiplayer Risk-style strategy game set in Medieval Europe.
Early Modern Europe
- Galileo (PBS)
- Seadog – a simple web-based choose-your-own-adventure style game where the player makes choices as an English privateer out to capture Spanish ships.
Colonization
Napoleonic Era
- BBC Battlefield Academy: Battle of Trafalgar (review/overiew)
- BBC Battle of Waterloo
- Napoleonic Wars Online According to NWOL: “The Napoleonic Wars OnLine (NWOL) is a multiplayer simulation of combat and diplomacy during the Wars of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars (approximately 1793 to 1815.) Players representing 13 European nations form alliances and coalitions, declare wars and make peace, and command armies and fleets in battle, seeking to expand the power and influence of their home country and achieve control over the continent. “
Industrial Revolution
World War I
Cold War
- Cuban Crisis - a simple web-based choose-your-own-adventure style game where the player makes choices as president during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Commercial Games, Demos, and Freeware
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)
Ancient History
- Rome: Total War
- Rome: Total War – Barbarian Invasion
- Immortal Cities: Children of the Nile
- Caesar IV Single Player Demo
- CivCity:Rome (my review article at PlaythePast.org)
- Imperium Romanum
Medieval Europe
- Crusader Kings & Crusader Kings 2 (Paradox) – Real time grand strategy game of Medieval politics, warfare, and dynasty building.
- Medieval II: Total War - Hybrid turn-based kingdom management/ real-time battlefield simulation game.
- Stronghold 2
Feudal Japan
Early Modern Europe
- Patrician 3 (at Good Old Games) & Patrician 4 - Sea-trade games set in the Medieval Baltic.
- 1701 A.D. (Anno 1701)
- Colonization (Civiliztion IV)
- FreeCol
- Rise of Prussia (Ageod)
- Sid Meier’s Pirates
19th Century Europe
World War I
Russian Revolution
European Inter-War Period & World War II
- Hearts of Iron II & Hearts of Iron III (Paradox Software) – Nation management games set in pre-WWII Europe. Take over leadership of the politics, economy, diplomay, and military of any of the 100+ countries across the globe in the period from the 1930a- 1940s.
- Making History (Muzzy Lane Software) – A nation management game set in pre-WWII Europe. Take over leadership of the politics, economy, diplomay, and military, of one of the belligerent countries on the road to the war.
Modern
- Fate of the World (Red Redemption)- Starting in the year 2020, lead the Global Environmental Organization to deal with environmental and demographic disasters, in addition to the problems of dwindling energy resources and strained food supplies.
- Freedom Fighter ’56 (The Hungarian Revolution) – An “interactive graphic novel” where players take the role of participants in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.
Cross-Period
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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.
