1 WE HAVE been playing board games—in some cases, the same board games—for millennia. Chess, checkers, backgammon, and Go all have origins in the ancient world. King Tut was buried with multiple sets of an Egyptian game called senet. Ajax and Achilles still appear hunched over a board in the midst of play on hundreds of pieces of Greek pottery. And the Ashanti people of Ghana are believed to have created a board game called wari, which you may know as mancala.
2 IT WASN'T until the 19th century that board games began to be sold commercially. The first, Mansion of Happiness, came out in England in 1800. The “mansion was heaven, and players raced to get there. Decades later, Milton Bradley reworkedand rebranded-it as The Checkered Game of Life. It was the only board game Bradley personally worked on.
3 ANOTHER POPULAR racing game, Parcheesi, has roots in ancient India, where it was called pachisi, from the Hindi word for “twenty-five,” the highest possible outcome of a single throw. But whereas Americans only tweaked the name, the Brits decided to call it Ludo ('lew-doh), Latin for “I play.” So when Englishman Anthony E. Pratt developed his murder-mystery board game in 1943, he called it Cluedo, playing on Ludo. (Of course, we just call it Clue.)
This story is from the December 2021 - January 2022 edition of Reader's Digest US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the December 2021 - January 2022 edition of Reader's Digest US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
GOTCHA!
We asked for it: What's the best prank you ever pulled?
KITT THE COURAGEOUS K-9
Officer Bill Cushing needed a partner. His dog needed a purpose. Together, they rescued each other.
Let's Dance!
It's good for your body, soul and even your brain
DISASTER ON THE RIVER
Two canoeists struggle to keep themselves and their friendship-afloat
WHAT HAPPENS TO ALL THE STUFF WE RETURN
Think your rejects go back on the shelves? Think again.
Words to Live By
Poems offered me an anchor as I lost my son, so I shared them
LOST, FOUND, HOMEWARD BOUND
A collection of heart-thumping, tail-wagging, zoomies-inducing pet reunion tales
Paging Dr. AI
IF YOU'VE EVER Googled symptoms (and who hasn't?), you've probably scared yourself with a dire diagnosis, with no doctor there to vet the source and put the information in context. But we can't help ourselves. So can AI help?
The HEALTHY WELLNESS FROM THEHEALTHY.COM
A vaccine is finally on the way. In the meantime, here's how to protect yourself from ticks.
How to Speak Like a Midwesterner
FROM THE BOOK A GUIDE TO MIDWESTERN CONVERSATION