A history detective game for curious minds: read real evidence, rebuild events, judge every claim.
Exhibit set · The Rosetta Stone
Put these moments in order, oldest first. Tap them one by one.
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Free on iPhone · six cases free · no ads
What is PastRush: History Detective?
PastRush is a history detective game for iPhone that gives you real case files and asks you to do what historians and scientists do: put events in order, weigh one source against another, trace causes, and decide what the evidence can and cannot prove. Every answer explains why and links to the source behind it.
The exhibit set above comes straight from the first case, The Stone That Spoke Three Ways. The trap is the gap: a decree carved in 196 BC, hieroglyphs still being carved six centuries later, then fourteen hundred quiet years before anyone could read them again. In the app, a true-scale time bar shows exactly how far apart two events really are.
In short: history isn't just read here. It's investigated.
Five ways to investigate
Chronology. Rebuild the order of events, with BC and AD dates handled correctly.
Source comparison. What does each source support, and what does neither show?
Cause and consequence. Link causes to effects only where the evidence supports it.
Time and place. Match events to where and when they happened.
What can we conclude? Sort claims into "supported" and "going too far".
That last one is the habit we most wanted to teach: spotting a claim that outruns its evidence.
Exhibits from the app
Exhibit A. Every exhibit says what kind of evidence it is.Exhibit B. A only, B only, both, or neither.Exhibit C. Time Threads link solved cases together.Exhibit D. The offline Notebook keeps what you saved.
The 12 investigations, and which are free
Six cases are free for everyone; six more come with Founder Lifetime, a one-time purchase with no subscription.
Free cases
Founder Lifetime cases
The Rosetta Stone
The Chicxulub impact
Pompeii
The Black Death
Grand Canyon rock layers
The history of printing
Ötzi the Iceman
Stonehenge
Continental drift
The Antikythera mechanism
The Norse in Vinland
The last mammoths
Founder Lifetime also adds every story collection on the globe and the Master tier in every challenge, and it works with Apple Family Sharing.
A history game that goes beyond trivia
Open any case on the 3D globe and drag the Time River from today back to Pangaea. The Explorer update added Dive, a fall from the Milky Way down through six satellite views to an illustration of the moment, plus 245 globe stories to collect as cards in the Album. Rarity there is a fixed game label, not a ranking of historical importance, and cards are earned by playing, never sold.
For quick sessions there is Which Came First? (tap the older of two events; dates historians still debate are left out, so every round has one right answer), Where in the World? (drop a pin on a real map) and a five-claim Daily Evidence Check.
Questions before you open the file
Is PastRush free?
Yes, with a clear line. Six investigations are free for everyone: the Rosetta Stone, Pompeii, the Grand Canyon rock layers, Otzi the Iceman, continental drift and the Norse in Vinland. Founder Lifetime is an optional one-time purchase that adds cases 7 to 12, every story collection on the globe and the Master tier in every challenge. There is no subscription.
Is PastRush a trivia game?
Not mainly. Trivia asks what you remember; PastRush hands you labelled exhibits and asks what they can and cannot prove. There are quicker modes too, like Which Came First? and Where in the World?, plus a Daily Evidence Check of five claims.
Is it good for kids and classrooms?
It was built with families and classrooms in mind. Class mode hides purchases and outside links on shared devices (it does not add paid content), there are no ads and no tracking, and Founder Lifetime works with Apple Family Sharing.
Does PastRush work offline?
Mostly. Cases, the Notebook, the 245 globe stories, the Album and ancient-Earth maps work offline. The satellite map, Dive's satellite views, Where in the World? and nearby places need an internet connection.
Are the pictures real photos?
No, and the app says so. Story pictures are AI-assisted illustrations, labelled as illustrations. Every exhibit is tagged as made at the time, written later, a scientific finding or a modern reconstruction. Satellite imagery comes from Apple Maps.
What do I need to play?
An iPhone. No account is needed, and your progress and notes stay on your device.
