U.S. History Computer Games
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, no longer a certainty as web standards change
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
- fsim = flight simulator
- management = management simulation
- rpg = role playing game
- rtgs = real-time grand strategy
- rts = real-time strategy or tactics
- tbs = turn-based strategy, not exclusively on warfare
- thpa = third person action
- war tb = wargame, turn-based
- war rts = wargame, real time
Ancient Americas
Online (Free)
Desktop ($$)
- Europa Universalis III and Europa Universalis IV (rtgs) – both games allow the player to play as a power in North, Central, or South American in the 16th – 18th centuries
European Colonization and Caribbean
Online (Free)
- Seven Cities of Gold @ Internet Archive
Desktop ($$)
- Empire: Total War (war/tbs/rts)
- Expeditions: Conquistador
- Europa Universalis III and Europa Universalis IV (rtgs)
- Imperialism 2: The Age of Exploration @Gog.com (tbs)
- Port Royale (rts adventure)
- Port Royale 2 (@Gog.com) (rts adventure)
- Port Royale 3 (rts adventure)
- Sid Meier’s Colonization Classic (tbs)
- Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Colonization (tbs)
- Sid Meier’s Pirates (@Gog.com)
Colonial US and Revolutionary War
Online (Free)
Desktop ($$)
- Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation (thpa)
- American Patriots: Boston Tea Party(war tb)
- Birth of America 2: Wars in America (war tb)
- Civilization IV: Colonization (tbs)
- Empire: Total War (war/tbs/rts)
Underground Railroad and Road to Civil War
Online (Free)
- Mission US: Flight to Freedom (adventure)
Civil War
Desktop ($$)
- Ultimate General: Gettysburg (@Gog.com) (war rts)
- Ultimate General: Civil War (war rts)
- Civil War II (war tb)
Native American Peoples West of the Mississippi
Online (Free)
- Mission US: A Cheyenne Odyssey (adventure)
- When Rivers Were Trails @itch.io
U.S. Imperialism / Westward Expansion
Online (Free)
- Oregon Trail (1990 version at Internet Archive)
- Oregon Trail Deluxe (1992 version at Internet Archive)
- When Rivers Were Trails (itch.io)
Desktop ($$)
- 1849: Gold Edition @Gog.com
Industrial Revolution and Railroads
Desktop ($$)
- Bounty Train (@Gog.com) (management)
- Railway Empire (management)
- Sid Meier’s Railroads @Gog.com (management)
- Transport Fever (@Gog.com) (management)
World War I
Desktop ($$)
- Battlefield 1 (fps)
- Knights of the Sky @Gog.com (fsim)
- To End All Wars (war tbs)
- Making History: The Great War (war, tbs)
- Valiant Hearts: The Great War™(adventure)
Early 20th Century and Great Depression
Online (Free)
- Mission US: City of Immigrants (adventure)
- Mission US: Up from the Dust (adventure)
Desktop ($$)
- Gangsters @Gog.com
World War II
Online (Free)
- Mission US: Prisoner in My Homeland (adventure)
Desktop ($$)
- B-17 Flying Fortress: The Mighty 8th (@Gog.com) (fsim)
- Call of Duty: World at War
- Call of Duty: World War II
- Rob Zacny, Waypoint, Watching history fade away in ‘Call of Duty: WWII’
- Commandos (rts)
- Commandos 2 (@Gog.com) (rts)
- Commandos 3 (@Gog.com) (rts)
- Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game @Gog.com (rtgs)
- Hearts of Iron II, Hearts of Iron III, and Hearts of Iron IV (war, rtgs)- Nation management games set in pre-WWII Europe. Take over leadership of the politics, economy, diplomay, and military of any of the 100+ countries across the globe in the period from the 1930a- 1940s.
- Making History: The Calm and the Storm and Making History II: The War of the World(war tbs) – A nation management game set in pre-WWII Europe. Take over leadership of the politics, economy, diplomay, and military, of one of the belligerent countries on the road to the war.
- Medal of Honor: Allied Assault @Gog.com
- Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault @Gog.com
- Panzer General 2 @Gog.com (war tbs)
Decolonization / Cold War
Desktop ($$)
- Arms Race: The Cold War Era (tbs rtgs)
- Tropico III (city)
- Tropico IV (@Gog.com) (city)
- Twilight Struggle (tbs)
Vietnam
Desktop ($$)
- Men of War: Vietnam (@Gog.com) @Gog.com (rts war)
- Rising Storm 2: Vietnam (fps)
- Vietnam ’65 (war tb)
Modern U.S. Government and Politics
Online (Free)
- Too many civics games to list at ICivics
- The Redistricting Game
- The Road to the Capitol – Congressional election game
Desktop ($$)
Modern Cities and Economies
Desktop ($$)
- The Political Machine
- Capitalism 2 @Gog.com
Modern US and Global
Desktop ($$)
- 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)
GTP Designer Talks
Interviews with designers of historical video games. Posted here and on Spotify , Google Play, and Apple Podcasts.
Gaming the Past 