The Game of 20 is about 4,700 years old, and while it’s not the oldest board game ever discovered, it is the oldest complete board game. Except, that is, for one thing; the rules.
The game, found in a cemetery in Shahr-i Sokhta by an Italian and Iranian archaeology team back in 1977, comprises 27 pieces, shows no sign of any paint being on the board, and is two-player. Also known as the Shahr-i Sokhta game, it’s considered an ancestor of chess, as it is the first in known history to have unique pieces. Now you can play it online.
However, scientists propose the rules are similar to the Royal Game of Ur or even that it’s a more complex version of the same game.
A paper discussing how the rules were worked out (or as close as we can imagine) has been accepted by the Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies. A partner, The Game Intelligence, a Cambridge-based company, will now help AI understand the rules and systems in ancient board games in general.
While the academic paper is suitably academic, there’s a page up on Persian Wonders sub-titled “A Game That World Must Know About” which details the carbon dating of the board game, Sam Jelveh and Dr. Hossein Moradi’s work and how the Game of 20 was played for the first time in thousands of years in a Waterstones in Cambridge last year.
However, highlights from the article note;
The blocker pieces cannot attack the opponent’s blockers, as the core of the gameplay is racing, and the rules must focus on the racing aspect. Moreover, the blocker pieces should be able to move more strategically,”
And
A possible option in ancient rules is to move runner pieces and blocker pieces with the rolling of a die. However, the blocker pieces can move with special numbers, when rolled and players decide whether to move them.”
The paper also describes the ancient game as “really old version of backgammon”. There you go.
Creative Commons picture credit: Royal Game of Ur by Mary Harrsch.
Quick Links
- Play the Game of 20.
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