World History Computer Games Home
This list is an attempt to list comprehensively all historical video games that are currently available for the Windows platform. A number of these are not appropriate for all ages or necessarily for classroom use. This is mostly true of the first-person shooter category (fps): games in the category tend to be rated mature, not appropriate for those under age 17.
Note: most online games require a browser with Flash installed
Guide to Codes:
- action = action game
- adventure = point-and-click adventure games.
- cb-images = choice-based text with images
- cb-text = choice-based text
- city = city-builder, management
- fps = first person shooter (note: fps is used as a commonly known designation; a game identified as fps may or may not have actual shooting involved)
- fsim = flight simulator
- life = life simulator
- rpg = role playing game
- rtgs = real-time grand strategy
- rts = real-time strategy or tactics
- sim = simulation (machine, vehicle etc.)
- tbs = turn-based strategy, not exclusively on warfare
- thpsa = third person shooter/action
- war tb = wargame, turn-based
- war rts = wargame, real time
Ancient Near East
Online (Free)
- Pre-Civilization Stone Age (tbs) preserved by BlueMaxima’s Flashpoint
- Pre-Civilization Bronze Age (tbs)- free original web version of Bronze Age – HD Edition preserved by BlueMaxima’s Flashpoint
- Hammurabi (alternate version) (tbs)- one of the very first computer games. Link 1 is a 1996 remake of the 1978 original.
Desktop ($$)
- Bronze Age HD Edition (tbs)
- Chariots of War (war)
- Egyptian Settlement (city)
- Immortal Cities: Children of the Nile(city)
- Pharaoh + Cleopatra (Also on Gog.com) (city)
- Pre-Dynastic Egypt (tbs)
- Egypt: Old Kingdom (tbs)
- Sumer
Meso-America and South America
Desktop ($$)
- Medieval 2: Total War Collection (war/tbs/rts) – included Medieval 2: Total War Kingsdoms, with a campaign in the Americas
- Europa Universalis III and Europa Universalis IV (rtgs) – both allow play as one of the native empires of Central and South America
Ancient Greece
Online (Free)
- 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
- Command a Greek Trireme
- Spartan Education
Desktop ($$)
- Age of Empires: Definitive Edition (rts)
- Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (thpa)
- Field of Glory II: Immortal Fire (war tb)
- Hegemony Gold: Wars of Ancient Greece (war rts)
- Mare Nostrum (war tb)
- Zeus and Poseidon (city)
Ancient China
Online (Free)
Desktop ($$)
- Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom @Gog.com (city)
- Gloria Sinica: Han Xiongnu Wars (rpg)
- Oriental Empires – (tbs) – I’m uncomfortable with the title, but it appears to be a legitimate 4x type game.
- Warring States (war tbs)
Ancient Rome
Online (Free)
- Centurion – Defender of Rome (1990, Internet Archive) (tbs; war rts)
Desktop ($$)
- Age of Empires: Definitive Edition (rts)
- Assassin’s Creed: Origins
- Caesar II @Gog.com (city)
- Caesar III (city)
- Caesar IV (@Gog.com) (city)
- Celtic Kings: Rage of War @Gog.com (rts)
- CivCity:Rome (@Gog.com) (city)
- Jeremiah McCall, PlaythePast.org
- Europa Universalis: Rome
- Field of Glory 2 (war tbs)
- Grand Ages: Rome (city)
- Hegemony Rome: The Rise of Caesar (war rts)
- Imperium Romanum (city)
- Mare Nostrum (war tb)
- Rome: Total War (war/tbs/rts)
- Total War: Rome 2 (war/tbs/rts)
Medieval Europe
Online (Free)
- 1066 The Game
- BBC – Battle of Hastings (cb-images)
- Conqueror – A multiplayer Risk-style strategy game set in Medieval Europe
Desktop ($$)
- Age of Empires II (rts)
- Anno 1404 @ Gog.com (city)
- Anno 1503 @Gog.com (city)
- Castle 1+2 @Gog.com
- Conqueror 1086 @ Gog.com (rpg, tbs). Also available on the Internet Archive.
- Crusader Kings & Crusader Kings 2 (rtgs) – Real time grand strategy game of Medieval politics, warfare, and dynasty building.
- Expeditions: Viking
- Grand Ages: Medieval (city; rts)
- The Guild (@Gog.com)
- The Guild 2 (@Gog.com) & The Guild 3 (@Gog.com) (rpg)
- The Guild 2: Renaissance (@Gog.com) (rpg)
- The Guild 3:
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance (@Gog.com) (fps/rpg)
- Lords of the Realm: Royal Edition @Gog.com (tbs / rts)
- Medieval II: Total War (war/tbs/rts) – Hybrid turn-based kingdom management/ real-time battlefield simulation game.
- Patrician 1+2 (@Gog.com) (city/rts)
- Patrician 3 (@Gog.com) (city/rts)
- The Sims Medieval (@Origin.com) (city/rts/rpg)
- Stronghold HD (@Gog.com) (city; rts)
- Stronghold Crusader HD (@Gog.com) (city; rts)
- Stronghold Crusader 2 (@Gog.com) (city; rts)
- Stronghold 2 (city; rts)
Feudal Japan
Desktop ($$)
- Shogun: Total War 2 (war/tbs/rts)
- Sengoku (@Gog.com) (rtgs)
- Sengoku Jidai (war tb)
Imperial China
Desktop ($$)
- Oriental Empires – (tbs) – I’m uncomfortable with the title, but it appears to be a legitimate 4x type game.
- Total War: Three Kingdoms (war/tbs/rts)
Early Modern Europe / Age of Exploration
Online (Free)
- Galileo (PBS)
- Great Upper Canada Adventure
- Jamestown Online Adventure
- Seadog – a simple web-based choice-based text game where the player makes choices as an English privateer out to capture Spanish ships.
- Seven Cities of Gold Commemorative Edition (action/rts)- playable in a browser (Edge seems to work better than Chrome) at the Internet Archive. Fully playable and saveable. Odd controls. CTRL = Enter; Enter = Submit text; Arrow Keys for everything else.
Desktop ($$)
- Anno 1602 @Gog.com (city)
- Arte: Mecenas
- Jeremiah McCall, Gaming the Past, Arte: Mecenas Review
- 1701 A.D. @Gog.com (city)
- Blood and Gold: Caribbean! @Gog.com (rts thps)
- Cossacks 3 (@Gog.com) (war rts)
- East India Company
- Empire: Total War (war/tbs/rts)
- Expeditions: Conquistador
- Europa Universalis III and Europa Universalis IV (rtgs)
- FreeCol
- Imperialism 2: The Age of Exploration @Gog.com (tbs)
- Patrician III (@GOG.com) (rtgs, economic)
- Patrician 4 (rtgs, economic)- Sea-trade games set in the Medieval Baltic.
- Port Royale (rts adventure)
- Port Royale 2 (@Gog.com) (rts adventure)
- Port Royale 3 (rts adventure)
- Rise of Prussia (war tbs)
- Sid Meier’s Colonization Classic (tbs)
- Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Colonization (tbs)
- Sid Meier’s Pirates (@Gog.com)
Napoleonic Era
Online (Free)
- BBC Battlefield Academy: Battle of Trafalgar (review/overiew)
- BBC Battle of Waterloo
- Napoleonic Wars Online According to NWOL: “The Napoleonic Wars OnLine (NWOL) is a multiplayer simulation of combat and diplomacy during the Wars of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars (approximately 1793 to 1815.) Players representing 13 European nations form alliances and coalitions, declare wars and make peace, and command armies and fleets in battle, seeking to expand the power and influence of their home country and achieve control over the continent. “
Desktop ($$)
- Imperial Glory (war tbs, rts)
- Cossacks 2: Napoleonic Wars (war rts)
- Cossacks II Anthology @Gog.com (war rts)
- Napoleon’s Campaigns (war tbs)
- Napoleon: Total War (war/tbs/rts)
19th Century India
19th Century Europe, Industrial Revolution, and Imperialism
Online (Free)
Desktop ($$)
- The Curious Expedition (adventure tbs)
- Imperialism @Gog.com (tbs)
- Pride of Nations (tbs)
- Renowned Explorers: International Society (rpg tbs)
- Sid Meier’s Railroads (@Gog.com)
- Victoria II (rtgs)
World War I
Online (Free)
Desktop ($$)
- Battlefield 1 (fps)
- Knights of the Sky @Gog.com (fsim)
- To End All Wars (war tbs)
- Tannenberg (fps)
- Making History: The Great War (war, tbs)
- Red Baron Pack @Gog.com (fsim)
Russian Revolution
Modern China
European Inter-War Period & World War II
Online (Free)
Desktop ($$)
- Attentat 1942 (adventure)
- Jeremiah McCall, Gaming the Past, Attentat 1942 – Review
- B-17 Flying Fortress: The Mighty 8th (@Gog.com) (fsim)
- Call of Duty: World at War
- Call of Duty: World War II
- Rob Zacny, Waypoint, Watching history fade away in ‘Call of Duty: WWII’
- Commandos (rts)
- Commandos 2 (@Gog.com) (rts)
- Commandos 3 (@Gog.com) (rts)
- Codename: Panzers Phase One @Gog.com (rts)
- Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game @Gog.com (rtgs)
- Hearts of Iron II, Hearts of Iron III, and Hearts of Iron IV (war, rtgs)- Nation management games set in pre-WWII Europe. Take over leadership of the politics, economy, diplomay, and military of any of the 100+ countries across the globe in the period from the 1930a- 1940s.
- Hidden and Dangerous 2 @Gog.com (fps)
- Making History: The Calm and the Storm and Making History II: The War of the World(war tbs) – A nation management game set in pre-WWII Europe. Take over leadership of the politics, economy, diplomay, and military, of one of the belligerent countries on the road to the war.
- Medal of Honor: Allied Assault @Gog.com
- Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault @Gog.com
- Panzer Elite @Gog.com (rts sim)
- Panzer General 2 @Gog.com (war tbs)
- The Saboteur @Gog.com (adventure rpg)
- Sudden Strike Gold and Sudden Strike 4 @Gog.com (rts)
Decolonization / Cold War
Online (Free)
- Cuban Crisis – a simple web-based choice-based text game where the player makes choices as president during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Desktop ($$)
- Arms Race: The Cold War Era (tbs rtgs)
- Tropico III (city)
- Tropico IV (@Gog.com) (city)
Modern
Online (Free)Desktop ($$)
- Fate of the World (Red Redemption)- Starting in the year 2020, lead the Global Environmental Organization to deal with environmental and demographic disasters, in addition to the problems of dwindling energy resources and strained food supplies.
- Capitalism 2 ( @Gog.com)
- This War of Mine @Gog.com (action adventure)
Cross-Period
Online (Free) (tbs)
Desktop ($$)
- Age of Empire II HD (rts)
- Empire Earth @Gog.com (rts)
- Empire Earth 2 @Gog.com (rts)
- Sid Meier’s Civilization IV (tbs)
- Sid Meier’s Civilization V(tbs)
- Sid Meier’s Civilization VI (tbs)
- Europa Universalis III & Europa Universalis IV (rtgs)
GTP Designer Talks
Interviews with designers of historical video games. Posted here and on Spotify , Google Play, and Apple Podcasts.
Gaming the Past 