As a kid I was fascinated about historical games (even loose ones), like Civilization, the Total War series, Europa Universalis, Pharaoh, Age of Empires, etc.

Of course many of these games only have a loose semblance of reality associated with them, but I was aware of that! I learned a lot from those games, and more importantly, I was inspired to learn a lot more.

I can only speak for myself, but my world-view was significantly impacted by the history presented in these games, and the accompanying reading they provoked.