Play God on EarthFOR TEACHERS
A world map your class can change
Play God on Earth is a free browser game on the real map. Every country starts on its real borders and runs itself: nations ally, fight, split and grow. Students change one thing and watch what follows. It works on Chromebooks, laptops and phones, with no download and no account.
Why it works in a classroom
- 25 real starting maps. Begin on the borders of 1000 BC, the year 1, 1492, 1815, 1914, 1938, 1960, today and more, with the city names of each time. 17 of them are free.
- Cause and effect you can see. One act (a plague, an alliance, a golden age) and the centuries that follow, with a newspaper front page for every big moment.
- Every run can be replayed. A shared link replays the exact same history on every screen, so a whole class can look at one world together.
- No signup, no chat. Nothing to install and no accounts to manage. There is no chat between players.
- 18 languages, including Spanish, French, Arabic, Hindi, Chinese and Ukrainian.
Five lesson ideas
1. What changed? (15 minutes)
Open the 1914 map and today's map side by side. Students list five borders that moved and research why. Then run 1914 forward 100 years and compare the game's version with the real one.
2. Why do empires fall?
Start in the year 1 with Rome and let it run for a few centuries. Students record when and how the empire shrinks and compare it with what historians say happened.
3. Counterfactual writing
Pick one page from the Earthpedia (for example every country against the whole world) and write a short alternate history from it: what led there, and what the textbook would have said.
4. Map warm-up
The Daily God is one short world a day with one goal, the same for everyone. Use it as a five-minute starter: name the countries on screen before you play.
5. One change, one essay
Each student makes exactly one change to the 1492 map and runs a century. They screenshot the front page it caused and explain the chain of events.
Good to know
- It is a game, not a model of real history. Results are possibilities to discuss, not predictions. That is the point of the lesson.
- Disasters, wars and plagues happen on a map, as icons and headlines. Nobody is shown being hurt.
- The game is rated for ages 13 and up. For younger classes, run it on the board as a teacher-led activity.
- Questions or ideas from your classroom: kyle@simgen.dev. I make the game and I read every message.
How to play · The Earthpedia · Every country vs the whole world