People from everywhere around the world have some form of games that they have played, either in their childhood or even as adults. While new board games are constantly created, we cannot forget that through the history of humankind, there have been hundreds of thousands of games that were created and played by multitudes of people around the world! Let us look into some of the oldest board games from around the world.

The Royal Game of Ur

Probably one of the oldest games in this list, the Royal Game of Ur originated approximately 4,600 years ago in the ancient civilization of Mesopotamia.

The objective of the game is simple – two players play against each other to reach the end of the board from a starting point at the other end. Interestingly, the center squares of the board were also used for divination.

Wari

Wari, also known as Mancala is a popular strategy game that is of ancient origins. This game is known to have been played in the ancient civilizations of Sumeria, Sudan, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Ghana.

The aim of the game is to capture the seeds of your opponent. This is achieved by moving the seeds from the opponent’s six holes and into their bank. A total of 48 pieces are used to play the game.

Senet

A board game that originates from the ancient Egyptian civilization at around 3,100 BC. The game board has three rows of ten squares each, totaling 30 squares.

The game is a two-player game in which players aim to move all their game pieces across the board. This is achieved by using sticks (or bones in the ancient civilization). There were no dice used in this game.

Mahjong

A popular game to this day, Mahjong originated in China during the Qing dynasty (1644 – 1912). There are a total of 144 tiles that are used to play the game. 

The game itself is very similar to rummy with a seating capacity of 4 players. The goal of the game is to have players collect and discard tiles to make a total of four sets and one tile from the 14 that they have at hand. 

The Game of Goose

One of the earliest mass-produced board games, this game is based entirely on chance and luck. There is no strategic way of playing the game.

The rules of the game state that players have to get their piece to the center of the board in a counter-clockwise fashion according to the roll of the die. However, certain pitfalls and conditions are placed on certain spaces on the board, for example, if a player lands on number 58, the player must start from the beginning; number 19 would lead to a player paying a forfeit price and drinking till their next turn. To win the game, a player must score a perfect 63.

Sugoroku

Sugoroku was a popular game among the Japanese elites. It consisted of 15 counters for each player and a pair of dice. Similar to the modern Snakes and Ladder game, the goal of the game is to have players move up within the different working classes and reach the center square in which the Daimyo sat.

Pachisi

Pachisi is the game from which the modern-day board game Ludo originated. Originating from India around the 16th century, the game is played on board that is shaped like an asymmetric cross.

The aim of the game is to have players move their 4 pieces around the board before the others can. The center acts as the starting and finishing point. The number of spaces a player moves is determined by throwing cowrie shells. Those that land upward stated the number of spaces a player could move with 25 being the largest number one could get. This is where the game gets its name from as Pachisi in Hindi means 25.

What About Modern Games?

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