Back To Square One: What Was The First Ever Board Game?

According to data held by BoardGameGeek, there are over 150,000 registered board games out there. That’s a lot of board games! But where did they all begin? 

The first board game can actually be traced back thousands of years. In this post, we’ll travel back in time to the very beginning, starting our journey by looking at a few modern classics, and then working our way back until we uncover the very first board game. Buckle up as we head back to square one…

The first mass-marketed board game

Many of the famous titles we know today such as Monopoly, Scrabble and Clue were launched in the early-to-mid 20th century. Some refer to this as the ‘Golden Age of Board Games’ – an age long before video game consoles when board games were the main form of home entertainment on a rainy day.

A lot of these classics were actually copies of older games. The iconic plastic board game version of Battleship that was launched in 1967 was actually based on a mass-marketed pen-and-paper game called Salvo released in 1931, and this game came from a DIY pen-and-paper game that is said to have been played by Russian officers before WWI. 

Meanwhile, the famous real estate board game, Monopoly, is claimed to have been invented by Charles Darrow who sold the concept to The Parker Brothers in 1935. However, it has since been discovered that it was an unmistakable copy of a game called The Landlord’s Game released in 1903 by Elizabeth ‘Lizzie’ Magie (it even had Chance cards and Go To Jail square!). The Landlord’s Game was designed to highlight the dangers of capitalism – and ironically, despite patenting the board game, Magie received no credit for the success of its copycat version, Monopoly, while Charles Darrow became very wealthy off of it. 

But what was the first mass-marketed board game? The Mansion Of Happiness is believed to be the first mass-marketed American board game – first published in 1800, it was designed to teach Christian morals. However, outside the US, mass-produced board games have existed since the 16th century. The oldest is thought to be a European luck-based game called The Game Of The Goose that was probably also a betting game (quite different from Christian board game The Mansion Of Happiness). 

Board games in the middle ages

Many popular board games like chess and checkers can be traced back to the Middle Ages. Peasants and townsfolk would typically craft their own makeshift boards and counters, while nobles would own more ornate boards made by local craftsmen. Members of royalty such as Edward III meanwhile owned elaborate jeweled sets made from crystal and jasper.

Chess is thought to have been first brought to Europe before 1100 AD. In fact, there are accounts of it being played in the German village of Strobeck as early as 1011. The game likely arrived in Europe via Persia – where it was known as ‘shatranj’. However, the roots of the game can be traced back even further to 6th century Northern India where a chess-like game called ‘chaturanga’ was played. 

Checkers was meanwhile first established in France some time in the 12th century. It is believed to have been inspired by an older game called ‘alquerque’ that used similar counters that could jump over pieces. This game was then applied to a chess board creating checkers and was commonly played among nobles. 

Both chess and checkers have evolved drastically since the Middle Ages. The rules have changed a lot with pieces like the queen and bishops previously only being able to move one space at a time. Chess tournaments were introduced in the 1800s, which would result in stricter rules and strategies being developed that are still used by chessmasters today. The last few decades have meanwhile seen both chess and checkers becoming popular digital games – sometimes played against online players and other times played against a computer. In fact, these digital chess games have become so advanced that as early as 1997, a computer was able to beat the current chess world champion! 

What was the first board game?

Despite sometimes being referred to as ‘the oldest game’, chess is not the originator of all board games. There is plenty of evidence to show that board games were being played well before ‘chaturanga’ was invented in the 6th century.

The Moorish game, alquerque (the inspiration behind checkers), was established some time in the 9th century. However, this itself derived from earlier games using a board and counters. A few early board games with similar counters include:

• Tabula: This was a game played during the Roman era that was likely the inspiration behind backgammon. There are records of rules kept by Emperor Zeno dating back to 480 AD. 
• Pachisi: The inspiration behind Ludo, this ancient Indian game may have been played over 2000 years ago, with cruciform boards being depicted in art reliefs dating back to around 200 BC. 
• The Royal Game of Ur: This is the oldest board that we know the rules to – it was found in royal tombs along with its rules inscribed on a tablet, and it is believed to have been crafted around 2600 BC. 

While these games are all extremely old, one game outdates them all. It’s an Ancient Egyptian game called Senet, found in several tombs dating back to 3500 BC and played with sticks and bones. No-one can be certain quite what the rules were (although modern versions with rules have been created), but it seems to have had afterlife symbolism.

Of course, it’s possible that board games were played before this, but we don’t have any record of these games. Senet simply takes the claims of being the first recorded board game. 

So, there you have it – the likes of Monopoly and Scrabble are the result of thousands of years of board game evolution that can be traced all the way back to Ancient Egypt.