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A board game is any game played with a premarked surface, with counters or pieces that are moved across the board. Simple board games are often seen as ideal "family entertainment" as they can provide entertainment for all ages. Some board games, such as chess, have intense strategic value and have become lasting classics.There are many different types and classifications of board games. Some games are simplified simulations of real life. These are popular for they can intermingle make-believe and role playing along with the game. Popular games of this type include Monopoly, which is a rough simulation of the real estate market, Clue, which is based upon a murder mystery, and Risk which is the most well known of thousands of games attempting to simulate warfare and geo-politics.
Other games are only loosely, or do not at all, attempt to imitate reality. These include games like chess and checkers and word games, the most popular of which is Scrabble. Trivia games, the most popular of which is Trivial Pursuit, can also be placed in this category.
1 History
Board games have a long history and have been played in most cultures and societies; some even pre-date literacy skill development in the earliest civilizations. A number of important historical sites, artifacts and documents exist which shed light on early board games. The most of important of these include:
- The Royal Tombs of Ur contain the oldest board games known to have existed, including the Royal Game of Ur. They were excavated by C. Leonard Woolley and his books contain limited information on the games found. Most of the games found here are now on public view at the British Museum in London.
- Buddha games listThe Buddha games list is a list of games which it is reputed that Gautama Buddha said that he would not play. As such it dates from the 5th century BC and is the earliest known list of games. There is some debate about the translation of some of the games is the earliest known list of games.
- The Alfonso XAlfonso X El Sabio or the Learned ( November 23, 1221 April 4, 1284) was a king of Castile and Leon ( 1252 1284). He is perhaps the most interesting, though far from the most capable, of the Spanish kings of the Middle Ages. His nickname "El Sabio" usuall manuscript, also known as the Libro de los juegosThe Libro de los Juegos ("Book of games"), or Libro de ajedrez, dados y tablas ("Book of chess, dice and tables") was commissioned by Alfonso X, king of Leon and Castile, during the 13th century between 1251 and 1283 AD. It consists of 98 pages, with 150, it is a text commissioned by Alfonso translating a large number of Arabic documents on games into Spanish. Many of these original Arabic documents have been lost to us, so Alfonso's book is the first known codification of many classical games.
- The roof of the temple at Kurna , EgyptJumhuriyat Misr al-Arabiyah ( In Detail) Official language Arabic Capital Cairo Largest City Cairo President Hosni Mubarak Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif Area Total % water Ranked 29th 1,001,450 kmē 0. 6% Population Total (2003) Density Ranked 15th 74,718,797, dating from around 1400 BC, has seven board games etched into it. Many of these boards are the earliest of their type known.
A few books are most prominent in their coverage of the history of board games they are,
- R.C. Bell's Board and Table Games
- Willard Fiske's Chess in Iceland
- H.J.R. Murray's History of Board Games other than Chess
- Falkner's Games Ancient and Oriental
Note that these works, although prominent, suffer from cultural bias, in particular Murray's work, which despite being the standard reference in this area tends to assume a superiority of western cultures.
1.1 Timeline
Board games first became widely popular among the general population early in the twentieth century when the rise of the middle class with disposable income and leisure time made them a receptive audience to such games. This popularity expanded after the Second World War, a period from which many classic board games date. Computer games are closely related to board games, and many acclaimed computer games such as Civilization are based upon board games. Almost all board games have been turned into computer games. The rise of computers has also led to a relative decline in the most complicated board games as today games with elaborate calculations are far easier handled on a computer.
