Board Games
Live and Die
This does not
mean, however, that all board games are successful. Board games
live and die depending on their popularity. If there is an art
in playing them, there is even greater art required in creating
them. Senet and Mehen are board games traced back in ancient
Egypt, but their existence in contemporary or popular culture is
almost nonexistent, but their evolution can be more recognizable
today. Truth to be told, it is the applicability of the game
towards the modern times that, most of the time, decides if the
game will live on or wither away.
Grandparents
of Board Games
Backgammon, Go
and Chess are probably the oldest games still played today.
Backgammon is considered as a race game. It requires moving
one’s pieces across to the other side of the board. This game
needs to roll dice to determine the moves of the game. This game
dates back to ancient Egypt, around 3000 B.C., and it’s believed
to have evolved from the ancient game of Senet.
Go is believed
to have originated in China back in mid-2000 B.C. specifically,
it can be traced to Emperor Yao, and subsequently its popularity
spread to Korea and Japan. Chess, on the other, was believed to
have originated in India in the 6th century. Scholars consider
chess to have evolved from an ancient game called Chaturanga.
Clearly Go
predates chess a few thousand years back, but they have their
similarities. Each only requires two players, and they have to
outwit one another. It is not surprising to know that chess
originated from India, a country that shares a border with
China. However, one glaring similarity both Go and chess have is
that they are both war games.
Ancient forms,
yes, and nearly incomparable to the war strategy games modern
times have to offer in video games. It is believed that both
these games came from tribal warlords who used same looking
pieces to strategize their attack plan.
In retrospect,
having war games as the oldest, still popular board game in
present times does give people an idea why it is still
applicable today.
Modern
Times, Contemporary Board Games
There have been
countless board games that have come into existence in our time.
But little have the shelf life as the most popular board games
still being played today. The exclusive list includes:
* Monopoly
* Clue
* Risk
* Life
* Snakes and Ladders
* Checkers
* Scrabble
Of course, Monopoly is
almost recognizable across the globe. This is strange because
Monopoly isn’t exactly the easiest game to understand. Yet,
despite this, the Guinness Book of Records recognizes Monopoly’s
worldwide appeal, with over 750 million having already played
the game. To think that it has been in existence since 1935,
Monopoly’s staying power is a testament how real estate,
business, banking, and investment is applicable in our times.
Clue, on the
other hand, relies on murder and mystery to keep players
interested. Risk is a perfect example of how ancient games like
chess came about and Go have evolved to adjust to their cultural
environment. Life, in contrast, predates Monopoly. It was
created in 1860 and simulates, well, life. Marriage, career, and
so on are part of the game, and people find it enjoyable to
imagine what life would be like, or what life could have been,
in this game.
Snake and
Ladders is also another popular board game. The trouble with
this game is many adults do not find it appealing. That is why
it is nearly exclusive only to children. Adults normally find
games depending on chance boring. Relying solely on the dice to
determine the player’s fate is not as challenging as most adults
would want from board games. The player’s fate in Monopoly is
also determined by the dice, but unlike Snakes and Ladders, it
still requires players to strategize.
Checkers, or
English draught, is another popular game believed to have
stemmed out from the form of chess and Go. Still, it is still
considered as one of the most popular board game today. In fact,
it is more popular than Go, which is commonly associated with
Japan.
Lastly, there
are the word games. Scrabble is the most popular among all word
board games. Like chess or checkers, there are even world
competitions for Scrabble. Word Factory, which can be loosely
considered as a board game, is also a popular word game.
