Board Games Throughout the Ages: A History
Board games are an integral part of our society. They have been around since ancient times and have come a long way in evolving to what they are today. Board games have helped us pass the time, learn skills, develop relationships, and even win prizes (on Sbobet site)! But where did board games originate? What is their history? And how did it all start?
There were many ancient board games that originated from the early civilizations such as Egypt, Greece and Rome. These early tabletop games actually became a symbol for status or even nobility in some cases which led to them being kept hidden away and only played by royalty and their social circle. Board game competitions would be held at holidays like Solstice Festival where playwrights would write entire plays based on how well you could play certain board games! The Egyptians also developed an early version of chess but it didn’t become popular until later during medieval times when it turned into what we know now as “chess” (it is believed by historians that chess spread across Europe through the Crusades).
About the same time as chess, another popular board game called “Fox and Geese” also emerged in Europe during medieval times (namely around 1200 AD) which involved trying to help your geese cross a river without being caught by foxes that move one space per turn across the grid until they catch someone. This is considered an early version of checkers but it wasn’t until much later when people realized they could play with more than two players at once! Another example is Mancala which originated from Africa around 700 AD and became popular throughout Asia, Arabia and eventually reached England before becoming known as “Oware” or “Awari”.
The history of board games did not stop there! They continued to evolve and become more detailed with different styles, game pieces, boards/grids, multiple players etc.. The Chinese even developed their own version of Mahjong which contained four suits instead of three which led them to create the first deck made up of 52 cards (this became popular during the Tang dynasty). And in England around 1380 AD they created a card game called “Rummy” but it wasn’t until much later when people realized they could combine two decks or add some wildcard jokers that Rummy evolved into what we know today as “Gin” or “Canasta”.
During the 18th century, another popular card game called “Whist” emerged which is believed to be one of the first modern games but it didn’t become extremely popular until much later during Victorian times when Queen Victoria herself played it on a regular basis! Also at around the same time, Pachisi (a cross between Parcheesi and Ludo) began gaining popularity in India where we now know as “Chutes and Ladders” so there you have some examples of how board games evolved over time to what they are today. Many more forms were developed such as: chess-like games like Chinese Chess or Shogi; race car driving simulation games like Grand Prix and Pole Position; strategy-based games like Chess, Stratego and Risk; action/role playing games like Dungeons & Dragons (yes the original roleplaying game was a board game); trivia based quiz games like Trivial Pursuit; or even modern versions of physical puzzles such as “Sudoku” which all began to gain popularity during the Victorian era.