Ancient Board Games You Can Still Play!
If there is a defining trait to human beings it is, perhaps, our desire to be entertained. But games offered our ancestors more than mere fun — many of the games we’ve found or inherited from ancient times come with tales of great deeds of myth or stories about the power of a game’s outcome to foretell the player’s destiny.
Games have weaved in and out of all recorded history, from the simplest games involving knuckle-bones to complex experiences designed to test the players’ tactical wit. From gambling games that tore through civilizations like the plague, to games considered fit only for royalty, there is a vast ocean of history contained within the realm of playing boards and dice.
What’s most incredible of all, however, is how many games (some of them thousands of years old) have remained intact, playable in their original form. Others have evolved over time, their rules changed but their roots intact, and a few have been all-but lost, reconstructed by archaeologists and fans who admire the cunning of our forebearers. I’ve assembled a list of these, pulling in games from all edges of the world, all times and places, to create a master list of ancient games that can still be played.