Board game

Board games are games that involve a board, often with game-specific designs upon it. It is one of the most popular types of game.

Board games can be roughly classified into two types: traditional and proprietary.

The first known board game is generally considered the Royal Game of Ur. It was discovered by Sir Leonard Woolley while excavating tombs in Iraq. It is not known how it was played, however. Another early game is Senet, played in Ancient Egypt. However, one of the most well-known early games is Go, interesting due to the fact that the rules have stayed almost identical for millennia. Other traditional board games include chess, draughts/checkers, and members of the mancala family.

Typical proprietary board games are Monopoly, Scrabble, and Probe.

This classification is not quite straightforward, however. For example, the traditional Indian game Pachisi has been adapted a number of times into proprietary games, including Ludo and Parcheesi.