Ancient Games History & Stories

A handcrafted Nine Men's Morris game printed on a portable roll-up mat, ready to pack for travel.
Games That Travel: Handcrafted Ancient Games to Pack for Holiday Trips
The holiday travel season is here. These handcrafted ancient games pack small, teach fast, and keep the room together — from roll-up mats to pocket-sized chess. Read more...
A handcrafted wooden Senet board with its playing pieces — one of the ancient games featured in this play-style guide.
Which Ancient Game Should You Play? A Guide by Group Size, Time, and Play Style
A practical decision guide to our handcrafted ancient games, sorted by what actually makes a good game night: how many people are playing, how much strategy versus luck you want,... Read more...
An early abstract ivory chess piece, 7th-8th century, of the kind that carried the Indian game of chaturanga westward into the Islamic world. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Open Access.
How to Play Chaturanga: The History and Reconstructed Rules of the Indian Game That Became Chess
Chaturanga, the war game that took shape in northern India around the sixth century CE, is the ancestor of every chess game played today. Here is its history, its four-armed... Read more...
A Roman glass die from the 1st–2nd century CE, the kind of dice used to play ludus duodecim scriptorum (XII scripta). The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
How to Play Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum (XII Scripta): History and Reconstructed Rules of Rome's Twelve-Line Game
Ludus duodecim scriptorum — Rome's three-row 'twelve-line' race game and the grandparent of backgammon. A look at its carved-in-stone boards, witty six-word inscriptions, and the reconstructed rules scholars have pieced... Read more...
Ancient Greek black-figure terracotta hydria, ca. 510 BCE, attributed to the Leagros Group, showing the heroes Achilles and Ajax leaning over a game board as the goddess Athena stands between them. Metropolitan Museum of Art.
How to Play Petteia: The History and Lost Rules of the Ancient Greek Game of Pebbles
Petteia was the ancient Greeks' great game of pure strategy — the game Homer's suitors played, Plato ranked beside writing itself, and vase-painters put in the hands of Achilles and... Read more...
Handcrafted wooden ROTA board — a Roman wheel game for three pieces per side, also called Roman tic-tac-toe.
How to Play Rota: The History and Reconstructed Rules of the Roman Wheel Game
Rota is a fast Roman three-in-a-row game played on a scratched wheel board — tic-tac-toe without the tie. Here's its real history, the honest limits of what we know, and... Read more...
Handcrafted wooden backgammon board by Ancient Games, a giftable historical game
The 2026 Holiday Gift Guide: Handcrafted Ancient & Historical Games for Everyone on Your List
A by-recipient holiday gift guide to handmade ancient and historical board games — from the history lover and the deep strategist to family game night, two-player duels, and under-$50 stocking... Read more...
A Han-dynasty Chinese earthenware Liubo board and playing pieces showing the game's distinctive TLV-shaped markings, from The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
How to Play Liubo: The History and Lost Rules of Ancient China's Game of Six Sticks
Liubo was one of the most popular games in Han-dynasty China — played by emperors and even depicted being played by winged immortals — before it was forgotten so completely... Read more...
Ancient Egyptian ivory game piece carved in the form of a reclining lion, Early Dynastic period, of the type used in the Mehen serpent game (The Metropolitan Museum of Art).
How to Play Mehen: The History and Reconstructed Rules of Ancient Egypt's Serpent Game
Mehen is one of the oldest board games in the world — an ancient Egyptian race around a coiled serpent whose original rules were lost. Here's its history, its lion-and-marble... Read more...
Ancient Egyptian Game of Hounds and Jackals: a shrine-shaped ebony and ivory board with two rows of small holes and slender pegs carved with hound and jackal heads, Middle Kingdom, ca. 1814–1805 B.C., Metropolitan Museum of Art.
How to Play Hounds and Jackals (58 Holes): The History and Reconstructed Rules of an Ancient Egyptian Race Game
Hounds and Jackals — also called 58 Holes — is a nearly 4,000-year-old Egyptian peg-and-hole race game. Here's what archaeology genuinely tells us about it, and how scholars reconstruct its... Read more...
Handcrafted wooden Bul (Puluc) board, a Maya Mesoamerican running-fight game, with a segmented track and small stackable counters.
How to Play Bul (Puluc): The History and Rules of the Maya Running-Fight Game
Bul — also called Puluc — is a fast, brutal little running-fight game still played by Maya communities in Guatemala and Belize, where captured pieces are stacked and dragged down... Read more...
A handcrafted wooden Glückshaus (House of Fortune) board with numbered fields for a Renaissance dice game
How to Play Glückshaus: The History and Rules of the Renaissance Dice Game
Glückshaus — the "House of Fortune" — was a favorite gambling game in the taverns and fair booths of Renaissance Germany. Here is where it came from and how to... Read more...