Historical Conquest — the most interactive way to learn history
Most Interactive Way to Learn History
Gamifying Education
Start here
Who’s coming to the table?
Pick the one that sounds like you — here are the four things most worth doing first.
Parents & homeschoolers
A full year of history that runs itself — read, watch, play, build, prove it.
- See a year of history Every chapter already built: reading, a speaker, video, an activity and a self-marking quiz.
- Open a free lesson A real chapter from The History of Ancient America — no account needed.
- Check whether your ESA pays Education savings accounts in 28 states can cover curriculum like this.
- Explore the Adventure Box Cards, lesson plans, activities and coloring pages — monthly or all together.
Teachers & co-ops
Planned to the day, with the sources, activities and assessment attached.
- See the four-week plan Sixteen chapters grouped by region, with the page ranges for both books.
- Run a classroom tournament Turn revision into something students ask to do at lunchtime.
- Ask about class sets Decks, books and memberships for a whole room.
- Browse the curriculum books The textbooks and living books behind every chapter.
Students
Yes, you can just play it. Free, in your browser, right now.
Players & collectors
Build a deck, find a table, and climb the national rankings.
- Pick a starter deck Every deck is ready to play and spans all of world history.
- Find a tournament near you Public tournaments and game days hosted by Ambassadors across the US.
- Climb the rankings Bronze through Platinum on the national bracket.
- Add an expansion pack Twenty cards from one era of history, to build your deck your way.
What the research says
Why Games Help in Learning
A team of researchers looked at 77 comparisons between games and ordinary lessons, with more than 5,500 learners. Students who learned with games made for learning learned more, and remembered more later, than students taught the usual way. Games worked best alongside other lessons, over several sessions, and when players worked in groups.
Wouters et al. (2013), Journal of Educational PsychologyResearchers put together the results of many classroom studies, from kindergarten to college. Students who learned with well-designed games did better on tests than students who learned the same thing without a game — and how the game was designed made a real difference.
Clark, Tanner-Smith & Killingsworth (2016), Review of Educational ResearchPreschoolers from low-income families played a simple board game with numbered squares in a row, four times for 15 minutes. Afterwards they were better at judging how big numbers are, and the gap between them and children from wealthier families closed. Children who played the same game with colors instead of numbers did not improve this way.
Siegler & Ramani (2008), “Playing linear numerical board games promotes low-income children’s numerical development,” Developmental Science 11(5), 655–661Researchers combined the results of many studies that compared learning with games and interactive simulations to ordinary teaching. Overall, people who learned with games and simulations learned more. The advantage showed up when learners moved through the game themselves; when a teacher ran it there was no clear difference, and when the computer set every step, ordinary teaching did better.
Vogel et al. (2006), “Computer gaming and interactive simulations for learning: A meta-analysis,” Journal of Educational Computing Research 34(3), 229–243That is how Historical Conquest is meant to be used: with the lessons, played again and again, around a table with other people.
Every card is true history
Historical Conquest Digital and Physical
It looks like Pokémon™ and Magic: The Gathering® but plays like the board game RISK® — and every card is based on real history. Tap a card to see what it does and the true story behind it.
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Play it free in the Peter Salem deck
Peter Salem
The card’s ability
The first time your opponent attacks a Land Peter Salem occupies, he must discard one Character from his playmat. Once only.
From the history
At Bunker Hill on 17 June 1775, early accounts (first Samuel Swett’s 1818 history) credit “a black soldier named Salem” with mortally wounding British Major John Pitcairn in the assault on the redoubt.
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In the Nikola Tesla Starter Deck
Nikola Tesla
The card’s ability
Choose any Technology Card in play and gain double its abilities without confiscation.
From the history
In 1884 Tesla worked on dynamos at Edison’s Machine Works; in 1888 he patented his own AC induction motor, which Westinghouse licensed to rival Edison’s direct current.
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In the U.S. Civil War Expansion Pack
Maj. Robert Anderson
The card’s ability
INTERRUPT: After an opponent declares war, you may escape and transport all Characters to another Land.
From the history
Anderson moved his small garrison to Fort Sumter under cover of night, judging it the only defensible position in Charleston harbour.
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Play it free in the Peter Salem deck
Ramses the Great
The card’s ability
If your opponent gives you a Character, then you will not attack for the rest of that turn.
From the history
In year 21 of his reign (about 1259 BC) Ramses made peace with the Hittite king Hattusili III; some 13 years later a Hittite princess was sent to Egypt to become his wife.
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Play it free in the Peter Salem deck
Chinese Warriors
The card’s ability
If you win an attack, you can restore one card from your discard pile to your hand.
From the history
The Terracotta Army lay broken in pieces when farmers digging a well found it in 1974; archaeologist Zhao Kangmin gathered the fragments and pieced the first warriors back together.
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Play it free in the Peter Salem deck
Invention of the Printing Press
The card’s ability
Increase your Morale by 200. If you control Gutenberg, increase your Morale by another 200.
From the history
Around 1440 Johannes Gutenberg combined movable metal type, a special alloy, sticky ink, and a screw press into a machine that could print pages by the hundreds.
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Play it free in the Peter Salem deck
Tuskegee Airmen
The card’s ability
The Tuskegee Airmen give you an additional 500 Strength during your first attack of any turn.
From the history
On 2 July 1943, escorting bombers over Sicily, Lt. Charles B. Hall of the 99th Fighter Squadron shot down a German Fw 190 — the Tuskegee Airmen’s first aerial victory.
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In the Nikola Tesla Starter Deck
Frederick Douglass
The card’s ability
Douglass inspires all your black Characters. For every black Character in your Civilization, increase his Land's Defense by 200.
From the history
During the Civil War, he used his fame to recruit free African Americans into the Union Army, contributing to its victory.
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In the U.S. Civil War Expansion Pack
Union Soldiers
The card’s ability
If serving in the same Land as a Union or other non-Confederate US military officer, increase its Strength by 1,000.
From the history
After Congress authorised 500,000 volunteers on 22 July 1861, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan took command at Washington and drilled the new regiments into the Army of the Potomac.
Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering and RISK are trademarks of their respective owners; Historical Conquest is not affiliated with them.
Explore by era
From the pharaohs to D-Day
Fifteen eras, each with its own 20-card expansion pack — many with a book or game to match.
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c. 3100 – 30 BC
Ancient Egypt
20 cards from Ancient Egypt: Narmer, Hatshepsut, Imhotep, Nefertiti, the Great Sphinx and the Book of the Dead.
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Before 1492
The Ancient Americas
20 cards from the ancient Americas: Pakal the Great, Pachacuti, Hiawatha, Machu Picchu, the Cahokia Mounds and Mesa Verde.
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c. 800 – 146 BC
Ancient Greece
20 cards from Ancient Greece: Alexander the Great, Themistocles, Herodotus, Euclid's Elements, The Odyssey and the Trojan Horse.
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753 BC – AD 476
Ancient Rome
20 cards from Rome's rise: Caesar Augustus, the Second Punic War, Spartacus, the Senate, centurions and the Roman ballista.
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c. 793 – 1066
The Viking Age
20 cards from the Viking Age: Ragnar Lothbrok, Cnut the Great, Bjorn Ironside, longships, runestones and the Siege of Paris.
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1096 – 1099
The First Crusade
20 cards from the First Crusade: Peter the Hermit, Alexios I Komnenos, Kilij Arslan I and the sieges of Nicaea, Antioch and Jerusalem.
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1300s – 1600s
Renaissance & Reformation
20 cards from the Renaissance and Reformation: Copernicus, Kepler, Cervantes, Thomas More, the Gutenberg Bible and Suleiman the Magnificent.
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1400s – 1600s
The Age of Exploration
20 cards from the Age of Exploration: Magellan's circumnavigation, Vasco da Gama, Henry Hudson, Samuel de Champlain and the Treaty of Tordesillas.
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1607 – 1763
Colonial America
20 cards from colonial America: John Smith, Squanto, Chief Powhatan, Anne Bradstreet and the Mayflower Compact.
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1775 – 1783
The American Revolution
20 cards from the first day of the American Revolution: Patriot militia, British Regulars, the Old North Church lanterns and the North Bridge at Concord.
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1700s – 1800s
The Industrial Revolution
20 cards from the Industrial Revolution: Henry Ford, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Cyrus McCormick, Sir Henry Bessemer, the Wright Flyer and the Golden Spike.
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1861 – 1865
The U.S. Civil War
20 cards from the opening of the U.S. Civil War: the Union and Confederate armies, Fort Sumter, the naval blockade, Jefferson Davis and Maj. Robert Anderson.
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Late 1800s
The Wild West
20 cards from the Wild West: Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson, Tombstone, the Pony Express and the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
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1914 – 1918
World War I
20 cards from World War I: Manfred von Richthofen, Eddie Rickenbacker, John J. Pershing, the Battle of Verdun and the sinking of the Lusitania.
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1939 – 1945
World War II
20 cards from World War II: D-Day at Normandy, the Battle of Stalingrad, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Poland's Enigma codebreakers and the Red Ball Express.
Introducing
The Adventure Box
A history course for home educators and classroom teachers alike — no history expertise needed.
Every month or shipped all together, you will receive:
- Two Free Starter Packs*
- One Free Play Mat*
- One HC Expansion Pack
- Activities for all ages K-12
- Coloring Pages for the topic
- Lesson Plans full of material
- Math, English, & Science built in
- Living or Standard Textbooks
- Membership to Xogos Portal
- Membership to HC Online Classes
*Included with 5- and 10-box sets.
The curriculum
History that is planned for you
Something in every box for each of the seven learning styles — and younger students can use it just as well as older ones, so a family can use the same sets two or three times through a child’s education.
- Living Textbook → Verbal / Linguistic
- Standard Textbook → Solitary / Intrapersonal
- Decks of Historical Conquest Cards → Social / Interpersonal
- Activities (for kinesthetic–tactile learners) → Physical / Kinesthetic
- Online Gaming → Logical / Mathematical
- Online History Course (goes along with all the materials) → Aural / Auditory
- Coloring Pages → Visual
Join each material to the learning style it serves: choose one, then its partner — or drag between them.
No lines yet — pick a material to start.
Tournaments
Find a tournament near you
Ambassadors host public tournaments and game days across the United States. Tell us where you are and we’ll point you to the right place.
Become an ambassador
Host tournaments every month, nationwide
- Receive rare cards and prizes for your players, every month.
- Make money on the side — ambassador discounts, orders at tournaments, commissions.
- Get all new inventory first, before the public.
- Meet like-minded people — it’s a lot of fun.
Totally Medieval
The Most Interactive Physical Math Game
Knights Templar against Viking Berserkers, across wastelands, mountains and other terrain. To move forward on your turn, you have to work out the math — so every roll is practice.
- Three decks of cards and a play mat
- 32 Knight and Viking miniatures
- Math Dice for every level, from Addition to Algebra I
- Every player practices at their own level — skill levels for ages 4 to 100
- Two players per mat; link more mats to play with four, six or eight
Totally Medieval math cards
How are your Math Skills?
Six levels, the same as the Math Dice. Pick yours, solve the card, and see if you could move forward.
Solved 0 of 0
How to play — free
Twenty steps. Six minutes to learn.
Easy to learn, rich in strategy, and never the same game twice. The full game runs in your browser against a computer rival, with a tutorial for your first match.
- Start with a free deck of 50 real cards (the Peter Salem Starter Deck), with true history on every one
- No install, no payment — desktop, tablet or phone
- Win on the Xogos platform and earn coins toward new decks
Stay in touch
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Watch
Historical Conquest on YouTube
Now showing Historical Conquest Ad: History is Boring
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Historical Conquest Ad: History is Boring -
Explanation of the Historical Conquest and Gameplay -
Playthrough of Historical Conquest -
Learn about our Adventure Box Curriculum -
Learn Historical Conquest: The American Revolution Expansion Game -
Totally Medieval: The Epic Math Game -
Short
Heroes and Villains Series: Animated History -
Can You Stump the Creator -
Zack Edwards Being Interviewed -
The History of Souls: The Eyes that Never Sleep