Play activities provide a privileged access to societal norms, values, and expectations.Through the study of ancient games we can access children’s experience and perspectives on a harsh social context, marked by the ubiquity of war. How did children learn about warfare, incorporate its merciless rules, and project themselves mentally into a future marked by violence? The sources are also indirect, and usually reflect the views and expectations of adults. Despite these difficulties, they can provide glimpses of children’s agency, defined as the capacity to interact, to take the initiative, to be creative, to mock as well as to reproduce social norms.