Love History Games? We do.

Love games? We do too! Board games are both artifacts from the past and tools for engaging in the analysis of history. We play them for fun and use them as tools with students. The opportunities for enjoying history through games are numerous.

Games reflected fun and family when I was a kid. My siblings and I traversed the Oregon Trail and searched for Carmen Sandiego. With family and friends, board games and card games ruled the day. Challenges and competitions that filled the hours, tested our wits, and laid the foundations for relationships.

Today’s game makers have expanded the market to incorporate a variety of historical narratives. As a teacher and a parent I have had the chance to share the love of history a new generation with board games. From Ticket to Ride to Guillotine; we can play our way across time and space.

Gathering around a history game with friends and family is a great way to combine thinking and fun. Check out our collection of games of the week. You may find a new history game to love and share.

What would you choose to play? Did you pick your favorite type of game or time period? What is missing from our list? Let is know and play on!

November 2016 Games of the Week

 The Histocrats support the idea of incorporating board-games into your personal life as well as in the classroom. We enjoy and recommend games to others who enjoy history.  The November 2016 Games of the Week feature both card games and board games. What have you played? What would you like to play?

Game of the Week--Time Barons! Players struggle across the ages acquiring followers, building sites to reign supreme. #tabletop #games #gaming #cardgames #timebarons

A photo posted by Histocrats (@histocrats) on Nov 6, 2016 at 10:29am PST

Game of the Week: The Uncle Wiggly Game Did you ever play The Uncle Wiggly Game or read an Uncle Wiggly book? What is your favorite activity inspired by a book? #games #boardgames #retrogames #gameoftheweek

A photo posted by Histocrats (@histocrats) on Nov 20, 2016 at 6:03pm PST

Games out and ready to play at the Marietta Museum of History. What would you have played? #games #boardgames #retrogames #gameoftheweek #museum #familyfriendly #marietta

A photo posted by Histocrats (@histocrats) on Nov 28, 2016 at 3:30am PST

Game of the Week: The Mansion of Happines, an Instructive, Moral & Entertaining Amusement. 1843. I wonder who knows how to play. #retrogames #boardgames #gameoftheweek #games

A photo posted by Histocrats (@histocrats) on Dec 4, 2016 at 6:47am PST

October 2016 Games of the Week

 The Histocrats support the idea of incorporating board-games into your personal life as well as in the classroom. We enjoy and recommend games to others who enjoy history.  The October 2016 Games of the Week feature both card games and board games. What have you played? What would you like to play?

A photo posted by @histocrats on Oct 9, 2016 at 2:32pm PDT

A photo posted by @histocrats on Oct 16, 2016 at 6:24pm PDT

A photo posted by @histocrats on Oct 30, 2016 at 4:20pm PDT

September 2016 Games of the Week

 The Histocrats support the idea of incorporating board games into your personal life as well as in the classroom. We enjoy and recommend games to others who enjoy history.  Games can also be used as an artifact to understand the past. The September 2016 Games of the Week are a mixture of games we have played and artifacts from the past.

A photo posted by @histocrats on Sep 11, 2016 at 3:07pm PDT

A photo posted by @histocrats on Sep 18, 2016 at 5:53pm PDT

A photo posted by @histocrats on Sep 25, 2016 at 3:49pm PDT

August 2016 Games of the Week

By Margaret Duncan, Ed.D.

The Histocrats support the idea of incorporating board-games into your personal life as well as in the classroom.  As such, we support and participate in a local board-gaming group.  Any and all board-game enthusiasts are welcome to join the Game Nights that are held every first and third Friday night of the month.  As part of our gaming group initiative, we also recommend history centric games that are fun to play each week to all of our followers.  The selected games receive our “Game of the Week” distinction.  Recommended games are a mix of cooperative, card games, as well Euro style games.

The Road to Canterbury, Gryphon Games

Greed, Pride, Gluttony, Wrath, Luxury, Idleness, and Envy - the infamous "Seven Deadly Sins". For the faithful, they instill horror. For you, on the other hand, they present a wonderful business opportunity! In The Road to Canterbury, you play a medieval pardoner who sells certificates delivering sinners from the eternal penalties brought on by these Seven Deadly Sins. You make your money by peddling these counterfeit pardons to Pilgrims traveling the road to Canterbury.  To keep your services in demand, you will actually need to lead these Pilgrims into temptation yourself! The Seven Deadly Sins live up to their name: each sin that a Pilgrim commits brings Death one step nearer, and a dead Pilgrim pays no pardoners!  So much to forgive, so little time. Will you be able to outwit your opponents by pardoning more of these Pilgrims' sins before they die or finish their pilgrimage to Canterbury?

 

Early American Chrononauts, Looney Labs

Win by changing the timeline to fit your alternate history goal, by collecting Artifacts, or by diligently patching the timeline. The TimeLine begins just before the American Revolution in 1770 and continues through the Civil War, stopping at 1916.  Players travel through time to change linchpin events, patch paradoxes, and collect artifacts. This is a stand-alone game, but Early American Chrononauts’ TimeLine can fit together with the Chrononauts TimeLine to combine the two games into one huge game.

The Oregon Trail Card Game, Pressman Toy

All sorts of gruesome deaths await you and the rest of your wagon party in this official multi-player card game version of the classic computer game. To win you’ll need to keep one player alive all the way from Independence, MO to the Willamette Valley. But between rattlesnakes, starvation, dead oxen, broken bones, dysentery, and a host of other calamities the odds are long . . . almost as long as the Oregon Trail itself.  Players work together to move along the trail, fording rivers and playing Supply Cards to overcome calamities. But be warned–there will be times when it makes sense to let one of your wagon mates succumb to a calamity rather than expend precious supplies.

Kingsburg, Fantasy Flight Games

Players adopt the role of governor, and vie for resources to build up their province, military power to defend their homes, and above all the influence of the King. Over five years (five turns) players rely on various advisors to the King for resources. From tangibles like gold, wood, and stone to soldiers and portents, each acquisition will shape the future of your community.

*All product descriptions are from the manufacturer

July 2016 Games of the Week

By Margaret Duncan, Ed.D.

The Histocrats support the idea of incorporating board-games into your personal life as well as in the classroom.  As such, we support and participate in a local board-gaming group.  Any and all board-game enthusiasts are welcome to join the Game Nights that are held every first and third Friday night of the month.  As part of our gaming group initiative, we also recommend history centric games that are fun to play each week to all of our followers.  The selected games receive our “Game of the Week” distinction.  Recommended games are a mix of cooperative, card games, as well Euro style games.

Golden Snitch: The Quidditch Board Game, Wizarding World of Harry Potter

It's Gryffindor vs. Slytherin in this fast-paced wizarding game of Quidditch. Outmaneuver the opposing team with authentic Quidditch tactics. Use spells and potions to confound and outwit your opponent. Each high-flying game is a battle of strategy and magic.

 

The Grizzled Cooperative Card Game, CoolMiniOrNot

Through what tragedies can friendship endure? The Grizzled is a fast paced, fully cooperative card game that takes place in the trenches of World War I. Already a best seller in Europe, The Grizzled is an elegant game of avoiding threats and leading a team, and is a cooperative game. Featuring art by French artist Tignous.

Holmes: Sherlock & Mycroft, Devir Americas

Two brilliant London minds meet to determine the involvement of young Chapman. Is he part of an anarchist group, or just a scapegoat? London, England – It is the year 1895, and a bomb has exploded in the Houses of Parliament. A young anarchist has been accused and blamed for this heinous act. The crown has hired Mycroft Holmes, the older brother of the famous Sherlock Holmes, to prosecute their case. Sherlock, hired by the young man’s parents, is out to prove his innocence. Between the two, a duel quickly develops, pitting brother vs. brother in a contest involving the greatest deductive minds of the era. The case, and the fate of one young man hangs in the balance; only the player who holds the most clues can determine the outcome.

Nuns on the Run, Mayfair Games

The novices are on the loose. Temptation has lured them out of their cells, and they hope not to be caught by the abbess and the prioress. But the guards are swift and their hearing is excellent, so it will take craftiness and a bit of luck in order to make it back to their beds without being caught. Players explore the exciting nocturnal world of a grand abbey filled with intrigue and deception. As the old abbess, the noble prioress, or a simple novice you become hunter or prey. Everyone gets a special “blessing,” but only the novices try to fulfill a “secret wish.” They must sneak through the dimly lit halls, corridors, and gardens, seeking keys and treasures unique to their goal. Meanwhile, the vigilant abbess and prioress patrol their routes, ever watchful of young novices who should be fast asleep in their austere cells. Are you wily enough, or sneaky enough to fulfill your quest and win the night?

*All product descriptions are from the manufacturer

June 2016 Games of the Week

By Margaret Duncan, Ed.D.

The Histocrats support the idea of incorporating board-games into your personal life as well as in the classroom.  As such, we support and participate in a local board-gaming group.  Any and all board-game enthusiasts are welcome to join the Game Nights that are held every first and third Friday night of the month.  As part of our gaming group initiative, we also recommend history centric games that are fun to play each week to all of our followers.  The selected games receive our “Game of the Week” distinction.  Recommended games are a mix of cooperative, card games, as well Euro style games.

 

Indigo, Ravensburger

Indigo features a hexagon shaped game board on which players develop gem routes to move precious stones along paths that they develop into their collection. Players can work together or separately to lay the route tiles that provide the paths they must travel on their way to exit the board with the most gems. Players can share routes and exits so that they can both benefit, but the game is won by the player who collects the most points from the gems successfully removed from the board.

 

Warriors of Japan, Multi-Man Productions

From 1336-1392, all of Japan was aflame with war. After the fall of a corrupt and ineffective emperor, the two great courts of Japan dueled to determine the future ruler of the country. Warriors of Japan covers the vital period following the destruction of the Kamakura shogunate and the fight to find a successor. 

Tokaido: Collectors Edition, Passport Game Studios

Each player is a traveler crossing the "East sea road", one of the most magnificent roads of Japan. While traveling, players will meet people, taste fine meals, collect beautiful items, discover great panoramas, and visit temples and wild places. At the end of the day, when everyone has arrived at the end of the road you'll have to be the most initiated traveler – which means that you'll have to be the one who discovered the most interesting and varied things.

*All product descriptions are from the manufacturer

April 2016 Games of the Week

By Margaret Duncan, Ed.D.

The Histocrats support the idea of incorporating board-games into your personal life as well as in the classroom.  As such, we support and participate in a local board-gaming group.  Any and all board-game enthusiasts are welcome to join the Game Nights that are held every first and third Friday night of the month.  As part of our gaming group initiative, we also recommend history centric games that are fun to play each week to all of our followers.  The selected games receive our “Game of the Week” distinction.  Recommended games are a mix of cooperative, card games, as well Euro style games.

American History Go Fish, Classical Historian
50 cards show famous people, landmarks, events, symbols etc. from American history. Gather 4 cards within each category (i.e. Colonial America, Civil War, and Westward Expansion) and collect as many sets as you can! This one deck teaches the following skills through four fun games: Basic historical facts, Chronology, Geography, Association, and Social Skills required to follow the rules and play games.

Struggle For Catan, Mayfair Games
Manage your resources to build settlements, cities, city improvements, knights, and roads that generate victory points or special abilities. While your settlements, cities, and city expansions remain yours, valuable roads and knights change hands. Varied expensive city improvements give you additional victory points and lasting advantages, so they're generally key to victory.

World's Fair 1893, Renegade Game Studios
The World's Fair of 1893 in Chicago was a spectacular international exhibition that showcased many great achievements in science, technology, culture, and entertainment.  Acting as organizers of the fair, players work diligently to increase their influence throughout the fair and obtain the grand exhibits that will be put on display. The organizer who has earned the best reputation when the fair begins will emerge the victor.

The Play's the Thing Board Game, TaliCor
Set in the Globe, this board game encourages players to get to know their Bard a little better. Each player is an unemployed actor in Elizabethan England, desirous of performing as many scenes as possible from Shakespeare's plays. The object of the game is to assemble all the cards necessary to mount and perform a particular scene from Julius Caesar, Hamlet, or Romeo and Juliet. Roll a die and make your way across the board, which features all sorts of stage mishaps, duels, and missed cues. There are four levels of play geared toward different degrees of familiarity with Shakespeare's work.

*All product descriptions are from the manufacturer

 

March 2016 Games of the Week

By Margaret Duncan, Ed.D.

The Histocrats support the idea of incorporating board-games into your personal life as well as in the classroom.  As such, we support and participate in a local board-gaming group.  Any and all board-game enthusiasts are welcome to join the Game Nights that are held every first and third Friday night of the month.  As part of our gaming group initiative, we also recommend history centric games that are fun to play each week to all of our followers.  The selected games receive our “Game of the Week” distinction.  Recommended games are a mix of cooperative, card games, as well Euro style games.

Queen's Architect, Queen Games
You‘re in demand all over the realm! Villages, monasteries and towns need your help to construct important buildings and establishments. Players assume the role of an architect and assemble a competent band of craftsmen. Raise buildings and assist the people with small repairs or farm work. The Queen will reward you with her appreciation and with coins. Gain the privilege of constructing the new royal palace, and you will win the game as the land‘s most successful Architect!










Medicine Whoops, Analog Evolution Games
A game of medical disasters where players each take on the role of doctors at a poorly supplied hospital. The doctors compete with each other to treat patients using whatever tools they happen to have on hand. Sometimes these doctors try to actively hinder each other in the middle of surgery. Sometimes they all just agree to play a golf while the patient expires. Patients will begin to stack up fast...both cured and killed. Add them up at the end to determine who among you is the best doctor under the worst conditions imaginable.





Archaeology, Z-Man Games
Great quick card game where you are an archaeologist who must discover the lost treasures of Egypt in order to make your fortune. You will search for the right pieces to complete torn parchments, broken pots and other priceless artifacts. Explore an ancient pyramid hoping to uncover a huge stash of treasure. Trade shrewdly at the local marketplace to increase the value of your collection.










Ion: A Compound Building Game, Genius Games
Ion is a simple card drafting game where players select from a number of available ion cards and noble gas cards, with the object I've of forming either neutrally charged compounds or sets of stable noble gases!

*All product descriptions are from the manufacturer

January 2016 Games of the Week

By Margaret Duncan, Ed.D.

The Histocrats support the idea of incorporating board-games into your personal life as well as in the classroom.  As such, we support and participate in a local board-gaming group.  Any and all board-game enthusiasts are welcome to join the Game Nights that are held every first and third Friday night of the month.  As part of our gaming group initiative, we also recommend history centric games that are fun to play each week to all of our followers.  The selected games receive our “Game of the Week” distinction.  Recommended games are a mix of cooperative, card games, as well Euro style games.

Cold War: CIA vs KGB, Fantasy Flight Games
Cold War: CIA vs KGB places two players in control of the world’s greatest superpowers in an age of fear. In this tense, standalone card game of politics, guerilla warfare, and dirty tricks, each player must establish the dominance and superiority of his country’s worldview while bringing about his own vision of the future. But what kind of future?










Thunderbirds, Modiphius Entertainment
Set in the year 2065, Thunderbirds follows the exploits of International Rescue: a secret organization committed to saving human life, secretly founded and funded by the millionaire Tracy family, with the motto: 'Never give in, at any cost!'. International Rescue has a host of technologically advanced land-, sea-, air-, and space-rescue vehicles and equipment ready to launch at a moment's notice. Racing to the rescue from a secret island base beneath the luxurious home of the Tracy family somewhere in the South Pacific Ocean, International Rescue defies government spies and criminals who want the secrets of their incredible machines for their own. To combat this threat, Lady Penelope, the Thunderbirds' aristocratic English secret agent, and her chauffeur Parker lead a network of agents to uncover those behind the disasters caused by deliberate sabotage. A criminal mastermind known as "the Hood", operating from a temple deep in the Malaysian jungle and in possession of strange powers, often engineer’s events to allow him to spy on the Thunderbird machines with the goal of selling their secrets to the highest bidder.



Beowulf, King Post
Beowulf is a strategy game that uses the Anglo-Saxon epic poem as a point of entry into a vast interpretation of the Viking Age. As the legend of Beowulf's life and death unfolds on the game's board, players will trade, scheme and raid one another to grow their own kingdom's influence and power. After the death of Beowulf at the fangs of a dragon, the game moves forward in time, as players scramble to preserve the brave legacies of their kingdoms in the face of a quickly changing religious landscape and the relentless tides of history.







Mille Bornes, Asmodee/Hasbro
Rev the engine eagerly, waiting for the green light to send you hurtling across the countryside. Keep the tank full, find your way around the speed limit and avoid the accidents that will slow you down. Keep the pressure on full and be the first to make it 1,000 miles! Mille Bornes is the classic card game of cross - country racing. Keep a green light handy in case you get stopped and play a tire puncture on your opponent to keep him from getting ahead. Protect yourself with safety cards and save one for the classic Coup Fourre. Play your cards right and you'll be the first to cross the finish line and be the master of the Mille Bornes!




*All product descriptions are from the manufacturer

December 2015 Games of the Week

By Margaret Duncan, Ed.D.

The Histocrats support the idea of incorporating board-games into your personal life as well as in the classroom.  As such, we support and participate in a local board-gaming group.  Any and all board-game enthusiasts are welcome to join the Game Nights that are held every first and third Friday night of the month.  As part of our gaming group initiative, we also recommend history centric games that are fun to play each week to all of our followers.  The selected games receive our “Game of the Week” distinction.  Recommended games are a mix of cooperative, card games, as well Euro style games.

Salem: A Card Game of Deception, Facade Games
Accuse and defend your fellow townsfolk as you hunt down the witches of Salem. Act fast, before conspiracy turns you against your own. Before long, accusations will be flying, and screams of "She's a WITCH!" will wake the neighbors. Will you be the hero who purges your town of witches, or will you be wrongly accused and hung for witchcraft? Or perhaps you will be a witch yourself, escape conviction, and bring Salem to the ground.










Black Gold, Fantasy Flight Games
The year is 1922, and there’s wealth to be claimed deep within the soil. Prepare to head West to survey the Permian Basin in a race to become the wealthiest son of a gun in Texas! Black Gold is a game of drilling and discovery for 2-5 prospectors, in which you’ll try to gain more wealth than your fellow competitors by exploring the terrain for oil wells, surveying the possible sites, and building derricks. You’ll earn the most money if you can transport your oil to one of three companies and win the right to sell at auction. Meanwhile, a ruthless Oil Baron draws ever closer, his train counting down the rounds of the game’s thrilling ride. Race against your opponents to earn the most wealth before he reaches his last track. Outbid, out-bluff, and out-strategize your opponents to become the next tycoon!



Letters to Santa, AEG
If you want all of your Christmas wishes brought by the big guy, you'll need to make sure your letter makes it to him.  The closer you get the letter to Santa, the more likely you are to win!  But watch out for the wily Krampus, out to dash your yuletide dreams! Letters to Santa is a Christmas edition of the award winning Love Letter. 


 




Samurai Sword, Da Vinci
In the land of the Rising Sun, faithful Samurai protect the Shogun. Now, a lone Ronin is plotting his revenge. Will you honor the way of the warrior? Put down your Colts and take up your katanas in Samurai Sword, the latest addition to the Bang! family of card games!

*All product descriptions are from the manufacturer