10 Games That Let You Rewrite History

Arma 3

The Arma series of games has been my go-to game whenever I want to create and experiment with historical military operations from the 1940s onwards, and wish to do so using a first-person shooter. While Arma and Arma 2 are still very valid choices, even in 2026, if you’re someone who’s starting to pick up on this kind of historical play, you’ll be better served with Arma 3, for several reasons. The main reason is its very powerful, real-time editor. Instead of scripting missions and then playing them, you can react in real-time to what’s happening, and improvise on the fly, by bringing new units, assets, and changing behaviours, making for some of the best dynamic experiences you can have with an editor. The second reason why Arma 3 is so powerful is its never-ending pool of mods. Whatever it is you might think about creating, just go to the Steam Workshop, and chances are, you’ll find it there. Need some obscure faction from some 1950s conflict? It’s there. Need a unique variant of a weapon? Sure thing. Want to use a North Korean war tractor, for some reason? Someone modded one of those into the game, too. Quite literally, anything you can imagine, you can recreate in Arma 3, and better yet, doing so is super simple.

Relive History With These Amazing Strategy Games

I hope you have enjoyed this trip down the games that I really enjoy booting up from time to time whenever I feel like it’s time to revisit some of my favorite periods in History. From the Roman Empire, every man dreams and thinks about daily, to the medieval battlefields of Age of Empires 2, the Age of Sail, and the rise of the modern World with Europa Universalis, all the way to yesterday with Arma 3, each game offers a unique way to experience the past, from hyper-realistic to arcade fun. If you enjoyed these games, make sure to check my other lists and also my reviews of some of these games.

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2 responses to “10 Games That Let You Rewrite History”

Ryan Gainey

March 15, 2026 at 10:06 pm

I am disappointed to not see Civilizations anywhere on the list — especially going back to the past with Civ 3 Conquests/ Ultimate Edition, given the various historical scenarios present in the game as well as the other player-made civ scenarios added after the fact with the map editor. Even without that, though, you can simply play on the World Map stage and have cultural link spawns to recreate history better. For example, you can choose to play as the Aztecs, but given that the game spans multiple ages and that you presumably have a brain and/or a mind for history, you can theoretically make Aztecs/Mayans/Incans/Iroquois a colonial power that sends its invaders to Europe and conquers Spain & Great Britain, etc. Or you could make ancient Babylon, Sumeria, Hittites, Egypt a great modern day force to be reckoned with that stood the test of time and built nukes, etc. If you really want to rewrite history, Civilizations is pretty much one of the best games to do it.

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1. Chris I
  
  March 17, 2026 at 2:13 pm
  
  I agree. Some of these are combat sims and barely let you rewrite history. 🙂 , Civilization is completely rewriting history.
  
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