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3000 BCE
Royal Game of Ur
The oldest complete game that has been found. This game is played by racing on a board using knucklebone dice. It was a popular game played by upper and lower class citizens, and had possibly even spread West from its origin, the Middle East, and made it to the Roman Empire, who may have made Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum based on it. -
1440 BCE
9 Men Morris
This game is a strategy game for two, and it was abstract as well. This game came from the Roman Empire, and it was played by having each player have nine pieces that they can move across 24 spaces. The way to win was to leave the opponent with two or less pieces or no legal moves. -
1400 BCE
Ullamaliztli (The Aztec Ball Game)
This is a game from the Mesoamerican communities, and it is one that does involve a ball. The ball cannot be moved with one's hands in this game, but only through their hips or other parts. The goal was a loop placed sideways on a wall. Other investigations suggest sacrifices might've been a part of this game. -
200 BCE
Tessrae
The Romans had an affinity for dice games. They made a word for it called tessrae. There are some specific dice called tali too. These dice were different from modern dice, as the opposite sides of a tessrae would add up to seven. -
100 BCE
Terni Lapilli
This game is basically tic tac toe, considered to be an identical copy. People scratched boards on many surfaces, and used X's and O's just like in our tic tac toe. -
600
Chaturanga
Chaturanga is a game about four pieces. It has similar rules to chess, so it is considered the ancestor of that game. The games name comes from "Chatur-anga-bala", which means four pieces -
650
Shatranj
This is also a strategy game, but made by the Chinese. It is like chess, where the opponents more valuable pieces should be taken with more priority. In this case, the valuable piece was the Shah, and if that piece was taken, the one who took it wins. -
700
Mancala
Mancala is a well known game that originated in Africa, and its popularity survives in the modern day. This game is played by moving "seeds" off the opposite side in order to gain more seeds than your opponent. -
1000
Playing Cards
The Chinese were the people who created playing cards in the old times. The cards were like paper dominoes that got shuffled and dealt to players. This form of playing games was popularized enough to start spreading to other regions, slowly getting improved over time. -
1200
Moksha Patam
Modernly known as snakes and ladders. This game used virtues as ladders to bring players up from one end of the board to another, and vices as snakes to knock other players down. To win is to get from one end of the board to the opposite end. -
The Checkered Game of Life
Evidently, this is the ancestor of The Game of Life. Instead of suing the moral values of Moksha Patam, this game focus on things like attending college and getting stable finances. The winner is the one doing best at life (in game) -
The Landlord's Game
Some games can have serious meaning to them. This game was made in order to describe social injustice of land ownership and "rental poverty". It was then made into lots of different games, like Monopoly. -
L'Attaque
L'Attaque is an imperfect military game made by the Chinese. It was a strategy game liked by many, and inspired games like battleship and stratego. -
Bertie the Brain
The first video game ever created. This game had the arcade style, and was tic tac toe with the computer. The computer had adjustable difficulties. -
Dungeons and Dragons
D&D is the game that created an immense change in board games after it. Inspired by fantasies, Gary Gygax went and created the first offical RPG (Role-Playing Game), Dungeons and Dragons. It was like making a narrative, where a game master sets up a story for players to act out as people in the game. -
Gettysburg
This game was the first of many games based one one, historical battle. The basic version of the game released in 1958, but it introduced a new mechanic of "skill trees" in 1980. The skill trees were made as a way to choose upgrade paths symbolized by vines, and they helped build the strategic levels of games. -
Rise of PC Gaming
Video games have been being made, and pc's where always a step ahead in making them. That is why, in the 1990's, they were experiencing a surge in popularity with their updated graphics and gameplay. -
Generation 4-6 consoles
The consoles began improving insanely with video and audio becoming better. Storage increased, and consoles like the N64, Xbox, and Playstation 2 were a big part of this. -
Carcassonne
Carcassonne is a game where players build the board itself while playing. When the game ends, points are tallied after the last piece is played. The one with the most points win. -
Period: to
Generations 7 consoles to today
This is the gaming we have today. After 2007, consoles began improving gaming qualities even more, and still improve. Lots of different things got added to video games, like motion tracking and wireless controllers. This era holds the most high quality gaming due to the advancements made since ancient games. -
Today's consoles
