Learning how to think isn't enough. WHAT we think about - our values - is critical. Age of Heroes does not glorify violence or make it seem cool. Nor does it teach an immoral pacifism. Age of Heroes teaches its players that you have to defend your own civilization - and it also teaches that starting fights for no reason is a good way to lose. The trading part of the game emphasizes the necessity for honesty and fair dealing - because people will stop being willing to trade with you if you behave otherwise.

All those mental skills and values are great, but they need something to work with. Did you ever wonder where iron first came from? Do you know when the Pyramids were built? Who wrote The Art of War? Age of Heroes will help your children to learn these facts - and 160 more. Nearly all the cards in Age of Heroes have unique and important facts on them - facts that your children will pick up naturally while playing the game.

A complete list of the 160 facts printed on the Age of Heroes cards:

• A citadel is a fortress for protecting a town, sometimes with a castle in its middle.
• A volcano is a place where the Earth's liquid magma comes close to the surface of the planet, making a "hot spot".
• According to legend, the Hanging Gardens were 400 feet square and elevated 80 feet above the ground.
• According to tradition, Rome, Italy was built in 753 BC by Romulus and Remus.
• Alexander the Great of Macedonia conquered most of the known world during his brief life, before dying of a fever at the age of 33 in 323 BC.
• Although there are many theories, nobody is entirely sure who built Stonehenge, or why.
• Ancient roads often had a roadbed of crushed stone, which permitted water to drain away and kept the road from becoming muddy.
• Ancient roads were often used for military purposes (moving soldiers from place to place) and economic purposes (moving goods).
• Ancient roads were usually built by a king or a wealthy city, and people were charged money to use the road.
• Athens is the capital of Greece; it was founded in 850 BC and is named after the goddess Athena.
• Athletes were allowed to leave the army and given safe passage for the Games.
• Babylon was the capital city of Babylonia in Mesopotamia; it was founded before 2300 BC.
• Barbarians often became a part of neighboring civilizations when they saw that city life was easier.
• Barbarians were what city-dwellers called tribes who did not build cities; barbarians were not all wild or savage.
• Beijing has often been the capital of China; it contains the Forbidden City.
• Between 3000 and 2000 BC, men learned to smelt iron, and it became more common.
• Boadicea was a Celtic chieftainess who led several Celtic tribes in a large, but doomed, uprising against the Romans in 60 BC.
• Cast iron was probably used for farm tools before it was used to make weapons.
• Cereal grains are actually the fruit of grass plants.
• Cereal grains are primarily starch, but also have some protein.
• Construction of the Parthenon began in 447 BC and it was completed in 438 BC.
• Cu Chulainn was a legendary Celtic hero who fought in battles against evil giants called Fomorians, with his magic spear.
• Damascus is the capital of Syria; it was first settled around 2500 BC. It is one of the oldest cities in the world.
• Early iron smelters needed charcoal or wood to heat the iron ore and to add carbon.
• Earthquakes occur when the tectonic plates of the Earth rub up against one another, causing violent movements of the Earth's crust.
• Famines are mentioned in the Old Testament as a problem in Egypt and Israel.
• Famines occurred when bad weather or disease caused a large crop failure.
• Flintstone was used by very early men, because it is easy to shape into sharp tools.
• Food storage and transportation technologies have made famine a thing of the past in the developed world.
• Gilgamesh was a Babylonian king who had many adventures. He sought immortality and battled many creatures.
• Gold has been used as a standard for currency, and has been made into coins throughout history.
• Gold has been valued since ancient times, and is mentioned several times in the Old Testament.
• Gold is not affected by air, heat, moisture or most corrosive agents.
• Gold is the most malleable metal known - 1 ounce of gold can be hammered into a 300-square-foot sheet.
• Guan Yu was a legendary Chinese warrior who was said to be a match for 10,000 ordinary warriors. He is still considered a semi-divine figure in much of China.
• Hadrian's Wall is a Roman fortress 75 miles long along the northern border of England.
• If an economic resource was discovered in an area, oftentimes people would move there from other places in order to take advantage of it, and a new town would spring up where before there had been nothing.
• Igneous stone is formed from molten lava.
• In 1184 BC, Troy falls to the Greeks after a long war that was made famous in a poem by Homer.
• In 166 BC, Judas Maccabbee defeats the Seleucids in the Battles of Beth Horon and Emmaus.
• In 200 BC, the Romans defeat the Celtic Gauls in the Battle of Cremona.
• In 24 BC in China, 9000 rebels under Liu Xiu defeat 450,000 troops, ushering in the restoration of the Han Dynasty.
• In 260 BC in China, the army of Qin defeats the army of Zhao, beginning the unification of China.
• In 390 BC, the Celtic Gauls defeated the Romans, and sacked Rome itself.
• In 47 BC, the Romans under Julius Caesar defeat the Egyptians under Ptolemy XIII in the Battle of the Nile.
• In ancient times, earthquakes were considered a sign that the gods were angry, and people would become very afraid.
• In ancient times, the human population of an area depended on how much food was available. If the food supply suddenly increased, many more people could live in an area.
• In another tale, the Hanging Gardens are said to have been built by Queen Semiramis around 810 BC.
• In Arthurian legend, Stonehenge is the burial place of Uther Pendragon, King Arthur's father.
• In one tale, the Hanging Gardens are said to have been built by Nebuchadnezzar around 600 BC.
• In the Battle of Carchemish (605 BC), the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar defeated the Egyptian army.
• In the Battle of Gaugamela (331 BC), Alexander the Great defeats Darius III and conquers Persia.
• In the Battle of Megiddo (1469 BC), Egypt defeats Canaan.
• In the Battle of Salamis (480 BC), the Greek fleet defeated the Persian fleet, and saved Greece from a massive Persian invasion.
• In the Battle of Veii (396 BC), the Roman army completed the conquest of the Etruscans.
• In the New World, the Incan Empire built an elaborate network of roads for its messengers.
• Iron is a common element on Earth - it makes up about 5% of the Earth's crust.
• Iron is the 10th most common element in the universe.
• Iron is usually alloyed with carbon and other substances to make steel.
• Iron was first used by men around 4000 BC.
• Istanbul is the newest name for a city founded in the 4th century by the Emperor Constantine; it is not the capital of Turkey.
• It is uncertain whether the Gardens were a real monument, or a folk tale.
• Jericho is in Israel; there have been stone houses there since 9000 BC.
• Julius Caesar conquered Gaul and brought Egypt into the Roman Republic; he transformed the Republic into an Empire before being assassinated in 44 BC.
• Kyoto is the former capital of Japan. It was founded in the 7th century and is now a great cultural center.
• London, England is at least 2000 years old; it has been an economic center of Europe since its founding.
• Mahogany was often used to build ships because it is very water-resistant.
• Maize, or corn, is native to the New World and comes in many forms.
• Men have used stone to build since prehistoric times.
• Men largely stopped using stone for tools when they discovered how to work metals.
• Metamorphic stone is igneous or sedimentary rock that has been changed by heat and/or pressure.
• Milled and ground into flour, grain can be made into bread, pasta, dumplings, and many other products.
• Millet, which grows in India and Africa, is used primarily as a feed for animals.
• Most cereals are ground (milled) into flour or meal. The outer layers of bran and germ are removed.
• Most modern arenas and stadiums use the same ingenious design principles shown in the Colosseum.
• Mt. Etna in Sicily is one of the world's most active volcanoes. It has been erupting for over half a million years.
• Nanjing is the southern capital of China; it was founded sometime before 500 BC.
• Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquered Syria and Palestine, and increased the splendor of his capital, Babylon.
• Nebuchadnezzar was said to have built the Hanging Gardens to please his wife, Queen Amyitis.
• Odysseus was a Greek hero known for great strength and cleverness. He fought in the Trojan War and then spent years returning home through many adventures.
• Originally a pagan temple, over time the Parthenon was also used as a Christian church and an Islamic mosque.
• Over the centuries the Great Wall has fallen into disrepair, as people take the stone for building.
• Participants in the Games came from all over the Greek world, from Spain to Asia Minor.
• Philip of Macedon built a great citadel in Aleppo, Syria, around 380 BC.
• Ptolemy, one of Alexander the Great's generals, took over Egypt in 323 BC. His dynasty lasted until Cleopatra VII, in 31 BC.
• Redwood trees can grow to be more than 300 feet tall.
• Rice, the primary grain crop in tropical regions, feeds more than half the world's population.
• Rivers often carried the most traffic because boats were much cheaper than building a road.
• Roman roads were often built of many layers, and have been described as being like a wall laid on its side.
• Rye and triticale are important grains in cold climates.
• Sedimentary stone is formed from the deposit and compression of particles.
• Sorghum is an important staple food in Asia and Africa and popular worldwide for livestock.
• South Africa is the source of about two-thirds of the world's gold production.
• Stone is either igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic.
• Stone is often quarried - dug out of the Earth in a large open pit.
• Stone is very durable and very strong, but hard to work with.
• Stonehenge is located on the Salisbury Plain in south central England.
• Stonehenge is made of sandstone and bluestone from Wales.
• Stonehenge was probably a ceremonial center and could also have been used as an astronomical observatory.
• Stonehenge was probably built between 2800 and 1800 BC.
• Sun Tzu was the Chinese author of The Art of War, the first influential book of military theory.
• Teff is popular in Ethiopia because its tiny seeds are well-suited to a semi-nomadic lifestyle.
• The architects of the Parthenon were Iktinos and Kallikrates.
• The Babylonians were among the earliest of human civilizations, and are related to the Sumerians. They wrote down their laws and pursued scientific knowledge.
• The Celts were a grouping of Western European tribes of uncertain origin. They did not build cities until relatively late, and were considered barbaric by their neighbors.
• The Chinese built many fortresses, known as fanzhen, in the 8th century.
• The Chinese constructed the Great Wall from 238 BC to 1368 AD.
• The Chinese learned how to make cast iron in kilns around 550 BC.
• The Chinese people have a fascinating and complex history that is not well-known in the West. Their literature and art is rich and beautiful.
• The Citadel of Cairo was built in medieval times by Saladin, a great Arabic warrior and general.
• The Colosseum could seat 45,000 spectators.
• The Colosseum's construction was completed in the 80s AD.
• The Colossum was used to stage gladiatorial games, fights between animals, and even naval battles.
• The earliest surviving stone structures are grave markers and tombs.
• The Egyptians settled along the Nile Valley where the annual flooding made the soil rich and fertile. They built a wealthy and powerful empire in the southern Mediterranean.
• The emperor Vespasian began construction on the Colosseum; his son Domitian completed it.
• The first iron used by men came from meteorites.
• The first manufactured iron was called slag iron.
• The Great Pyramid is 481 feet tall, and each of its sides is 775 feet long.
• The Great Pyramid of Giza was completed in 2750 BC.
• The Great Pyramid was constructed with limestone, basalt, and granite blocks.
• The Great Pyramid was originally faced with polished limestone, but those blocks have been removed.
• The Great Pyramid weighs about seven million tons.
• The Great Wall stretches for almost 4000 miles across northern China.
• The Great Wall was built to prevent Mongolian and Manchurian raiders from entering China with their horses.
• The Great Wall was conceived by Qin Shi Huangdi, the first Emperor of China.
• The Greek tribes were organized into city-states that made war on one another, but cooperated when threatened by an outside power such as Persia.
• The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are also known as the Hanging Gardens of Semiramis.
• The largest producers of iron ore today are China, Brazil, Australia, Russia and India.
• The Olympic Games were probably first held in the 9th century BC by King Iphitos of Elidos.
• The original structure was largely destroyed during a battle between the Turks and the Venetians in the 17th century.
• The Parthenon originally housed an enormous gold and ivory statue of the Greek goddess Athena.
• The Parthenon was the central building of the ancient Acropolis in Athens.
• The Roman road system was intended to move soldiers; merchants used the roads where movement by boat was impossible.
• The Romans built a fortress named Isca, 50 acres in size, near Caerleon, in Wales.
• The Romans built roads that were straight, even if that meant the road was very steep.
• The Romans started as a small tribe and quickly grew by conquering the Italian peninsula. Eventually the Roman Empire covered all of Europe, northern Africa, and much of the Middle East.
• The Romans were masters of road construction, and many of their roads and highways are still in use today.
• The Romans, among others, used stone extensively in constructing systems of roads.
• The shaping and joining of wood is known as woodworking or carpentry.
• The Stone Age was a very early time in human history when most tools were made out of stone.
• The stones of the Great Pyramid are between 2 and 4 tons in weight.
• The wood of most fir trees is used for pulp or to make plywood.
• The wood of oak trees is used to make furniture and flooring.
• The wood of the alder tree is very durable under water, and is often used to make docks.
• The word "barbarian" comes from the Greeks - it is their mocking imitation of their uncivilized neighbors' language ("bar-bar-bar").
• The worst known earthquake in history was in 1556 in Shansi, China, where 830,000 people are believed to have been killed.
• Thebes was the capital of Egypt during the Middle Kingdom. It is filled with temples, palaces and tombs.
• There is a story that the Great Wall is so large that it can be seen from the Moon, but this is not true.
• Today gold has industrial and technological uses - your computer has many gold connectors.
• Tunnels and cages beneath the Colosseum were used to hold gladiators and animals before contests.
• Wheat, the primary grain crop in temperate regions, was first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent.
• When the volcano Vesuvius erupted in 1906, it devastated the nearby city of Naples, Italy.
• Whole grains are good sources of dietary fiber, essential fatty acids, and other important nutrients.
• Wood broken down into cellulose fibers can be made into paper.
• Wood comes from both trees and shrubs - plants that do not produce any wood are called herbaceous.
• Wood from broad-leaved trees (such as oak) is known as hardwood.
• Wood from conifer trees (such as pine) is known as softwood.
• Wood is made of cellulose fibers, held together by lignin.
• Yew wood is white, flexible and strong; it was traditionally used to make bows.
• Your body needs iron - all animals (even bacteria) use iron in body processes.
• Ys was a semi-legendary city in what is now Brittany, France; it was flooded and destroyed in the 5th century AD.