The history of "board game" that continues from BC to the present age, and the reason of explosive popularity?

As of 2015, the board game is gaining popularity worldwide and the board game growth rate in 2012 reached 40% of the previous year by the UK newspaper The Guardian "The golden age of board gamesIt is said that board games have a higher growth rate than that of Google. It is said that such a board game was born in 5000 BC, it is not an exaggeration to say that it has evolved with humans, the history from the birth of the board game to the present is released.

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◆ 5000 BC: the oldest board game in the world
The history of the board game began in 5000 BC. From the group of ancient tombs made in 5000 BC, "Başur Höyük" in the southeastern part of Turkey in 2013,49 types of "dice" with sculpture and paint on the stoneHas been found and this is said to be the oldest board game in the world. Dice figures showing similar early stage game items were also found in Syria and Iraq. Furthermore, a stick type tetrahedral die has been found, which is thought to have been used by ancient Mesopotamians who had built civilization in the 4th century B.C.


This is a bone dice seen as being made in Greece · Thrace of the 5th to 3rd century BC. "Dice" used in various games in modern times is what has been inherited from the ancient times that character languages ​​have not been born yet.


After that the dice continued to be made of various materials such as brass, copper, glass, ivory and marble. In modern times it was thought that the popular hexahedral die was first made in the era of the ancient Roman Empire around 700 BC, "Dungeons & DragonsIt seems that polyhedral dice as used in (D & D) may already have been made in ancient Roman times.


◆ 3100 BC: Board games to royal entertainment
Board games that continued to evolve since 5000 BC have become popular entertainment among Pharaohs in ancient Egyptian times since 3100 BC. "Senet"A board game called Disney has been discovered before the birth of the dynasty and from the pyramid of the first dynasty and mural paintings describing Queen Egypt playing Senet have also been discovered.


It is known that the boards used to play Seneto were often buried together as "a talisman of the trip to the afterlife" when burying royalty.


◆ 3000 BC: connection with religion
In ancient Egypt, the popularity of board games continued, and 3000 BC came to penetrate into the working class class. What was being played back then was "Mehen(Méhen) "is a board game called. In Egyptian mythSun TempleIt uses a board which shaped "Snake God" that swallowed in, and from this point the game and religion begin to have a connection, which is also one of the reasons to develop game character character.


◆ BC 2650: What is the longest board game played in history?
It was made around 2650 BC "Royal game of King Ur"Irving Finkel who discovered the lithograph with the engraved rule discovered that the same game board is used in modern India. Until then"BackgammonAlthough it was thought that it was the longest board game played in human history, King Royal game of Royal has reprinted the record.


◆ BC 2000: Birth of "Backgammon"
Backgammon is a two-player board game, winning the winner by shaking the dice and making all 15 pieces on the board go first. In the ancient Roman Empire "Ludus duodecim scriptorum"I know that the game was popular, because it had almost the same rules as modern backgammon, it is considered to be the" prototype of backgammon "for the first time in the history of mankind. It was mentioned as the oldest material among books written around 2000 BC.


Backgammon with a history of thousands of years gained worldwide popularity in the mid-1960s. Have a synonym for "the father of contemporary backgammon"Prince Alexis ObolenskyHas established the "International Backgammon Association" and has released official rules. After the establishment of the association, the backdrop of the global pandemic of backgammon caught up and developed in 1967 until world championships are held in Las Vegas.


◆ 1300 BC: The effect of war damage to military strategy game
"Ludus latrunculorum"Is a board game very similar to chess popular in the ancient Roman Empire. It is thought that the war has occurred frequently around 1300 BC, and a game with the theme of "military strategy" was born. It is "Ludus latrunculorum" which means "to play chess" in Latin, but it is said that in the early chess, it influenced Pawn's movement rules greatly.


◆ 500 BC: Board games to children's toys
Board games were suppressed as "adult play" in ancient culture, but board games also influenced children's play. Although it does not actually use boards and pieces in fact, in Japan it is "Genkai / Ishikari"Overseas,"Hop ScotchIt is said that mass jumping play called "500 birth" was born.


◆ 400 BC: Oriental culture board game
Board games said to be born in Oriental culture for the first time in 400 BC "Liubo(Roku Hiro) "Two person fighting type board game using the dice called. In 1973 the "complete version" was found as a burial from the tomb of the Han Dynasty, so its existence and detailed rules are clarified.


◆ 400 years: The birth of chess with "Tafl games"
"Tafl games"Is a strategy game originating from ancient Germany and Celtic which fought an odd-numbered army on a lattice-patterned board, invented around the year CE. The epidemic of Tafl games is Iceland, UK, Ireland,LaplandIt was spread to part of India beyond northern Europe.


From that influence in India around the 6th century "Chatranga"Chess and a game said to have become the origin of shogi was born. In the 7th century ChatrangaSasan dynasty PersiaIt was transmitted to "Chatelange"Widely popular in the Arab region.


Chatrange became popular all over the world in the form of being reimported from Islamic world to Europe, around Russia from Constantinople by the year 1475 AD. It is said that the chess with the same rules as the modern day were completed around the world.


◆ 700 years: the first trace of "Mancara"
"Mancola"Is a generic term for traditional board games that have been playing for a long time in Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Although hundreds of kinds of game names have been reported since it was born around 700 years, most Mancala has common rules such as using stones and wooden boards, etc. Even if game names are different, rules are the same, Sometimes it is said.


◆ 1903: "Landlord's Game" that became the basis of Monopoly
"Landlord's Game(A landlord game)MonopolyIt is a board game that became the prototype of the American game designerElizabeth McGeeThose invented. It is said to compete for the high rent generated from real estate on a square boardGeorgeismThe system based on the principle of economics is adopted.


◆ 1978: German honorable board game award "The Oscars of Board Games"
"The Oscars of Board Games"Spiel des Jahres e.V.Choose excellent board games and card games "Board Game Version Game of the YearThat thing. A German judge elects one title every year, and it seems that winning works can expect sales increase of 500,000 at maximum. Prior to the reviewCreativity of game concept / playfulness / value"Construction of rule structure / clarity / comprehensibility"Layout of box · board · rule book"Design functionality / workmanship"Will be evaluated. The winning works from 1978 to 2014 are as follows.


◆ 1995: The Influence of "Pioneers of Catan" in America
"Pioneers of Catan"Series is a European-born board game which sold more than 24 million copies worldwide and has been translated into over 30 languages. In Washington Post in the United States in 2010 "Popular board games next to Monopoly"In addition, in 2012,"Going Cardboard"The board game documentary movie is released and it has become a fire of board games and booms in the United States.


◆ 2009: Kickstarter is the source of new games
In the board game market "Carcassonne"Pioneers of Catan" "Alhambra"Ticket to RideA new board game following the truck (train ticket) was craved, but it was not easy to devise a new board game to succeed.


With the appearance of Kickstarter of Crowd Funding, the circumstances changed completely, excellent ideas became commercially available, and the revolution occurred in the board game market. Popular Heroic Fantasy Series "Hero Conan" board game version "Conan"Project that gathered the seventh investment in history with Kickstarter, And succeeded in gathering a total of 3,327,757 dollars (about 400 million yen). Kickstarter has a big influence on the board game industry.


◆ 2013: The power of YouTube's popular program "Tabletop"
One of the reasons for promoting the popularity of recent board games is a web game program of board games by Will Wheaton and Felicia DayTabletop"is. In the content that famous people play board games among themselves, Tabletop "Geek & Sundry"When I opened a YouTube channel called, it became an extremely popular channel soon.


Board games picked up on Tabletop have become soaring in number of sales, "Tsuro"Production can not catch up when the game is featured, and that phenomenon is called" Wheaton effect "taking the name of the host of the program from the game maker. Will · Wheaton and Felicia Day who operate such tabletop, from 2013 "International TableTop Day"During the 2014 event, it has developed into a huge event where more than 80 countries participate.


Although it is a board game with a history since BC, the rapid growth in recent years has just started. Because board games community of each country is said to be in the process of development, when finding an interesting board game, it contributes to the development of the community by playing purely enjoying and publishing the discovered technique on the net It is possible to do.