A Living Encyclopedia
From the senet boards of Ancient Egypt to the go stones of Tang Dynasty China — explore the games that shaped cultures, tested minds, and connected people across millennia.
Explore the CollectionOne of the world's oldest strategy games, played with seeds or stones across pit-and-row boards carved from wood, stone, or even dug into the earth.
Found in predynastic Egyptian tombs, Senet was more than a game — it was a ritual journey through the underworld, played alongside the dead.
Simple rules, infinite depth. Go has more possible positions than atoms in the observable universe, yet is learned in minutes and studied for lifetimes.
Born as chaturanga in the Gupta Empire, transformed by the Persians, and reinvented in medieval Europe — chess is the world's most travelled game.
The national game of India, played on a cross-shaped cloth board. Emperor Akbar famously played it using slaves as living pieces in his palace courtyard.
Boards have been found carved into Egyptian temple roofing slabs and Roman military barracks. This game followed armies and trade routes across the ancient world.
The sacred gambling game of the Aztecs, played on a cross-shaped board representing the cosmos. Emperor Montezuma himself was said to be an avid player.
Japanese Chess with a brilliant twist — captured pieces switch sides and can be dropped back into battle. Nothing is ever truly lost on a Shogi board.
Born in 19th-century China and beloved across the world, Mah Jong blends strategy, memory, and chance around a table of four — accompanied by the unmistakable sound of shuffling tiles.
The only known traditional board game of the Māori people — deceptively simple on a star-shaped board, yet a game of real strategic depth and cultural significance.
Buried with Sumerian kings 4,600 years ago, its rules lost for millennia — until a clay tablet and one brilliant curator brought it back to life.
Chinese Chess — played by 600 million people across the world. A battlefield divided by a river, a general trapped in a palace, and a cannon that can only kill by leaping over its own allies.
This site is a project between us — a shared curiosity about how people across history have played, competed, and connected. We research each game together, write up the history, and (when we can!) build a playable version so you can experience it yourself.
We update this whenever we discover something new. If you know a game we should cover, we'd love to hear about it.
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