Our cozy little people travel back to the very beginning of history. Win hands of solitaire to build the first cities, and watch empires rise and fall across the ancient Middle East.
Tell me when it's readyComing to phones and tablets: Android, Fire tablets, iPhone and iPad
Watch the ancient world come alive
Start with an empty map. Villages appear, then cities, then kingdoms and empires, over more than 8,000 years.
- Sumer
- Akkad
- Egypt
- Babylon
- Assyria
- Hittites
- Mitanni
- Elam
How it plays
- See the whole mapTime moves forward and the map fills with towns, roads, trade and kingdoms.
- Fly down into historyThe birth of a city, a new invention, a famous battle, a great trade fair.
- Win hands to play it forwardEach win moves the moment on, from the first villages to the great collapse.
A bird’s-eye view of history
High above the world, you see it all: markets and caravans, builders and farmers, and armies of tiny soldiers charging across the hills.
- The first cities, temples and pyramids
- Trade by donkey caravan, river boat and ship
- Great battles like Megiddo and Kadesh
Four great civilizations, and many more

Sumer · The first cities 
Egypt · Pyramids on the Nile 
Assyria · Mighty Nineveh 
Babylon · The great city on the Euphrates
Meet the great minds
Kings and queens, builders, writers and lawgivers. Tap them in the game to collect words from real ancient texts.
- IArchitect of the first pyramid, later honored as a great healer.Imhotepfl. c. 2650 BC
- SBuilt one of the first empires in history.Sargon of Akkadc. 2334–2279 BC
- EPriestess of Ur and the earliest author we know by name.Enheduannafl. c. 2300 BC
- HCarved his famous laws in stone “so that the strong should not harm the weak.”Hammurabic. 1792–1750 BC
- HA woman pharaoh who sent great trading ships to the land of Punt.Hatshepsutc. 1479–1458 BC
- TA general-pharaoh who won the Battle of Megiddo.Thutmose III1479–1425 BC
- RFought at Kadesh, then made one of the oldest known peace treaties.Ramesses II1279–1213 BC
- PA Hittite queen and diplomat who helped keep that peace.Puduhepac. 1275–1245 BC
Treasures to find
Hidden in every age: real wonders from the museums of the world. (No coins yet: people paid in silver, weighed in shekels. Coins came much later!)
- Royal Game of Ur
- Standard of Ur
- Narmer Palette
- Code of Hammurabi
- Cylinder seals
- Clay tablets
- Queen Puabi’s crown
- Warka Vase
- Bust of Nefertiti
- Mask of Tutankhamun
- Lion Gate of Hattusa
- Copper ingots of Uluburun