The 2025 International History Olympiad will feature a number of events which will form the Historical Games Medal Table. These more informal competitions are not considered official standard medal events, but we will be awarding medals for each of these events. The nine events as listed below are now confirmed as the official Historical Games of the 2025 International History Olympiad. Official rules for each competition will be posted in the weeks prior to the Olympiad.
1. Civilization VI
We have confirmed that the version of Civilization that we will include in the 2026 Olympiad program is Civilization VI (6). While we had hoped to include Civilization VII, conversations with players led us to the belief that it was still a bit glitch-prone, and that Civ 6 is a more familiar and safer choice. There is no limit to the number of players who can compete in any age division. Players must bring their own laptop and have the game installed in advance.
2. Civilization VI Scenario
The scenario will only be announced when players enter the competition room. Students will not compete directly against each other on the same world map, but will start with identical positions so that the gameplay is fair to all. There is no limit to the number of players who can compete in any age division. Players must bring their own laptop and have the game installed in advance.
3. European History Trivial Pursuit
This game will be a variant of Trivial Pursuit with all 6 categories being taken from the broad them of European History (including ancient history). The definition of Europe used for this purpose will be the same as in the Battery Exam. There will be some slight variations in the rules to account for the fact that there will be a time limit for the game. This game is limited to 24 players per age division and there will be both a preliminary round and (assuming there are more than 6 students who register in any age division) a final round to determine the medalists among the top finishers from each of the preliminary rounds. If the top players are tied with the same number of pieces when time runs out, then the first player to amass the number of tied pieces will be declared the winner.
4. Great Trading Game
The Great Trading Game has been played at all International History Olympiads dating back to 2015. It always has a theme related to the host nation, and is always lots of fun for Competing Students who take part. For 2025, we present: The Great Coal and Steel Trading Game. This is a fun and interactive experience often resembling the trading floor of a stock exchange, that immerses players into the economies of eight post-WWII countries. As Europeans recovered from WWII they had two overarching goals that drove the redesign of both their political and economic systems – to rebuild their economies and to avoid future wars. A prime example is the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community by France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. The organization’s goals included rebuilding and modernizing the coal and steel industries and eliminating trade restrictions and tariffs. Equally important, the founders hoped that economic cooperation would pave the way for a more peaceful Europe. While revitalizing the coal and steel industries proved challenging, the ECSC paved the way for the creation of the European Union and seventy-five years of peace in Western and Central Europe.
The four ECSC member companies in the game (i.e. France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands) will be referred to as Coal and Steel Producers. The game’s Coal Steel Importers (i.e. Argentina, Australia, Thailand and India) emerged from WWII with their agricultural economies relatively intact. Each relied more on agriculture than manufacturing for a variety of reasons. The game oversimplifies the countries’ economies in many ways. Moreover, the timeline is condensed, and the game focuses on a few commodities. Nevertheless, the game demonstrates the interdependence of the recovering European economies and the world’s agricultural economies. It will give players a sense of the challenges facing these countries. Players will deal with the twists and turns of the international economy, while exercising and expanding their diplomatic, tactical, and negotiating skills. Knowledge of post WWII history, strategy and a bit of luck will also play a role in determining the winner of The Great Coal and Steel Trading Game.
Uniquely, the Great Trading Game may (but will not necessarily be) divided into tournaments consisting of students in a particular grade in school (for students from North America) / corresponding birthdates (for students outside North America). The maximum number of Competing Students is 32 in a particular grade for students in the Intermediate, Middle School, Junior Varsity, and Varsity Divisions and 32 students for the entirety of the Elementary School Division. If we divide students into two grades for an age division, then separate medals will be awarded for each grade.
5. Hearts of Iron IV
This game was, by far, the most requested game that Competing Students requested be added to the program when they registered. As this is a new event, we will be inviting players who sign up for this game to an online discussion in late June to ask their input on how we can best design this competition. Players must bring their own laptop and have the game installed in advance.
6. Historical (World Wars) Monopoly Tournament
This game will be a variant on the game of Monopoly, with the Chance and Community Chest cards replaced with quiz questions. In the preliminary round, the cards will be replaced with questions on World War II, and in the final round, the cards will be replaced with questions on World War I. If a player answers a Chance card correctly, they will receive $100. If they are incorrect, they owe $100 to the bank. If a player answers a Community Chest card incorrectly, they pay $50 to the pot. If they answer a Community Chest card correctly, they take whatever money is in the pot. Otherwise, the rules of standard monopoly apply, with time limits applied to each turn, and various breaks factored in for negotiating and trading properties. At the end of the time limit, all non-bankrupt players’ assets are tallied and the player with the highest value of assets is the winner.
This game is limited to 24 players per age division and there will be both a preliminary round and (assuming there are more than 6 students who register in any age division) a final round to determine the medalists among the top finishers from each of the preliminary rounds.
7. Historical Spelling Bee
This competition will take place on the afternoon of July 19th, the arrival day. Uniquely among the Historical Games, it is an official medal event for the Family and Friends Program Medals Table, and is open to all Family and Friends Program Extended Option Participants as well as Competing Students. It will consist of 75 common and proper nouns with historical relevance. No penalty is given if a term is spelled incorrectly; each correctly spelled term is worth one point. A tiebreaker round will take place the following day prior to the Opening Ceremonies, where the medals will be awarded in front of an audience of 1000+ people for all 8 divisions (i.e. 5 for Competing Students, 3 for Family and Friends Extended Option).
While we will try to resolve ambiguity in advance, some terms may have several correct spellings. All spellings will conform to standard accepted British or North American English orthography at the sole discretion of Olympiad staff. Some knowledge of history will no doubt be useful, in particular as each term will be defined or identified. Terms will be repeated thrice, and the civilization or nation from which the term derives will likewise be given. The terms will begin to be read at 6pm sharp; participants are expected to arrive at 5:40-5:50pm. Participants will be given a location to take part in the Spelling Bee at a given site throughout Paris; participants may also request to take part in this event at the host school. G-O-O-D L-U-C-K!
8. Risk Tournament
This tournament will use the standard rules of Risk, except that students will have time limits to their turns, and, if there are over 6 students in an age division, then both a preliminary and a final round for the top students will be played. Players should be familiar with the rules and strategy of Risk in advance, we will only very briefly go over the rules at the beginning. Both the preliminary and final rounds will have time limits; if the top players are tied, the winner will be determined by who amassed the greatest amount of territory first.
This game is limited to 24 players per age division and there will be both a preliminary round and (assuming there are more than 6 students who register in any age division) a final round to determine the medalists among the top finishers from each of the preliminary rounds.
9. Table Combined
This is a combination table tennis / History Bee competition using previously used questions from the IAC archive; some of which may be available online (players may consult the most complete list of questions on the USA Resources page), but certainly some questions will not be. No questions from the 2024-25 academic year will be used. Questions will conform to the standard International History Bee distribution used at the Olympiad. Players will rally for serve, then each serve 5 points. Then 5 tossup questions will be played, each worth one point. Then the first player serves 5 points, then 5 more questions are played. Then the second player serves 5 points, then 5 more tossup questions are played. Then the game is played out in table tennis, with players needing to win by 2. Games are played to 15 points; a maximum of 15 tossups will be read. Semifinals and medals matches are played to 21 points with otherwise identical rules.
Table Combined is a single elimination event (with a Bronze Medal match for semifinal losers) which is limited to 64 players per age division.