Historical Games

 “Your library is your paradise.”

— Erasmus

French Regency style chess pieces
and box, early 20th century.

I have among my collection several historical games; not games with historical themes, but actual games played throughout history. My library also includes a small section with books about historical games. These foundational basics of ludic entertainment, some surviving for millennia, often remained a luxury of the privileged classes, though over time many have become more accessible to the general populace to occupy and divert their occasional leisure time. Some artifacts in my collection have particular personal significance, others I’ve acquired years later as I explored my interest in this branch of gaming sometimes overlooked by the 21st century adventure gaming hobby. They’re telling artifacts from a time when games remained accessible pastimes and not niche-market products in a capitalistic society.

Certainly society’s elite have always enjoyed games. Frequent evidence demonstrates this, both in lavish depictions and luxurious components that survive today. Sir Leonard Woolley purportedly unearthed five boards and varioius components for the Royal game of Ur at the royal cemetery there in the 1920s and 1930s. Archaeologists have excavated numerous senet boards, including gorgeous examples from royal Egyptian tombs...not to mention the famous depiction of Queen Nefertari playing senet from her own tomb. Fantastic chess sets survive from Mughal India to Western Europe as well as numerous depictions in manuscripts of royal and legendary personages playing the game.

But commoners also enjoyed such games, requiring only the knowledge of their components and rules with a surface and readily available pieces to play. Mancala-type games require little more than a series of divots in the dirt and seed or stones. Archaeologists have recovered numerous boards and pieces for Ludus Latrunculorum along Hadrian’s Wall, showing it was common entertainment for both officers and soldiers serving the Roman Empire. Indigenous Hawaiians played the game of konane until colonists suppressed it; examples of the board exist in the form of grids of divots carved in volcanic rock. Ready any book on historical games and one finds a host of games easily drawn in the dirt or inscribed on wood or stone for an hour’s diversion.

These games remained commonly accessible to the public with rules easy enough to relate verbally and through practice, with plenty of room for personal or societal variations over centuries of play. Such cultural rules sets essentially remain “open source” games beyond the purview of capitalistic exploitation. Sure, one can buy a fancy set of checkers or backgammon, but when one knows the rules they can cobble together or craft the components and play easily enough. They are the antithesis of modern games produced by large corporate publishers in constant new editions and expansions to serve our profit -driven economic society.

I’m grateful to have several examples of these historical games in my library:

The author's great great uncle (on left)
playing chess during the Great War.

Chess: I have several versions of the “Game of Kings,” among the oldest abstract strategy games across several great cultures. I own two different sets of wooden pieces. One very basic, functional set sat on a board in my grandmother’s apartment for years, which we often played when we visited. The other, still in its wooden box stenciled “Schach” (German for chess) is quite a bit more ornate and delicate; it used to belong to my grandfather, though an ancient photograph exists of my great-great-uncle playing it with a comrade during the Great War. I also have two wooden chessboards, one inherited from my grandmother with her pieces and another I made for a junior high school woodshop project (that, unsurprisingly, doesn’t sit flat). I also have a “Noble Celts” circular chess set, with faux leather board and resin pieces based on a hand-carved set dubbed the “Old Celts” in a style reminiscent of the Lewis Chessmen (a tag sale find I bought years ago for a few dollars). I also own a wood-boxed copy of chaturanga — with resin pieces and a cloth board — which many believe is a forerunner and ancestor of chess itself. I’ve never been really good at chess. The intricate strategies and technicalities of it have eluded me my entire life. I remain proficient enough to play a game, and maybe win one, against my son, but for most experienced players I’m easy to beat.

Backgammon: I am more a resource-management player than a grand strategist...and backgammon is essentially about managing your pieces with the dice rolls fate deals you. As a kid I had a magnetic travel edition I played infrequently (more than chess, anyway). Years ago my wife got me a nice board part as part of a multi-game set, though I’ve not played it much. One of these I’d love to acquire a set decorated in the Arabic style, most often seen as a dual chess/backgammon set.

Royal Game of Ur: As a child I found a board-game version of this game at a neighborhood tag sale. I’d just learned about ancient Sumer and was thrilled at the discovery. The board, a photographic reproduction of one excavated from Ur, also came with basic wooden pieces and dice...not terribly accurate, but enough to play with my brother and friends on occasion. I’m sure more authentic-looking sets exist, but I like mine for both the historical and sentimental value.

Senet: Ancient Egypt remains one of the historical periods that still engages me. I have a few Egyptian-themed items around the house, including a statue of Sekhmet, my faux blue-faience kheper bettle, a sarcophagus-shaped pencil tin, and a pair of cat bookends. It took a few years for me to find a nice senet set, a wooden one with a drawer for the pieces, which I found at a traveling exhibit of artifacts from pharaoh Tutankhamun’s tomb more than 20 years ago.

I rarely play these games anymore — though some were staples in my pre-adventure gaming hobby childhood — but I recall teaching my son the rudimentary basics of chess years ago, after which he occasionally played with classmates (though most were pretty hardcore).

My library also has a small section for books about historical games. Among them are titles that have inspired and informed me over the years.

I covered some of these (and a few more) many years ago in “Books about Board Games.” Many are still worth reading for their references to games, cultures, and game mechanics. Some of my favorites include:

The Big Book of Board Games: 14 Classic Games To Color & Play: I suppose this is the earliest book about historical games, or games of any kind, that drew me into the adventure gaming hobby. It was a gift from a distant relative to a young boy who might enjoy both coloring and classic games (I vaguely recall getting a similarly large coloring book about great works of science fiction...another interest I’d pursue). The game boards to color covered the oversized right-hand pages, with the history and rules on the left-hand page; spread open and using dice ad pieces scavenged from other mundane games of the time one could play games in the coloring book. This was my first exposure to such fascinating historical games as the Royal Game of Ur, senet, backgammon, nine men’s morris, alquerque, pachisi, and asalto. I colored several and recall playing a few with my brother.

Games Ancient and Oriental and How to Play Them: Perhaps, appropriately, the most ancient of my board game books, it was originally published in 1892 (my copy is an un abridged, corrected version first published by Dover Publications in 1961). While Edward Falkener offers a solid survey of known games at the time, it’s also an interesting historiographical document about what people in the late 19th century believed about common games.

Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations: The first of several solid board game references I found, R.C. Bell’s book provides information on many games, including variants, along with a host of helpful illustrations.

The Oxford History of Board Games: David Parlett’s more recent edition (40 years later) than the aforementioned title offers a slightly deeper analysis of game rules along with the usual illustrations of game boards and moves.

Medieval Games: Jeffrey A. DeLuca’s comprehensive survey covers games specifically played during the medieval period, primarily in western Europe but certainly acknowledging game origins from other regions and cultures.

War Games and Their History: C.G. Lewin’s well-illustrated examination of war-themed games begins in ancient and medieval times with the usual suspects, but really shines when tracking how such games and mechanics evolved into more modern wargames, both for training and entertainment purposes...with a heavy dose of nationalistic propaganda.

Examining history gives us context for where we’ve been, helps us evaluate where we stand now, and informs our course for the future. Familiarity with some of these historical games can offer insight amid the seeming deluge of modern board games and the numerous and innovative mechanics they employ.

“That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history.”

— Aldous Huxley