It can be challenging to find good history games. They’re out there, but it can be a challenge. Luckily, Timeline is here to help you out!
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There are a lot of different versions of Timeline, based on different interests. The basic premise is you start with one card face up on the table. Your cards are face down. You choose a card and try to place it on one side of the face-up card, based on when you think the event happened.
How to play Timeline
So let’s say the first card is “Cleopatra Crowned Queen of Egypt.” It’s face up, so it shows that this happened in -51 (51 BCE). One of your face-down cards reads, “Founding of the First Village” (but without the year). Well, that will obviously go to the left, because villages must come before rulers. So you place it to the left of Cleopatra and turn it over, to reveal that the first village was founded in -10,000 (10,000 BCE).
I have heard some complaints that not all cards are accurate. However, for what it is, for the average person (that doesn’t have a photographic memory), this is a great introduction to the timeline of history. The pictures on each of the cards portray each of the historical events, and can often be used to help inform your guess. As a matter of fact, the first time we played this game, my daughter was 3 – and she won! She’s not any sort of genius, just an average kid, but she had good guesses and my history knowledge is particularly bad. I have, though, noticed my historical knowledge improving, and I’ve gotten better at playing Timeline.
Timeline Challenge
A fun twist on the game is Timeline Challenge. This was a game that we did not keep in our bus, as it has a rather large box. But I tucked it away in storage, to bring out when my kids are older, as I have enjoyed playing it with my husband. The basic premise is still the same – placing cards into a historical timeline, but there is a large board that players are moving their pawns around. There are several different challenges (4? I think? Maybe more), and if you succeed at the challenge you land on, you move your pawn forward. Whoever makes it to the end first wins.
One cool thing about Timeline Challenge is in addition to the cards it comes with, it has room in its box for you to add your other Timeline cards to it. I never have, though, because it’s still easiest for my family to play the regular Timeline game, so I always wanted to keep those separate.
Timeline has very small cards
One thing to note is that these cards are tiny. I wouldn’t classify them as a choking hazard, but it is something to keep in mind if your kids need larger things. I think Chronology, another similar game, has larger cards.
At the end of the day, I suggest you find a set that appeals to the interests in your house and give Timeline a try. It’s a small card game that’s very affordable and offers relaxed, fun gameplay.