Fact Fuse

Fact Fuse is a series of answer-judging card games that teach history and historical thinking skills to middle school students. It is played by large or small groups of students who compete to quickly identify and justify historical arguments based on the cards available. There are two editions of the game, covering WWI and the American Revolution.

Fact Fuse and its paired game, Chrono Scouts, were created by the USC Game Innovation Lab. More information, and a print-and-play version of the game, can be found at history.gameinnovationlab.com. The WWI edition is available for purchase here, and the American Revolution is available here.

Fact Fuse is packaged together with another card game, Chrono Cards, as part of a paired set of classroom games. Both games have been designed to reinforce curricular content at specific instructional intervention points. Fact Fuse serves as an excellent review activity toward the end of study and focuses on competitive group assessment of historical understanding. In addition to the card game, there is a web-based digital adaptation that can be played on tablets or on a classroom projector. The WWI edition was funded by a gift from Microsoft Research, and the American Revolution edition was developed under a grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities.