In addition to the way found with the game, try these fun ways to play Lord of History!

"Who Am I?" (for ages 10 and under)

Players familiarize themselves simply with picture identification and the century in which the figure was born (or died, either one). Parents or children assign point values to correct identification of those things. The cards are shuffled and placed face up on the playing surface. The players then take turns drawing cards and (without turning them over to the text side) attempting to correctly identify the name of the person and century of birth or death. A tally is kept of points gained as play continues until all the cards have been drawn. Then see who wins!

Variation: (requires a parent and at least 2 players) The parent holds up the picture side of the card for all to see. Whoever guesses first who the person on the picture is gets 10 points. Continue until all the cards have been identified, then tally the points! The winner gets a cookie!

"Hide and Seek!"; (for ages 10 and up)

With 2 players: Create a barrier so that player #1 can effectively conceal the card pile from player #2. Behind or beneath the barrier, player #1 draws a card, looks at it, then presents player #2 with a "hint" taken from the significant facts from the text of the card (seen as underlined on the text). The hint could be, for example: "This person was baptized by St. Ambrose in 387." (see the St. Augustine of Hippo card) Player #2 tries to correctly identify the historical figure. If player #2 guesses correctly after the first hint, he gets 30 points. If he guesses incorrectly, then player #1 gives a second hint (from the same card, of course). A correct guess at this time by player #1 as to the identity of the person in question gains player #1 20 points. Otherwise, player #1 gives a third hint. A correct guess gains him 10 points, but if he is incorrect again, then player #1 gets 30 points! The players then reverse roles and repeat the process. This "taking turns" giving the hints continues until all cards have been played. Then the points are tallied to see who wins!

With 3 or more players: Everything is the same except that if player #2 misses correctly identifying the figure after the first hint, then player #1 (the hint-giver) proceeds to give a hint to player #3. A correct identification by player #3 gains him 20 points, but if he misses, then a hint is given to either player #4 or player #2 again, depending on whether there is a player #4. A correct answer by this player gains him 10 points; otherwise, player #1 gets 30 points, as above. Players take turns being player #1 until all the cards have been played. Then points are tallied to determine the winner.

To increase the difficulty level: Give hints from parts of the cards not underlined. For example: "This person's half-brother was Don Juan of Austria." (see the King Philip II card)

"Help Me Learn!"; (for mixed ages)

For players 12 and older, rules of the game remain the same as stated in the Instruction Card included in the deck. However, players younger than 12 are given the handicap of getting 15 points for any information they can give, including that for which older players get only 5 points.

Fun variation: The younger player tries to trick the older player by drawing 2 cards under concealment (see "Hide and Seek") and intentionally mixing up facts. For example, the younger player might draw both the Mother Teresa card and the Fr. Marquette card. He could then make the intentionally false statement: "Mother Teresa helped open the Mississippi River to French missionaries," to which the older player must respond in a way that successfully unskrambles the mix-up, such as: "Fr. Jacques Marquette helped open the Mississippi River to French missionaries." If the younger player successfully fools the older player, he gets 10 points. If the older player succeeds in responding correctly to the "falsehood," he gets 5 points. Play continues until all the cards are drawn.