History

An average man would actually have no idea as to how far back do board games date. Well, they are far more ancient than one would imagine. Most of the ancient civilizations that we know of had some form of board games as a part of their culture since perhaps before signs literacy showed up. Infact, the oldest board game that can be traced back to 3500 BC is Senet, some sort of ‘passing game’, which was played in ancient Egypt. This game was quite popular and signs have been discovered that show that this game was played till 1085 BC. Senet, as a game was considered so important, that it was believed that a good Senet player would have the protection of the gods from all harm and often the Senet boards would be buried alongside the dead so as to help the soul’s journey in the afterlife.

While Senet was being played in Egypt, a game known as Go was played in China. Though the traces of this game go all the back to 548 BC, but according to old legends this game was created around 2337-2258 BC by Yao, a Chinese Emperor, for his son. It is also said that this game was used by warlords and kings to map out attacks while warring with other kingdoms. There are many more myths as to the originations of this game but none so far have been proven true. But what is fact is that by the 5th century AD this game had spread all over Japan and even Korea.

A famous game of today, Backgammon, too has its origins way back in history. Many aspects of the Egyptian game Senet are similar to Backgammon; however, the first sign of the modern version came about in the 1st Century AD. After which Ludus Duodecim had redesigned the board game into 2 rows having 12 points each. Around that time this game was called by the name Alea and this game gained great popularity and fame around the middle ages. Soon this game also got the new and now well known name ‘Backgammon’ and the game was called by either of the two names. This game, along with many others came under the genre of “Tabula”, which roughly means tabular (another way of calling a board game).

Board games have been a part of most of the ancient civilizations. These games have been an integral part of their society and culture and also had a role in the shaping up of these various civilizations. It was around the 20th century that board games, like the rest of the western world, went through a renaissance. This was mostly due to the new bourgeois class that emerged. This new class that mainly drew profit out of trade and commerce, also called the middle class, had plenty of time and money to spare and thus the habit of board games was cultivated and soon this led to their growth and modifications. Today many board games exist and even online board games exist. The transitions of board games into a newer and evolved form is not yet over, however, it can be said that despite all these changes, board games will exist in the future as well.

You can read more about board games at About.com.