# What was the first "board" game?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 14, 2003, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-board-game/207306 "2003-10-14T02:33:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-board-game/207306/1 "2003-10-14T02:33:52Z")
Most of the old standbys are real old, but there are games that are older… right? So what are they? I would offer Senat… or Nyout … Mancala even? ---
**Author:** ![slipster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@slipster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slipster)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-board-game/207306/2 "2003-10-14T02:46:41Z")
Among the board games found in the tomb of Tutankhamen was one called “Thieves”. No one is too sure how it or the other games found were played. Not that it’s truly relevent to the present question, but Monopoly was originally played on home-made boards of varying design by members of The Society of Friends–that is, The Quakers. The purpose of the game originally was to demonstrate to children the temptations and evils inherent in the private property system. It may be that a great many other commercial board games are refinements of traditional home-made diversions. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-board-game/207306/3 "2003-10-14T03:02:14Z")
[Go!](http://www.well.com/user/mmcadams/gointro.html) is possibly 4000 years old. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-board-game/207306/4 "2003-10-14T03:08:00Z")
[Go!](http://www.well.com/user/mmcadams/gointro.html) is possibly 4000 years old. ---
**Author:** ![Jojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecd19e/32.png) [@Jojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jojo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-board-game/207306/5 "2003-10-14T04:09:08Z")
[Backgammon](http://www.gammonvillage.com/backgammon/news/article_display.cfm?resourceid=38) ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-board-game/207306/6 "2003-10-14T04:31:04Z")
[The Royal Game of Ur](http://boardgames.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fweb.ukonline.co.uk%2Fjames.masters%2FTraditionalGames%2Fpachisi.htm) from 2700 BC. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-board-game/207306/7 "2003-10-14T04:34:44Z")
[Sorry, the other one was wrong](http://www.tradgames.org.uk/games/Royal-Game-Ur.htm) ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-board-game/207306/8 "2003-10-14T04:34:55Z")
Both of these web sites are a little vague on the dates, giving a 1000 year window. Anyone got a cite that can narrow it down? I’m all for giving the age crown to Backgammon, since it’s even mentioned on the Go! page, but is there a more precise answer? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-board-game/207306/9 "2003-10-14T04:39:27Z")
**Triskadecamus** , is that the board game mentioned in the 3rd paragraph of the Backgammon link? ---
**Author:** ![kiwiboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/35a633/32.png) [@kiwiboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiwiboy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-board-game/207306/10 "2003-10-15T03:03:06Z")
I’m pretty sure it’s Mancala, as some boards date back 5-7 thousand years. [This link](http://nabataea.net/games3.html) has some fascinating info on boards found in Petra, and mentions the early boards found in Jordan. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-board-game/207306/11 "2003-10-15T05:53:09Z")
The link in my first post was incorrect. The second post is a hot link to a page about the games discovered from Ur, and Sumeria. Tris