Board games are an invention that have been around much, much longer than the average person would probably expect. Most civilizations throughout history have had some form of board game within their culture, with relics of some board games being discovered before signs that the culture had developed literacy skills. The oldest confirmed board game dates back to 3500 BC. C., in the predynastic era of Egypt. Senet, as it has come to be called, translates as “the passing game”. The game was quite popular in Ancient Egypt, and remains of Senet boards were found not only in the pre-dynastic era, but also in First Dynasty burial grounds, dating to around 3100 BC.

Senet paintings have been found on the walls of many Egyptian burial tombs, from the Merknara tomb dating to around 3300-2700 BC. C. and the burial place of the Third Hesy Dynasty, who lived between 2686 and 2613 BC. C. By the time of the New Dynasty of 1567-1085 BC, Senet had become a game of great importance to the Egyptians. It was believed that a good Senet player would be protected from harm by the gods, and corpses would often be buried with Senet tablets as a means of aiding the perilous journey to the afterlife. The Egyptian Book of the Dead references Senet and its uses with the journey to the afterlife, demonstrating its great importance to their society.

All over the world, in China, the Go board game was being developed at the same time. The first known written reference to the game dates from 548 BC. C., but legend has it that the game was started by the Chinese Emperor Yao, who lived between 2337 and 2258 BC. C. and had the game designed for his son. It has been theorized that the game was used by Chinese tribal warlords who used stones to lay out attack positions. There is even a conjecture that the game originated from a fortune telling device, but none of these can be accurately proven. Go was considered to be the game of the aristocracy and slowly began to spread to Japan and Korea around the 5th century AD.

Backgammon bears traces of the original Senet game, but the earliest traces of its modern incarnation come from the first century AD. C., when Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum redesigned the board into 2 rows of 12 points each. In the 6th century, this game was known as Alea, and in the Middle Ages, Alea was considered the most popular game. The name changed a bit to be known as “Alea” or “Backgammon”. This game, among others, was called “Tabula”, which was a generic term meaning more or less the equivalent of “board game”.

Board games have been common for most of history, with every culture and civilization showing historical proof of their existence. However, board games seemed to experience a renaissance in the mid-20th century, as the rise of the middle class provided time, money, and the desire for collections to catch on. Board games are still riding the wave of this popularity and despite what may happen, it can be assured that they will last long into the future in one form or another.