Definition of Board Game (board)

A board game is any entertainment proposal in which a board and some type of accessory are normally used, such as dice, cards or chips. Following a series of rules and instructions the participants have to achieve some objective to obtain the victory.

In each proposal some skill intellectual or manual: a good memory, a strategy adequate in the reasoning or a certain speed in decision-making. Sometimes the mechanism of the game is based on the rules of chance.

The most popular

There are very diverse modalities and for all tastes. Among the most popular, we can highlight the following: Monopoly, Catan, Suchi Go, Code Secret, Carcasome, Wonders, Condottieri or Virus. Classics include dominoes, the game of the goose, checkers, chess or Parcheesi.

It is a playful alternative that is ideal to share in family or between friends. They are also used in schools and toy libraries. They are intended for both kids as adults.

A little history

In prehistoric times, human beings already entertained themselves by playing with various gadgets. Darts and rudimentary dice are believed to have been the first objects used for evasion.

- In the Book of the Dead of the civilization From Ancient Egypt there are references to different games (the Senet and Mehen board were two playful distractions highly appreciated by the pharaohs, but their rules are unknown).

- Backgammon is inspired by a game that was already played in ancient Mesopotamia.

- The Greeks of the ancient world practiced the Petteia and the Romans were very fond of Ludus latrunculorum or Ludus duodecim sriptorum.

- In ancient China, the Wéqí and Xiangqi stand out. Tablut was practiced in northern Europe and Chaturanga in India (this game is believed to be a precedent to chess and references to it are found in the Mahabhárata, a text mythological history of India dating from the lll century BC. C).

- Shogi or Japanese chess is related to Chaturanga.

These millenary entertainments have been maintained over time and its rules have served to create new hobbies.

Those who have studied board games and their history affirm that they are related to military strategy and tactics. In this sense, the boards represent the battlefield and the decisions that are made correspond to the movements of the soldiers.

Some historians argue that most hobbies were created to avoid boredom during wartime downtime.

Photo: Fotolia - JackF