The British Museum has a gameplay video op of the Royal Game of Ur featuring the guy who actually translated that rulebook, it's amazing and worth checking out. The archeologist dude looks EXACTLY like you're picturing him, too.
I have been playing The Royal Game of Ur with my grandparents almost every week since watching Tom and Irving duke it out. I just used a4 print out, 14 chess pawns and 4d4, but it works just as well and we play for hours (Easy enough considering the game can take an hour each round)
When I started watching Adam talk about wrestling I had no idea it was going to lead to me being interested in board games that are over 5000 years old but here we are
As a historian and someone who adores the ancient world on a... borderingly obsessive level, and whom only started enjoying some of these games after discovering this channel as Phenomenerds, this is everything I needed. It only makes sense that the oldest board game would come from the cradle of humanity, wouldn't it? I actually have seen some of those Senet boards in person, it's a stunning sight. And it only goes to show that when humanity is bored, they make ways to pass time. Be it pre-civilization peoples in primitive homes, to the God-kings of Egypt, to prophets of religions, to our group of nerds who play board games in the attic of a pub in England.
Adam: "Go! Ah, excellent, a game you've heard of." Me: "I've heard of Hounds & Jackals... and I'm a historian so never mind." And also I still haven't heard of half of these! Damn I love this channel
Well I've created a cross stitch version of nine men's Morris and a quilted version of checkers. I love playing both those games. Also love the progression backgammon has made
So Mancala was a game that I played as a child, which is like almost 30 years ago, and never once did I learn what the game was called. We had the wooden boards shown in the first picture and it looked like a Malay cultural piece. But never did I expect it to be a game that dated back 8000 years ago and now I am beyond shooketh! Thanks, Adam! LOL
But is backgammon older than go? In a correction, it’s could be, but it would mean that a board game is wrong about a board game and that’s heading towards inception faster than I like.
After that Snakessss game, this list felt like an inevitability lol. Very fascinating stuff. When I was a kid, Mancala was actually one of the favorite games of me and my little sister. Absolutely wild how long it's history is.
My mother had a Senet set that we used to play when I was a child. I still remember the sticks used for movement/rolling - with a smooth side & a flat side, as well as the gameboard that had traps, prisons and whatnot, on your way to the afterlife to be judged by Anubis. Didn't really know back then how old it was, tho - pretty cool!
My enjoyment of these board game list videos narrated by Adam is only amplified by the absolutely perfect background music they use. I love it so much.
Hnefatafl is another pretty old game. It is like chess but only one player has a king and the goal is to either capture their king or get that king to one of the corners. All pieces act the same way. You cannot move diagonally and capture opponent pieces by sandwiching them between 2 of your pieces. You can win by either capturing the king, getting the king to a corner, or blocking the opposing player's pieces from making a move on their turn. The king is captured by 4 pieces rather than 2.
Viking or Celtic "chess" dates back to the 8th or 9th century A.D.. It was descended from the Roman war game Latronculi. It is old by European standards, but is recent by Egyptian & Chinese standards.
10:38 I personally see Mancala as a personal favorite when it comes to board games as I am a massive gamer myself. I have what I would describe as the basic 6x2 playing board as buying others with more pockets seems to be near impossible. Another really simple way to extend Mancala is to seriously increase the number of stones, beads, shells etc. in each pocket for instance with the board I bought from my local game store I got 48 stones in 4 different colors to fill 12 pockets with but I decided to get two more sets of different colored stones giving me 72 stones combined total to increase my initial quantity from 4 stones per pocket to 6 stones per pocket if desired extending the game significantly. One of the main reasons why I love Mancala as I even downloaded to my phone for free is because in it's initial known practiced form it is indeed extremely easy to learn but very hard to master depending on the person's ability to play games involving numbers and strategy. From what I got in a video game the theme for Mancala can be derived from the children's fable of the ant and the grasshopper as the stones you get into your store are supposed to be seeds you secure to avoid famine during the harsh winter months and whoever has the most seeds in their store at the end of the game has essentially secured enough seeds to plant an excellent harvest to avoid and survive the famine for the harsh winter to come and obviously put simply whoever has the most stones in their respective store at the end of the game wins.
I now picture a scenario where the upper crust of Egypt brag about getting a customized bejeweled and diamond encrusted Hounds and Jackal game board haha
As a Board Game Enthusiast & Researcher-Well presented,good humorous tones interwined with the 'checkered' History of our Ancestors Pastimes.When we cease to remember these-The future generations will lose out on learning their place in History.
Great video as always! I love this channel. Adam is always a lot of fun to watch and these list videos are very cool for people getting into the hobby.
My best friend in third grade got a mancala game for her 9th birthday and I was immediately obsessed. Now my kids are finally old enough to both understand the rules and not try to steal the pieces to play pirate treasure so I get to play it again
I’ve always loved playing games and getting unusual ones. I have PNPs of Ashtapada and Mehen. I have cheap copies of the usual checkers, chess, backgammon and 9 men’s Morris. I have a gorgeous version of Chaturanga. I also have Game of Ur, Go, Mancala, Hounds and Jackels, & Senet. Great video.
When I was a kid, I really liked playing Nine men's morris against my mom. Though here in austria we call it "Mühle" which just means "mill", like the place where they turn grain into flour.
I've only just made myself familiar with Backgammon through its gameplay similarities to Senet. A few years ago, I bought a book that details the history and rules of a bunch of different board games from around the world, and when I read the entry on Senet, I had to try it. I drew up my own board on a piece of notebook paper and used a few pawns from a chess set and one six-sided die to play (the rules in the book described the use of two three-sided "throwing sticks", so one d6 translated well enough). Anyway, Backgammon is quickly becoming one of my favorite classic board games. The same book also talked about Nine Men's Morris, which I've also started learning to play. Also Mancala. Love me some Mancala. I learned to play it when I was a kid, and now I've started picking it back up just as easily.
I imagine that in the old days having a board game and even more important: having free time and wealth to play would probably be an amazing experience… specially if you had some wine, pork, a nice group of people to play with…
I usually don't like top 10 videos but I was researching videos on tablut since I play Bannerlord and I wanted to know more strategies in that game but holy shit I searched that and got this this is a good video
Checkers as played now was invented in Europe circa 1400 A.D. The original game was played on a board with straight & diagonal lines & many more pieces. It's more complicated than modern checkers & may be the oldest abstract strategy game in known history ....
Amazing. Goes to show that quality doesn't age. There will still be avid chess players another thousand years from now, as well as backgammon and mancala. People in 2125 will still probably want to play Sonic 2 ffs.
The nine men's Morris game is something I'm aware of the museum where I work have an actual modern remake on display that anyone that comes to the museum and the curator and I have had many an argument over who's winning and who's losing
It's fun that I remember all this games when I studied them in college, even play them in class! it was so fun. keep doing these really awesome videos guys! love it.
There is a game inspired by the royal game of ur called celtic realms. It has great art and the entire game is made by small business in the USA. Out of games based on old games this is probably my favorite.
You missed the "Draughtboard", who's board was found in Knossos and is about 3600 years old, not the oldest but it might be the most beautiful board ever created. There are signs of other neolithic boards and pieces but it isn't always easy to know what was an actual board or gaming piece when you found it in the ground and it is even harder to figure out the rules. The ancients were pretty shit at writing down the rules sadly. And of course the grandfather of all drinking games, Kottabos should be mentioned too. Although since it didn't really use a board it wasn't really a board game, the closest modern game I can think of is Beer pong.
All of these come from mankala & snake board. Board with 2 rows of holes -> with more rows of holes, holes into fields. All of these N x M fields boards. Snake as any linear game or going around edge of board. Snakes game still the first type They had no idea about hexes or curved boards for three players. It was their fixated view of world having 2 poles and 4 world directions. Where is any tree game with many branches? BTW he also missed the labyrinth game also an indoeuropean sacred wedding game.
The fact that getting the Snakes question wrong bothered him so much that he made a list for it is one of the reasons why I love Adam so much.
ADAM: Furious
Was expecting it. Not at all disappointed
@@NoRollsBarred you let us all down. How can any of us ever love again?
Kevin Sorbo voice: DISAPPOINTED
Omg I came here JUST to say this 😂
Nine Men Morris was the board game you can play in Assassin's Creed III.
The British Museum has a gameplay video op of the Royal Game of Ur featuring the guy who actually translated that rulebook, it's amazing and worth checking out. The archeologist dude looks EXACTLY like you're picturing him, too.
That dude is a savage during that video. I love him. lol
Irving finkle is the man!
I have been playing The Royal Game of Ur with my grandparents almost every week since watching Tom and Irving duke it out. I just used a4 print out, 14 chess pawns and 4d4, but it works just as well and we play for hours (Easy enough considering the game can take an hour each round)
When I started watching Adam talk about wrestling I had no idea it was going to lead to me being interested in board games that are over 5000 years old but here we are
Isn't he is the one who host WRESTLETALK Podcast,please correct me if I wrong.🤔
@@ibanezyenzyen738 on Fridays til Luke Owen comes back
@@davidc.lalnelawma4776 Haha, I can't wait to see Luke Owen comes back.🙂
Adam made this because he got the backgammon question wrong in Snakesss
As a historian and someone who adores the ancient world on a... borderingly obsessive level, and whom only started enjoying some of these games after discovering this channel as Phenomenerds, this is everything I needed.
It only makes sense that the oldest board game would come from the cradle of humanity, wouldn't it?
I actually have seen some of those Senet boards in person, it's a stunning sight. And it only goes to show that when humanity is bored, they make ways to pass time. Be it pre-civilization peoples in primitive homes, to the God-kings of Egypt, to prophets of religions, to our group of nerds who play board games in the attic of a pub in England.
Ah, Phenomenerds.I still remember!
Me too, Phenomenerds was such a great name! I wish Adam hadn't changed it!
Didn't duel monsters exist over 5000 years ago with man-sized stone tablets instead of cards?
Would only be number 2 on this list assuming 5000bc.
I mean, Moses played Backgammon
@@theonlyenicfanever5346 I hear Moses had a beyblade.
@@TheOneWhoReportsForDuty 5000 years ago is roughly 3000bc
"big brother! is it time for my ancient egyptian cameo yet?" ;D
Imagine in 4000 years most video games being categorized as a racing games, since the objective of most games are to get to the end of the game
If we get a new video everytime Adam loses in Board Game Club we're never going to run out of entertainment
ADAM: hmph
Still waiting on the Top 10 Divorces in boardgame history...
Adam: "Go! Ah, excellent, a game you've heard of."
Me: "I've heard of Hounds & Jackals... and I'm a historian so never mind."
And also I still haven't heard of half of these! Damn I love this channel
Well I've created a cross stitch version of nine men's Morris and a quilted version of checkers. I love playing both those games. Also love the progression backgammon has made
So Mancala was a game that I played as a child, which is like almost 30 years ago, and never once did I learn what the game was called.
We had the wooden boards shown in the first picture and it looked like a Malay cultural piece.
But never did I expect it to be a game that dated back 8000 years ago and now I am beyond shooketh! Thanks, Adam! LOL
We call it congkak in Malaysia
But is backgammon older than go? In a correction, it’s could be, but it would mean that a board game is wrong about a board game and that’s heading towards inception faster than I like.
Did anybody else think of Crib when the Hounds & Jackals games came up?
This list is giving me the Stephen Fry Qi vibe and I'm all for it 👌
But which is older: backgammon or go?
Was going to comment this as well. Adam, we need an answer on this!
ADAM: hmph
@@NoRollsBarred Look, I did it before you said anything in the video, plus you're saying you wouldn't rag on someone the same way?
After that Snakessss game, this list felt like an inevitability lol. Very fascinating stuff. When I was a kid, Mancala was actually one of the favorite games of me and my little sister. Absolutely wild how long it's history is.
I audibly screamed in joy when my favorite board game popped up at the end! I knew mancala was the oldest game, and I love it!
My mother had a Senet set that we used to play when I was a child. I still remember the sticks used for movement/rolling - with a smooth side & a flat side, as well as the gameboard that had traps, prisons and whatnot, on your way to the afterlife to be judged by Anubis. Didn't really know back then how old it was, tho - pretty cool!
My enjoyment of these board game list videos narrated by Adam is only amplified by the absolutely perfect background music they use. I love it so much.
Bitterness is showing here from boardgame club
Hnefatafl is another pretty old game.
It is like chess but only one player has a king and the goal is to either capture their king or get that king to one of the corners.
All pieces act the same way. You cannot move diagonally and capture opponent pieces by sandwiching them between 2 of your pieces.
You can win by either capturing the king, getting the king to a corner, or blocking the opposing player's pieces from making a move on their turn.
The king is captured by 4 pieces rather than 2.
Viking or Celtic "chess" dates back to the 8th or 9th century A.D.. It was descended from the Roman war game Latronculi. It is old by European standards, but is recent by Egyptian & Chinese standards.
I think the craziest thing about Mancala games isn't just how old they are but that they're also bloody good! Get that roll and move out of my FACE
Nothing better than a list from Adam to brighten up my Saturday
10:38 I personally see Mancala as a personal favorite when it comes to board games as I am a massive gamer myself. I have what I would describe as the basic 6x2 playing board as buying others with more pockets seems to be near impossible. Another really simple way to extend Mancala is to seriously increase the number of stones, beads, shells etc. in each pocket for instance with the board I bought from my local game store I got 48 stones in 4 different colors to fill 12 pockets with but I decided to get two more sets of different colored stones giving me 72 stones combined total to increase my initial quantity from 4 stones per pocket to 6 stones per pocket if desired
extending the game significantly. One of the main reasons why I love Mancala as I even downloaded to my phone for free is because in it's initial known practiced form it is indeed extremely easy to learn but very hard to master depending on the person's ability to play games involving numbers and strategy. From what I got in a video game the theme for Mancala can be derived from the children's fable of the ant and the grasshopper as the stones you get into your store are supposed to be seeds you secure to avoid famine during the harsh winter months and whoever has the most seeds in their store at the end of the game has essentially secured enough seeds to plant an excellent harvest to avoid and survive the famine for the harsh winter to come and obviously put simply whoever has the most stones in their respective store at the end of the game wins.
I now picture a scenario where the upper crust of Egypt brag about getting a customized bejeweled and diamond encrusted Hounds and Jackal game board haha
I remember hearing about Senet. It was used in one of the Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan. Great series, I suggest reading it.
Did you know backgammon is older than go and chess?
Well, I've played Mancala, but I thought it was a single game, not a type of game, so I've played a Mancala game and enjoy it quite a bit.
As a Board Game Enthusiast & Researcher-Well presented,good humorous tones interwined with the 'checkered' History of our Ancestors Pastimes.When we cease to remember these-The future generations will lose out on learning their place in History.
Great video as always! I love this channel. Adam is always a lot of fun to watch and these list videos are very cool for people getting into the hobby.
My best friend in third grade got a mancala game for her 9th birthday and I was immediately obsessed. Now my kids are finally old enough to both understand the rules and not try to steal the pieces to play pirate treasure so I get to play it again
In Philippines , mancala is called sungka a traditional game.
Snakess: Backgammon is older than Go
Adam: and I took that personally
Finkel is a legend!
It was very interesting, thanks !
I’ve always loved playing games and getting unusual ones. I have PNPs of Ashtapada and Mehen. I have cheap copies of the usual checkers, chess, backgammon and 9 men’s Morris. I have a gorgeous version of Chaturanga. I also have Game of Ur, Go, Mancala, Hounds and Jackels, & Senet. Great video.
Amazing content! I didn't even know I'd be so interested in it but fantastic video!
When I was a kid, I really liked playing Nine men's morris against my mom. Though here in austria we call it "Mühle" which just means "mill", like the place where they turn grain into flour.
Same here in Germany. Its included in every starter boardgame collection along with Backgammon and Checkers.
In Dutch it's called Molenspel, which means Mühlespiel.
Same in my country, it is called 'Malom' which means mill.
Does a diagonal row count?
@@gavasiarobinssson5108 No. The pieces need to be connected by the lines and not spread over a corner.
Royal Game of Ur is pretty fun!
Mancala! Grandfather called it the bean game! Such fun!
What a great video - really interesting but super funny too. Great sense of humour!
I've only just made myself familiar with Backgammon through its gameplay similarities to Senet. A few years ago, I bought a book that details the history and rules of a bunch of different board games from around the world, and when I read the entry on Senet, I had to try it. I drew up my own board on a piece of notebook paper and used a few pawns from a chess set and one six-sided die to play (the rules in the book described the use of two three-sided "throwing sticks", so one d6 translated well enough). Anyway, Backgammon is quickly becoming one of my favorite classic board games.
The same book also talked about Nine Men's Morris, which I've also started learning to play.
Also Mancala. Love me some Mancala. I learned to play it when I was a kid, and now I've started picking it back up just as easily.
I miss these lists
It’s amazing how does board game around today
Royal Game of Ur is a damn good game.
Indus valley sites had some dice and piece looking stuff.
I love playing MANCALA as a child. Now I Love a
Oware and wanna learn boa mancala.
I imagine that in the old days having a board game and even more important: having free time and wealth to play would probably be an amazing experience… specially if you had some wine, pork, a nice group of people to play with…
Adam! You really can’t get past that Snakesss question can you?!? Lol I love it!
Love mancala i used to play games against my students at lunch.
I usually don't like top 10 videos but I was researching videos on tablut since I play Bannerlord and I wanted to know more strategies in that game but holy shit I searched that and got this this is a good video
Before I even watch the video. Royale game of ur has been on my wish list for years.
Monopoly feels 10000 years old...
I did not know that the game of Checkers was older than Chess. Interesting video.
Man I love 9 Men’s Morris. It’s such a baller game.
Here in the Philippines we have also mancala, but it is called sunka
In the Philippines, there is a game that falls under the mancala family called "sungka".
Checkers as played now was invented in Europe circa 1400 A.D. The original game was played on a board with straight & diagonal lines & many more pieces. It's more complicated than modern checkers & may be the oldest abstract strategy game in known history ....
so cool...i love videos like this
11:48 "As far back as 8000 years..."
*shows -6000 on screen*
But that's correct, since it's 2024, now. 8,000 years ago would be -6,000, or 6,000 BC[E].
isn't menmorris featured on the back of every chessboard inside a "classic game collection"? In any case my grandma owns 3
I played the mancala game oware as a mini game in Quest for Glory 3.
ive still have a copy of my grandma's mancalla game or we called it sungka in Philippines
My favorite old school games are backgammon and oware (one version of mancala).
I’ve played Mancala it’s fun. Nine men’s Morris is one I’ve learned recently.
very educational and informative. Not at all motivated by Adam being wrong in a game of Snakes
Amazing.
Goes to show that quality doesn't age.
There will still be avid chess players another thousand years from now, as well as backgammon and mancala.
People in 2125 will still probably want to play Sonic 2 ffs.
The nine men's Morris game is something I'm aware of the museum where I work have an actual modern remake on display that anyone that comes to the museum and the curator and I have had many an argument over who's winning and who's losing
Loved it!
I've only ever played one game on this list. Nine men's Morris, or to call it by its German name: “Mühle". And I suck at it.
Mancala is so fun! I always bring it out camping
More interesting how they made the chairs & tables in ancient Egypt! Both were different. This is a hint in how they constructed things.
oldest board games that i have played are backgammon and checkers but more backgammon then anything else
That vest is very important.
Never forget that vest.
Let’s get a Sully vs Adam Royal game of UR.
It's fun that I remember all this games when I studied them in college, even play them in class! it was so fun. keep doing these really awesome videos guys! love it.
I'm gonna have to go to the library and double check Adam. We all saw him get that oldest board game question wrong in Snakesssss
Awalé is STILL kinda fun to play nowadays... Few inventions have provided this much fun to mankind... It's crazy to really think about
There is a game inspired by the royal game of ur called celtic realms. It has great art and the entire game is made by small business in the USA. Out of games based on old games this is probably my favorite.
I see you are taking the backgammon question in Snakesss well Adam.
Mankala in arabic means (to move something from place to another). A will known old game that is still be found in some Bedouin areas in the Levant
Bonus fun fact: You can actually play Nine Men's Morris in Assassin's Creed Black Flag.
I have, and it's fun.
You missed the "Draughtboard", who's board was found in Knossos and is about 3600 years old, not the oldest but it might be the most beautiful board ever created.
There are signs of other neolithic boards and pieces but it isn't always easy to know what was an actual board or gaming piece when you found it in the ground and it is even harder to figure out the rules.
The ancients were pretty shit at writing down the rules sadly.
And of course the grandfather of all drinking games, Kottabos should be mentioned too. Although since it didn't really use a board it wasn't really a board game, the closest modern game I can think of is Beer pong.
I’m playing mancala rn
That backgammon question from snakesss really rubbed him the wrong way, didn't it?
One of the reasons I like these game is that I can (and did) make some of them myself.
Because copyrights expired long ago!
man I thought congkak (localized mancala variant) originated from India. Cool vid!
I was thinking, if the re do Yu Gi Oh they definitely must change Egypt to Mesopotamia, those guys loved games!
All of these come from mankala & snake board. Board with 2 rows of holes -> with more rows of holes, holes into fields. All of these N x M fields boards. Snake as any linear game or going around edge of board. Snakes game still the first type
They had no idea about hexes or curved boards for three players. It was their fixated view of world having 2 poles and 4 world directions. Where is any tree game with many branches?
BTW he also missed the labyrinth game also an indoeuropean sacred wedding game.
5:39 Yay! I'm smart!
Just thought I’d comment to help you guys out.
I wonder when tic tac toe or Rock Paper Scicors were invented but sure it's hella old x)
Technically, duel monsters is anywhere from 3k-5k years old.
Ancient egyptians treated it a ritual that could result in the loser dying
As if Adam isn't always wearing his smarty pants.
Man made the perfect game when he created Chess. But it was the gods who gifted man with the game of Go.
Wasn't "The Royal Game of Ur" a puzzle in Tomb Raider Last Revelation?
YOU FORGOT DUEL MONSTERS! That was played 5000 years ago, when the pyramids were still young.
I'm honestly surprised the game of YuGiOh didn't make the list. Apparently the anime lied to me.
No Scythian carpet game is a shame
Backgammon is the best