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A glossy blue rectangular box with a checkered game board on top, with carved pegs standing on it and scattered around it.

From ancient Egyptian tombs to your family's game night, board games have been causing friendly arguments for over 5,000 years.

Play it as a 3D game for kidsPlay against each other on a big screenTeam up against the monsters

Which ancient civilization buried the game Senet with its pharaohs, including Tutankhamun?

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Right! Senet was so loved in Ancient Egypt that boards went to the afterlife with their owners, Tutankhamun's included.

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It was Ancient Egypt. Senet boards turned up in tombs, including four in Tutankhamun's, ready for an eternity of game night.

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Monopoly grew out of The Landlord's Game, invented by Lizzie Magie to show what?

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Exactly! Magie designed it in 1903 as a warning about landlords hoarding wealth. The irony is delicious.

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It was meant to show the evils of land monopolies. Lizzie Magie's 1903 game was a critique, and somehow it became a celebration of ruthless real estate.

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A flat dark board with rows of square tiles inlaid in cream, blue and red patterns, shown on a grey background.

This ancient board was dug up in a royal cemetery in which modern country?

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Yes! It's the Royal Game of Ur, found in southern Iraq and about 4,500 years old.

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It's from Iraq: the Royal Game of Ur, found by Leonard Woolley in the 1920s. Its rules were later decoded from a clay tablet.

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Chess most likely began as which game from India around the 6th century?

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Checkmate! Chaturanga, with pieces for infantry, cavalry, elephants and chariots, is chess's great-grandparent.

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It was Chaturanga. Shogi and Xiangqi are its cousins, and Pachisi is a race game, the ancestor of Parcheesi.

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Medieval chess had no powerful queen. What was her weak forerunner called?

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Correct! The vizier (or fers) moved just one square diagonally. Around 1475 in Spain, she got her superpowers.

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It was the vizier, or fers, a royal adviser that crept one square diagonally. The mighty queen appeared in late 15th-century Europe.

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A close-up of a Scrabble board covered with cream letter tiles forming crossing words.

Scrabble's inventor, Alfred Butts, was out of work during the Depression. What was his job?

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Yes! Architect Alfred Butts even counted letters on New York Times front pages to set the tile numbers.

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He was an architect. Butts studied newspaper letter frequencies to decide how many of each tile to make.

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Chess began in India

Monopoly was invented in 1990

Cluedo is Clue's British name

Go is from Brazil

Pharaohs played Senet

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Clue, the murder mystery game, was first published in 1949 in which country?

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Spot on! Anthony Pratt invented it in England, where it's still called Cluedo.

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It was the United Kingdom, as Cluedo. Englishman Anthony Pratt dreamed it up, inspired by murder-mystery party games.

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Snakes and Ladders comes from an Indian game that taught players what?

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Right! In Moksha Patam, ladders were virtues and snakes were vices. Every slide down was a lesson.

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It taught morality and karma. In Moksha Patam, good deeds were ladders up and bad ones were snakes down.

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The Settlers of Catan, the hit that sparked a board game boom, was first released in which country in 1995?

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Ja! Klaus Teuber's game launched in Germany and helped make "Eurogames" a worldwide craze.

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It was Germany. Dental technician Klaus Teuber created it, and it kicked off a global love of German-style games.

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A wooden game board with black and white stones placed on it, and a bowl of white stones in the foreground.

The game Go, still played today, is believed to have started in which country over 2,500 years ago?

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Correct! Go, or weiqi, began in China and is likely the oldest board game still played with its original rules.

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It started in China, where it's called weiqi. Japan made it famous in the West under the name Go.

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During World War II, British intelligence hid what inside Monopoly sets sent to POWs?

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Yes! Silk maps, compasses and real cash were tucked into special sets. Truly a "Get Out of Jail Free" card.

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They hid escape maps and real money, plus compasses. The rigged sets reached POW camps through fake charities.

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Milton Bradley's first hit, The Checkered Game of Life in 1860, rewarded players for what?

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Right! Squares like Honesty and Bravery helped you, while Idleness and Ruin did not. Very 1860.

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It rewarded living a virtuous life, aiming for Happy Old Age. Cash, cars and kids came with the 1960 remake.

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How did you like this trip through board game history?

 
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Perfect! Every answer right!

13 of 13 right

Challenge your game night crew to beat your score!

Without one, it says “A friend.”

See your answers · all right

  1. Question 1:

    Which ancient civilization buried the game Senet with its pharaohs, including Tutankhamun?

  2. Question 2:

    Monopoly grew out of The Landlord's Game, invented by Lizzie Magie to show what?

  3. Question 3:

    A flat dark board with rows of square tiles inlaid in cream, blue and red patterns, shown on a grey background.

    This ancient board was dug up in a royal cemetery in which modern country?

  4. Question 4:

    Chess most likely began as which game from India around the 6th century?

  5. Question 5:

    Medieval chess had no powerful queen. What was her weak forerunner called?

  6. Question 6:

    A close-up of a Scrabble board covered with cream letter tiles forming crossing words.

    Scrabble's inventor, Alfred Butts, was out of work during the Depression. What was his job?

  7. Lightning round 1

  8. Question 7:

    Clue, the murder mystery game, was first published in 1949 in which country?

  9. Question 8:

    Snakes and Ladders comes from an Indian game that taught players what?

  10. Question 9:

    The Settlers of Catan, the hit that sparked a board game boom, was first released in which country in 1995?

  11. Question 10:

    A wooden game board with black and white stones placed on it, and a bowl of white stones in the foreground.

    The game Go, still played today, is believed to have started in which country over 2,500 years ago?

  12. Question 11:

    During World War II, British intelligence hid what inside Monopoly sets sent to POWs?

  13. Question 12:

    Milton Bradley's first hit, The Checkered Game of Life in 1860, rewarded players for what?

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