WELCOME TO THE BEST OF HISTORY WEB SITES GAMES AND ANIMATIONS SECTION. BELOW YOU WILL FIND AN ANNOTATED LIST OF FUN HISTORY GAMES AND ANIMATIONS ORGANIZED AROUND BROAD HISTORICAL PERIODS. MOST OF THESE GAMES AND ANIMATION ARE AIMED AT STUDENTS AGES 10-16. WE HOPE YOU ENJOY THESE SELECTIONS AND ENCOURAGE YOU TO SUBMIT A RECOMMENDED HISTORY GAME OR ANIMATION TO US VIA THE CONTACT FORM. MANY THANKS TO JOSHUA DALE FOR HIS HELP IN ORGANIZING AND DEVELOPING THIS SECTION. – TOM DACCORD
Highlights
TED-Ed Animated Lessons ★★★★★
TED offers short, animated lessons in history, covering everything from the assassination of Julius Caesar to the Atlantic slave trade to the writings of Alexia Komnena. The animations are supplemented with discussion questions and short quizzes, and you can browse TED’s full list of history-related video lessons here.
Tasting History ★★★★★
A fun, educational series with an entertaining host, Tasting History is a show that recreates historical recipes. Cooking is interspersed with fun facts, trivia, and an overview of the food’s historical context.
The Great War ★★★★★
Updated monthly, this show’s “catch” is that it teaches World War I “in real time”; each episode covers something that happened exactly 100 years ago, and the show has been running since 2014 — a century after the beginning of the war. Although the First World War is classically taught to end with the 1918 armistice, wars typically do not end so simply, and World War I was no exception; the show is planned to continue until 2023 in order to capture the full “era” of the war and the political unrest, cultural impact, and revolutions that broke out in its aftermath.
Curator’s Corner at the British Museum ★★★★★
These short videos highlight the stories behind items at British Museum passionately told by the curators who study and preserve them. Lively and often humorous, this series features mostly ancient artifacts, but has a few videos on more modern collections as well. Highlights include Greek pots have “B-sides”, How to Write Cuneiform, and Jesus and Buddha do Christmas in Tokyo.
Crash Course ★★★★★
Crash Course is an educational Youtube channel founded by Youtube vloggers John and Hank Green. Starting with World History and Biology, the channel has since grown to offer courses in over two dozen subjects, from Science Fiction to Economics. The information presented is extremely surface-level, but as general survery courses, this is to be expected — and the high production quality and lively, classroom-friendly presentation more than makes up for the episodes’ shortcomings. Crash Course offers seven courses that are especially relevant for social studies teachers:
“Big” History
U.S. History
European History
U.S. Government
Science History
World History (season one)
World History (season two)
Attendat 1942 ★★★★★
Attendat 1942 is a highly-acclaimed point-and-click adventure game set during the Second World War. Narratively focused, it was designed by academics and teachers, and has great potential as a classroom tool. The developers offer special discounts and bulk pricing models for educators, and provide a curriculum guide filled with lessons that show concrete examples of how to effectively implement the game in a variety of educational settings, from high school surveys to college seminars. Through these lessons, students will learn important lessons about the Nazi Occupation of Prague, the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, and the Holocaust.
Reacting to the Past ★★★★★
Barnard has developed several role-playing games and simulations designed for classroom use. Excellent for group projects and independent work, these student-driven scenarios encourage healthy debate.
Revolutionary Choices ★★★★★
Revolutionary Choices is an expansive and immersive strategy game in which the player is tasked with managing the Continential Army and winning the Revolutionary War. However, there are many obstacles to victory, including winning the international support of France and Spain, combating loyalists in the Southern colonies, and resupplying troops. true to its name, the game features about two dozen turning points that impact the outcome of the war: independence is not guaranteed! Developed by the American Revolution Institute, the game is designed for educational use and comes with a classroom guide to help integrate Revolutionary Choices into a school environment. It is free to play online!
Jetpunk ★★★★★
Jetpunk is an engaging trivia site with thousands of quizzes for students to take. Many of the quizzes feature images or clickable maps, and the ads on the site are very non-intrusive. This link will take you to their history quizzes, but the site also has quizzes on georaphy, politics, flags, and much more!
Ancient History Games and Animations
Extra History: Pre-History – 1699 CE ★★★★★
A lively, animated video series covering a variety of historical topics from Pre-History to 1699 CE. Rather than giving a brief overview of a civilization or event, Extra History goes in-depth into the stories of individual historical figures to draw in a viewer’s attention, then explains general history concepts as they become relevant to narrative. This story-focused approach makes for enticing content.
Pyramid Challenge ★★★★☆
This game is old, but, like the pyramids, it stands the test of time. In it, the player is tasked with building a pyramid for the Egyptian Pharaoh. The construction of the pyramid succeeds or fails based on the player’s decisions. Despite a dated presentation, the game’s content is excellent, and does a good job of impressing onto the player the incredible amount of work and forethought it took to create a pyramid.
Timeline of the Roman and Byzantine Emperors ★★★★☆
This video presents every emperor from Augustus to Constantine XI, along with maps showing the extent of the empire during their reign.
Death in Rome ★★★★☆
This game presents the user with a scene where a Roman dies and the user then has to figure out how the Roman died. The player uses evidence from the scene and information both from witnesses and modern experts.
Inca Investigation ★★★★☆
Players investigate maps and artifacts to learn what life was once like in Huánuco Pampa.
The Mummy Maker ★★★★☆
Test your knowledge of history with an interactive challenge. Enter the embalmer’s workshop and prepare a body for burial.
Gladiator: Dressed to Kill ★★★☆☆
This game has the player choose the correct armor for three different types of Roman gladiators within a time limit. Each gladiator then fights and wins or loses based on what the player’s choices were.
Housesteads Fort ★★★☆☆
This is a 3D tour of a reconstruction of a Roman fort along Hadrian’s Wall in Ancient Britain. Youtube mirror.
The Roman Domus (House): Architecture and Reconstruction: ★★★☆☆
A 3D reconstruction of a typical Roman home. It is supplemented with colored images and diagrams that show what such a dwelling may have looked like in ancient times.
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World ★★★☆☆
This quiz has the user match the wonders of the ancient world with descriptions in a variety of formats.
Anglo-Saxon Coins ★★★☆☆
In this game you learn stories behind the coins and try to make “money talk.”
Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii in 79 AD ★★★☆☆
This is a scavenger hunt that presents the user with several web sites and asks them to research the answers to various questions.
Medieval History Games and Animations
Waterworks ★★★★★
This is an excellent online game in which the player must manage the water supply of a medieval Polish town. Sponsor technological development, oversee construction projects, and harness the power of the Vistua to bring your town from medieval water-carriers all the way to an early-modern sewage system. The game was produced by the National Science Centre of Poland, and is based on professional research into the development of waterworks in medieval Europe. A must-see resource on an under-appreciated topic.
1066 The Game ★★★★☆
You’ll take the field with the Saxons, the Normans, and the Vikings to fight battles which decided England’s fate.
Alquerque ★★★★☆
This site lets students try their hand at Alquerque, a historical ancestor of our modern-day checkers that was played in medieval Europe and the Middle East. Students should have no trouble getting started, as the rules are simple and very quick to learn.
Asian Middle Ages People, Places, and Things ★★★☆☆
This game quizzes the user on Asia during the Middle Ages.
Asian Middle Ages Chronology ★★★☆☆
This game prompts the player to reorder several events that took place in Asia during the Middle Ages.
Middle Ages ★★★☆☆
This game quizzes the user on events in the Middle Ages.
Build a Medieval Arch ★★★☆☆
find out how medieval masons built cathedral arches – without the benefits of modern technology.
Early Modern History Games and Animations
How to be a Pirate ★★★★★
This is a well-polished and thorough animation about the politics and economics at work underneath the hull of a pirate ship in the Golden Age of Piracy. It is largely adapted from The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of pirates by historian Peter Leeson. Delivered in two parts: Captain and Quartermaster editions.
Extra History: 1700 CE – Present ★★★★★
A lively, animated video series covering a variety of historical topics from 1700 CE to the present. Rather than giving a brief overview of a civilization or event, Extra History goes in-depth into the stories of individual historical figures to draw in a viewer’s attention, then explains general history concepts as they become relevant to narrative. This story-focused approach makes for enticing content.
Great Fire of London Animation ★★★☆☆
See contemporary etchings of the London skyline, showing the extent of the devastation. Afterwards, you can view the changing designs for St Paul’s Cathedral, rebuilt in the aftermath of the fire by Sir Christopher Wren.
The Battle of Waterloo Game ★★★☆☆
This game allows the user to replay the Battle of Waterloo as either Wellignton or Napoleon and grapple with the battlefield decisions the two generals faced.
Pirates! ★★★☆☆
Take this quiz about pirate lore and find out if you’ll have to walk the plank!
Gunpowder Plot Game ★★★☆☆
Guy Fawkes was among a gang of Roman Catholic conspirators who wanted to blow up the House of Lords and assassinate King James VI of Scotland and I of England. As part of their plan, they stored gunpowder kegs in the cellars of the House of Lords. You must find those kegs before the fizzing fuse causes disaster!
London: A Life in Google Maps ★★★☆☆
This British Library creation charts the growth of London through the ages via seven chronological themes.
Early U.S. History Games and Animations
A Sailor’s Life for Me ★★★★★
What was it like to be a sailor in the 18th-century? Sponsored by the USS Constitution Museum, this game is a very in-depth simulation, allowing students to assume the role of a sailor aboard the USS Constitution. Along the way, students engage in the Constitution’s historical battles and learn firsthand about all of the things that go on beneath the hull to run a proper sailing ship in over a dozen minigames. Shop for a uniform, swab the deck, fire a cannon, and play historical dice games as you work your way up through the ranks! The site also features other interactives; in Meet your Shipmates, you can read voice-acted diary excerpts of real sailors, including the ship’s cook, surgeon, captain, marines, and more; Explore Old Ironsides gives a detailed tour of the historic frigate.
On the Trail of Captain John Smith: A Jamestown Adventure ★★★★★
Follow in the footsteps of Captain John Smith to discover what life was like in the New World 400 years ago.
Revolutionary Choices ★★★★★
Revolutionary Choices is an expansive and immersive strategy game in which the player is tasked with managing the Continential Army and winning the Revolutionary War. However, there are many obstacles to victory, including winning the international support of France and Spain, combating loyalists in the Southern colonies, and resupplying troops. true to its name, the game features about two dozen turning points that impact the outcome of the war: independence is not guaranteed! Developed by the American Revolution Institute, the game is designed for educational use and comes with a classroom guide to help integrate Revolutionary Choices into a school environment. It is free to play online!
Townsends ★★★★★
This Youtube channel explores 18th-century daily life in colonial America through cooking and crafting. Highlists include cooking candied lime peel (a rare treat!) and making rope from scratch. The show features surprisingly high-quality costumes, sets, and videowork for a Youtube series, and there are hundreds of videos to choose from.
1759: From the Warpath to the Plains of Abraham ★★★★★
An excellent online presentation of the Seven Years’ War in the Americas, known as the French and Indian War in the United States. Sponsored by the Canadian National Battlefield Commission, the site explores the Siege of Quebec and the Battle of the Plains of Abraham through the perspectives of the British, French, Canadian, and Indigenous soldiers.
The Jamestown Online Adventure ★★★★☆
In this short interactive, students must create a stable settlement in the New World by answering a series of tough choices. Using direct passages from the London Company’s charter as their guide, students will choose where to settle, what to grow, how to interact with the natives, and more. At the end of the game, they can read about how their choices compare to the real-life actions of the Jamestown colonists.
Franklin’s Lifetime ★★★★☆
Explore Benjamin Franklin’s life through a variety of interactive exhibits.
Bill of Rights ★★★☆☆
This game quizzes the user on the Bill of Rights in a variety of formats.
Freecol ★★★★☆
This is a strategy game based on the game Sid Meier’s Colonization in which the player must explore the New World and manage a colony. The game is very dated and takes a while to learn, but has nearly all of the same features as the original Colonization.
Places of the American Revolution ★★★☆☆
This game quizzes the user on important locations in the American Revolution in the form of a matching game, flashcards, concentration, or a word search.
Nation-Building U.S. History Games and Animations
Oregon Trail ★★★★★
Students can experience the original 1971 classic with this online emulator.
Argument Wars ★★★★☆
Players debate the some of the most famous Supreme Court cases such as texas v. Johnson, Gideon v. Wainwright, and Snyder v. Phelps in this critical thinking game. By advancing arguments and backing them up, students have the chance to turn the tide of history if their arguments line up! After the game, students can view how the actual Supremem Court voted on their case. See iCivics for more great games like Argument Wars.
Constitution Facts ★★★★☆
Test your constitution IQ with an interactive quiz and see how you scored against others in your state and nationally.
Which Founding Father Are You? ★★★★☆
Answer five questions to see who you best match up with.
Strike it Rich! ★★★☆☆
This PBS game will see if you have what it takes to strike it rich in the gold rush!
Early American Reformers of the 1800’s ★★★☆☆
This game quizzes the user on important terms from reform movements in the 1800s.
Modern U.S. History Games and Animations
When Rivers Were Trails ★★★★☆
When Rivers Were Trails is a downloadable point-and-click adventure game about the impact of colonization on Indigenous communities in the 1890’s. The player follows the life of an Anishinaabeg who is placed from their traditional territory in Minnesota and heads west to California due to the impact of allotment acts on Indigenous communities. On their journey, they face Indian Agents, meet people from different nations, and hunt, fish, and canoe along the way as they balance their wellbeing.
The Redistricting Game ★★★★☆
The game introduces the redistricting system, explores potential abuses, and offers info about reform.
Do I Have a Right? ★★★★☆
Explore the Bill of Rights in the context of operating and growing a Constitutional law firm from obscure to distinguished status.
Apollo 11 ★★★★☆
This Google Earth tour portrays the landing, moon walks, and the return to space of Apollo 11 YouTube videos, astronaut narrations, sound effects, and 3D models.
World War I Study Activity ★★★☆☆
This game quizzes the user on World War I in a variety of ways.
Electoral College by States ★★★☆☆
This game quizzes the user on how many electoral votes states have in a variety of ways.
America Becomes a World Power ★★★☆☆
This game quizzes the user on how America became a world power.
1960-1980 Challenge ★★★☆☆
This game quizzes the user on events in the U.S. between 1960 and 1980.
U.S. Presidents ★★★☆☆
This game asks the user 10 questions about the presidents of the U.S.
Characteristics of Geographic Regions ★★★☆☆
This game quizzes the user on geographic regions in the U.S. in a variety of formats.
Modern World History Games and Animations
The Great War ★★★★★
Meticulously researched, expertly presented, and always topical, The Great War is arguably the single best history show on the internet. Updated on a monthly, the show’s “catch” is that it teaches World War I”in real time”; each episode covers something that happened exactly 100 years ago, and the show has been running since 2014 — a century after the beginning of the war. Although the First World War is classically taught to end with the 1918 armistice, wars typically do not end so simply, and World War I was no expection; the show is planned to continue until 2023 in order to capture the full “era” of the war and the political unrest, cultural impact, and revolutions that broke out in its aftermath.
Attendat 1942 ★★★★★
Attendat 1942 is a highly-acclaimed point-and-click adventure game set during the Second World War. Narratively focused, it was designed by academics and teachers, and has great potential as a classroom tool. The developers offer special discounts and bulk pricing models for educators, and provide a curriculum guide filled with lessons that show concrete examples of how to effectively implement the game in a variety of educational settings, from high school surveys to college seminars. Through these lessons, students will learn important lessons about the Nazi Occupation of Prague, the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, and the Holocaust.
My Child Lebensborn ★★★★★
This is a game about bullying set in 1950’s Norway, and tells of the children of Norwegian women fathered by occupying Nazi soldiers. After the war, the children and their families were ostracized by other Norwegians. The game was developed using interviews with “lebensborn” children — now adults — and is sensitive in how it deals with the occupation and the effect of the war on today’s Norway. Read more here.
Warfare 1917 ★★★★☆
Build armies and send them into battle. Certain death, or ultimate victory?
Muck and Brass ★★★★☆
Think like an industrialist in this quick city-management simulation. By making choices to improve “Cottonopolis,” students will learn a little about what life was like in a bustling, Victorian metropolis.
The Changing British Population ★★★★☆
Play the animation and track how key events in British history have affected the size of the British population.
TripleA ★★★★☆
This is a clone of the board game Axis and Allies and can be played online.
FreeCiv ★★★★☆
In this free and open-source empire-building strategy game, your mission is to lead your tribe from the stone age to the space age.
Between the Wars Vocabulary ★★★☆☆
This feature presents the user with flashcards about World Wars I and II. The questions it offers are very good, though it does not allow the user to enter an answer.
Animated Maps and Map Games
The True Size ★★★★★
This site allows students to drag-and-drop countries on a Mercator-projection map to directly compare their size; however, the size of the countries changes to fit their new location on the map. Very useful for visually demonstrating how certain map projections distort area.
Animated Battle Maps of U.S. History ★★★★★
These narrated, well-polished, and professionally-animated maps cover the entirety of the Revolutionary War and Civil War, with detailed spinoff videos for the most important battles. The narration adds important historical context to the action happening on-screen.
Mapping the Holocaust ★★★★★
This animated map, created by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, charts key Holocaust sites with historic content illustrating the enormous scope and impact of the Holocaust.
American Panorama ★★★★★
This site offers a wide selection of high-quality interative maps of American history, featuring topics such as redlining, westward expansion, foreign policy, and elections to the House of Representatives. See also the Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States.
Ancient History Encyclopedia ★★★★☆
Explore cities and civilizations of the ancient world superimposed on modern maps. A very helpful resource for contextualizing the modern-day locations of important ancient sites. The maps hyperlink to relevant encyclopedia articles when possible.
Stateris ★★★★☆
This geography game has students fitting states, countries, and provinces onto the map, tetris-style! A very useful resource for memorizing basic geography.
Mapping America: Every City, Every Block ★★★★☆
New York Times interactive map that allows users to browse local data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey –based on samples from 2005 to 2009.
Story of the Jews: Explore the Diaspora ★★★★☆
An interactive map of the most significant sites in the history of Judaism and the Jewish Diaspora. Each of the 45 pins succintly explains the history of the location and displays a photo of the site.
Crisis in Darfur ★★★★☆
“Crisis in Darfur” is an impressive, interactive Google Earth file from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum as part of their “Mapping Initiatives.” Students can view images of burned-out Darfur villages and gain a deeper understanding of the destruction as a result of the civil strife in the area.
Social Explorer ★★★★☆
interactive maps allow you to choose a time period and demographic feature to look at census data from 1790 to 2000.
Mayan City-States ★★★★☆
A succinct resource for exploring the major cities of ancient Mayan civilization.
BibleAtlas.org ★★★★☆
Maps and encyclopedic entries for every location in the Old Testament and the New Testament.
Calisphere ★★★★☆
As part of a project to digitize California artifacts, five Google Maps have been created to showcase digitized historical photographs.
The Western Front, 1914-1918 Animation ★★★★☆
This animated map shows the Western Front of World War I.
Animated Map: The Fall of France (Dunkirk) ★★★★☆
This animated map shows the fall of France during World War II.
Historypin ★★★★☆
Users can overlay (mainly historical) photographs on top of Google Maps Street View and add a story!
Philaplace ★★★☆☆
This website connects stories in Philadelphia’s neighborhoods interactively via maps through personal accounts, videos and photographs.
Kings and Queens Through Time ★★★☆☆
In this animated timeline you put the kings and queens of England, and later the United Kingdom, in their proper place. There are four periods to explore.
The Traveler IQ Challenge ★★★☆☆
The Traveler IQ Challenge is a fun online geography game that tests your knowledge of various places in the world.
Animated Map: Battle of Somme ★★★☆☆
This is an animated map showing the Battle of Somme in WWI.
Animated Map: The Burma Campaign ★★★☆☆
This animated map shows the campaign in Burma during World War II.
Animated Maps of European Mapmaking ★★★☆☆
Explore the changing European view of the world in the animated history of maps across the centuries.
Plague in Gotham! ★★★☆☆
Interactive Google Map of 1832 cholera outbreak in New York.
Conflict History ★★★☆☆
This is a timeline and Google Map of world conflicts from 3000 BC to the 1970’s. It is a downloadable app for mobile devices.
Do you know about US@ Geography? ★★★☆☆
This website offers four activities for learning about the geography of the United States.
Animated Timelines
Immigration Explorer ★★★★★
This New York Times interactive timeline/map shows how immigrants settled in the U.S. over time.
History of Religion ★★★☆☆
This animated map and timeline gives a brief history of the world’s most well-known religions: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism.
March of Democracy ★★★☆☆
This map flashes democracy’s “march across history” in 90 seconds.
Scavenger Hunt Through History ★★★☆☆
This PBS game challenges players to match a historical event with the time period in which it occured.