I was looking to do some research for some ideas on a new post about games when I came upon a link about how the game of Scrabble had turned 60 this year. That’s when it occurred to me to ask the question what is the oldest board game and how far back does it date. I like to think of my self as a curious person by nature and I can never have enough useless information stored up in my head. So there it is what do you think is the oldest board game known to man?
This question actually resulted in me finding a couple of answers but none really an absolute definitive one as there are some board games that date back thousands of years! So that makes declaring an absolute answer as the correct answer a wee bit difficult. Anyway here are two board games that I found to be pretty consistently listed as two of the oldest board games known to man.
The first game is an ancient Egyptian board game known by the name of Senet. The actual rules of Senet are debatable but the basic premise seems to be that of a race between two people. The board for Senet consist of three rows of ten squares with some pawn like pieces and throw sticks (dice) to make your moves.
The other board game with a very long history actually comes from the land of China and it is called Go. Now Go I have actually seen being played before and I have been told it’s really an easy game to learn and start playing. The game board for this game consist of another grid of squares only this time they are 19×19 and again this game is played by two players. This game consist of black and white stones and the basic strategy of the game is to gain control of the majority of the board with strategic placement of your stones.
I thought the interesting part about both of these games was that even though they were both created thousands of years ago and in completely different lands and cultures. That both of them consist of a board of squares with pieces to move on the squares and for two people to compete. What are the odds of that I wonder and is there another board game out there some where with squares that both of these are actually based on?
Share Your Opinions and Thanks for Reading,
Carpe Diem!
