History Heroes review: educational history games for children

History Heroes: learning about the past through card games and board games

A quick card game and a board game that took us three hours might not seem to have much in common, but both gave us some interesting ways to explore history together. We tried two games from History Heroes, a British company creating illustrated card games, board games and puzzles inspired by historical people and events. A Little Slice of History is a fast-paced matching game, while A Race in Time combines historical knowledge, strategy and some surprisingly lively debates. But how well do they actually work for home educating families? We put both games to the test, adapted a few rules along the way and discovered that the most interesting learning sometimes happened between turns. Here's what we thought, including my son's feedback, what worked well and a few things we'd change.

💚 Gifted review: We were gifted two games by History Heroes so that we could try them for ourselves. I wasn’t paid to write this review and there was no requirement to provide coverage or a positive piece. As always, all opinions are my own and I only feature resources on The Home Ed Daily that I genuinely believe are relevant and useful to home educating families. 💚

What are History Heroes games?

If your family enjoys learning through games, History Heroes is worth a look. This British company creates illustrated history card games, board games and jigsaws designed to make exploring the past entertaining and accessible to different ages. We tried two of their games, A Little Slice of History and A Race in Time, to see how well they worked for home education.

History Heroes games are packed with interesting facts about historical figures, events and discoveries. Rather than simply memorising dates and names, players are encouraged to make connections, test their knowledge and discover things they might not otherwise have come across. There's usually a bit of friendly competition involved, too!

Another thing worth mentioning is the company's approach to sustainability. Its products are made in the UK, using sustainable card for its games and jigsaws, with packaging that's 100% recyclable.

A little extra for home educators: The History Heroes website also has a useful collection of free printable activities, including colouring sheets, word searches, timelines and games. They're a handy way to explore historical topics further, even if you haven't bought any of the products. Explore the free History Heroes downloads and activities

Read our history book recommendations here

The two games we reviewed were quite different in terms of gameplay time and age suitability. Age recommendations are always very subjective, as everyone learns at a different pace.

We have also played the original range of History Heroes card games with friends (there are 13 different sets, pictured above) and wish we had all those too! They’re very simple to play (using a similar game style to Top Trumps), educational, fun, and small enough to pop into your bag for those bored moments when you’re out.

A Little Slice of History review: a quick history card game

Looking at this card game, it seems like it could be a handy addition to our home-ed activities! It's all about matching History Heroes cards to uncover surprising connections, which sounds like a fun way to learn about history. It's suitable for ages 6+ and for 2 to 6 players - so it's perfect for home-ed families with kids of different ages.

Everything is made from FSC certified card, and the box is very small, so it is easy to store. The instructions were basic; I think having an additional game card showing what the corresponding symbols meant would be a helpful addition. The cards themselves are quite unique, triangularly shaped - we found this shape really pleasing and easy to hold - and it’s how they fit together so neatly once you begin playing. The illustrations on them are the same as across all History Heroes products, really bold, fun and colourful.

The gameplay is quick to learn, a straightforward matching one, and like in ‘UNO’ the objective is to get rid of all your cards. When you are down to your last card, you must call out “Hero!”; if you don't, another player can beat you to it, and you must then draw a card (this aspect caused a little rage between two of my boys!). It has sneaky event cards too, that can throw a spanner in the works of the player’s best-laid plans and adds an extra layer of challenge and excitement to the game.

The gameplay averaged about 10 minutes for us. I think that the history facts could be overlooked with this game, so we added elements to overcome this. We had each player read out the quote on their card when they placed it. We also took time to consider why the placed cards were connected. This makes gameplay a little longer but adds to the learning potential.

The fact that it's so small is a big plus. I can imagine slipping it into our bag or keeping it in the car for impromptu games while out and about. If you're looking for a fun and educational game that's easy to take with you wherever you go, this could be a winner!

Overall, A LITTLE SLICE OF HISTORY seems like a versatile and entertaining game that can fit nicely into our home-ed routine.

What my son thought:

It was a nice and simple game with good comic book-looking art. I didn’t understand the instructions at first, but you can get the hang of it more easily while playing. I liked the way you had to match the symbols with each other and how the question marks could be placed on any symbol (If you can say why!). The only thing I didn’t like was how there was confusion with what the ‘neutral’ symbol did. Other than that, I enjoyed it a lot.

A Race in Time review: a history board game for older children

This was instantly very visually appealing with the bright and fun illustrations on the box. History Heroes say on their website that all their products' materials are recyclable and use sustainable card. The interior storage insert was made of recyclable plastic, and the packs of cards were plastic film wrapped; this didn’t appear to be recyclable as far as I could tell. The box, game board, cards and counters are made of card, and all feature a wonderful art style.     

It's suitable for ages 8+, for 2 to 8 players, and there are two ways to play. You've got the straightforward option: zoom around the board from start to finish, answering quiz questions to move forward and braving the twists and turns of ‘event’ squares. They could give you a boost like ‘move forward’ or throw a spanner in the works! The cards are just like those in their History Heroes card games, with wonderful illustrations and facts. You choose your level of question from 1 to 6 - coloured green to red: easiest to hard. So if you choose and answer a level 5 question correctly - you move forward five places, gradually moving through four historical eras towards the finish at the centre of the board. 

But, if you're up for a bigger challenge, here's what you can do: not only do you race around the board, but you also have an additional end-game objective to complete. This can be secret or chosen before play. As you move, you collect and discard History Heroes cards to build up your ultimate team of historical figures. To win the game and conquer the objective, you need to have the top 5 History Heroes cards for the objective in your hand when you reach the finish line. Now, here's where it gets really interesting: how do you determine who's got the best five heroes? All players get to decide and vote on it! You all lay your cards on the table and ready yourselves for a battle of wits (and much debate!) as everyone votes on the best crew. We found it didn’t add much extra time to gameplay doing this option, it depends on how long the players argue their case for having the winning hand!

There is an A3 sized poster to accompany the game and give you clues to answering the questions. This is like an optional crib sheet. You could examine this at the start and put it away if you're history confident, or as we did, leave it in view the whole game. I’ll admit, even with the poster, I struggled with some of the questions! With repeated play, I imagine it would get easier as you remembered the answers. As you are reading out the facts/questions, there is a lot of potential learning and fact retention going on.

We did feel that it might be tricky for young children; my 12-year-old thought 10+ would be a better guideline. Also, it is a long game, so you’d need to account for that before you start playing. It took us at least three hours on our playthroughs - some children may struggle to maintain interest for this long. Maybe a ‘quick play’ version of the rules could be invented. I’d also recommend it as fun for adults to play without the kids, especially history buffs; my 23-year-old and I enjoyed playing it by ourselves. There could be a disparity between players' knowledge if widely different ages are playing together. We invented a rule for this ourselves to make it fairer - all players could only choose the easier questions (1 to 3). This meant an adult couldn’t keep choosing harder number 6 questions and moving ahead quickly, while a much younger player who only felt confident enough to choose easy questions gets left behind.

There is much scope for personalising the rules to fit your own family. We are working on devising an alternative gameplay using just the objectives and the heroes cards, as we enjoyed the ‘arguing your case’ for the best 5 heroes element of the main game so much. You could also remove and use the heroes cards by themselves for a Top Trumps style card game. These aspects offer really good play value in my opinion.

Overall, THE RACE IN TIME board game is not only fun but also educational, with quiz questions and historical themes woven throughout. Plus, the strategic element of collecting and swapping History Heroes cards adds an extra layer of engagement, debate and critical thinking. It's a great way to engage older children in history while having a great time with the family. It’s stealth learning, and even if you get the questions wrong - you are still absorbing historical facts and knowledge of figures from history.

What my son thought

I liked the design of the game and the art. It was fairly simple rules once I’d played it once and I got what to do. Some of the questions were pretty hard, even with the poster to help. I think it could be unfair for younger players playing with older ones, it felt this way when playing it with my mum. My best bit was the objective at the end and deciding whose heroes were best. I’m going to take out and use the cards for playing top trumps with too.

Our verdict: are History Heroes games worth buying?

Both games have plenty to offer, but for quite different reasons.

A Little Slice of History would be my choice for families wanting something quick, portable and easy to bring into everyday home education. It's simple enough to play without much preparation, although I'd recommend taking a little extra time to read the facts and talk about the historical connections. Otherwise, some of the learning opportunities are easily missed.

A Race in Time is better suited to families who enjoy longer board games, quizzes and a bit of friendly debate. We particularly enjoyed the challenge of choosing historical figures and arguing our case for who belonged in the winning team. However, our games lasted around three hours, and younger players may find some of the questions difficult. Adapting the rules helped us make things fairer.

What I particularly like about History Heroes is that the games offer more than simply remembering dates and names. They encourage questions, conversations and connections between people and events, which can lead naturally into further reading or exploring a particular period of history.

They're not a substitute for exploring history more widely, but they're a lovely addition to a home education games collection, especially for families who enjoy learning through play.

Our Handy for Home Ed rating: 5/5