While no historian can tell us exactly when the first games were invented by humans, it is a fairly good guess that as long as there has been free time, there have been games. Historically, games were used to teach different real life skills and a way to practice parts of hunting, searching, trading or warfare.
Ancient Games – Some of the earliest games in recorded history come from the Middle Eastern area of the world, around present day Iraq, Iran and Egypt. Of those early games, one of the very earliest was called Senet, a board game that dates back, according to hieroglyphic evidence, to 3,100 BC. The name of the game, meant ‘the passing game’ and it is believed that Senet is the oldest known board game. The gods Ra, Thoth and Osiris were believed to be part of the game, protecting successful players since the Egyptians believed that there was no luck and that the gods determined everything in life. This is why the game was considered to have religious significance to them and thus painted on the tombs in Egypt. This game had a 30 square grid, in 3 rows of 10 squares with various rules that are not clear to us these days. Surprisingly, the game is still played today thanks to new game makers who wanted to bring back the concept.
Dice are another very ancient game form used in Asia since the very earliest days, around 3,000 BC as well in southeastern Iran. Hindu and Buddhist games of dice do exist, showing a great prevalence in societies that revered these types of games. Dice are even mentioned in the Judaic and Christian holy books where King David was said to have cast dice in certain cases, showing that even that far back in history, dice games were played.
Tile Games – Tiles games such as Dominoes were played far back into history, using either ivory or animal bones with ebony ‘pips’ inset into them. The term dominus, in Latin, means lord or master and the game was not actually seen to be from Venetian culture first, but rather originated in China and was later brought to Roman territory. The tiles in Dominoes were actually derived from the original dice.
Another popular tile game in history is that which would later become a huge hit on the computer, Mahjong. This game is said to have been invented by Confucius, but that is most likely a myth. The name mahjong refers to a Chinese word for ’sparrow’ and it is said to have been first invented during the Taiping time period in the 19th Century rather than 500 BC as some claim.
Board Games - The earliest known board game is said to be from 500 BC and created by Sun Tzu, the author and military strategist behind the famous book The Art of War. Colored stones would represent armies and the game of Wei Hai was said to be about moving groups of troops around the board to simulate military maneuvers and battle field tactics.
Go is another Chinese game that has been quite popular but first rose up around 500 BC It was first played with a 17 by 17 board, but today 19 by 19 is the standard used that first became popular during the Tang Dynasty. This, too, is said to be derived for purposes of war first and as a way for Chinese warlords to explain the tactics to their commanders.
Other popular historical games that are quite old are Chess that first arose in the year 500, Shogi, Parcheesi and Jigsaw puzzle. It would not be until the early 1900’s that popular games such as Monopoly, Stratego and Scrabble would first be made.
Card Games – Early card games would be cribbage, which used to be called ‘noddy’ and of course, who can forget: poker. Poker has a very uncertain history that is greatly debated, but either way it certainly made a name for itself. Most card games have a very sketchy history.
Military Games – These games were extremely popular among high ranking officers who wanted to brush up on their strategy and also incoming cadets who wanted to get good enough to perform the key roles in military organizations. Koenigspiel from 1664 was a popular German game and War Chess would come later in 1780. Games were created to show the public about the way the military operated, too, helping give incoming soldiers some brief experience in warfare strategies.
Arcade Games – Pinball is the first of the arcade games and was first played outside by rolling balls along a course set up in the grass, trying to get it to roll into a bowl or other indentation. Later, sticks would be used to strike the balls and create games such as pool. Tabletop games that followed this pattern became pinball and this is the basis of arcade games before they went electronic.
Electronic Games – The very first electronic game using graphics was called OXO, a game of Tic tac toe. This game was created in 1952 by AS Douglas. Six years later, William Higinbotham would make Tennis for Two, a predecessor to Pong. Later, Spacewar! would be built at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and after that, it would be a while before the Magnavox Oddyssey was offered to the public as the first electronic video game system in 1972.
