People love playing games, and they have done for a long time. While no one can say with precision when humans started playing games, there’s evidence that the activity stretches back at least 7,000 years. Alas, whatever games our early ancestors were playing have been lost to time, but we’d guess that it was something along the lines of tag — after all, there weren’t any playing cards back then!
Most games fall out of fashion or are upended by newer, more exotic games. With that said, there are some games that have been around for a long, long time, longer than most people realize. Let’s take a look at some of the games that look destined to outlive us all.
Chess
You probably had a sense that chess was an old game. One glance at a chess game is enough to tell you that this is not a 21st-century game. However, most people would probably guess that it was a couple of hundred years old at most. After all, is it even possible for a game as old as that to still be popular?
Well, the answer is yes, because chess is actually 1,500 years old, though it has evolved over the centuries. Fascinatingly, chess is not only still played, it’s arguably never been more popular, with millions of people around the world playing regularly.
Rock, Paper, Scissors
Most people only play Rock, Paper, Scissors when there’s a decision to be made, but it is a serious game (well, not too serious, but there are RPS tournaments). People even come up with strategies that increase their chances of success.
Given that there’s no special equipment required for Rock, Paper, Scissors, it’s probably no surprise that it has a long history. People have been playing the hand game for nearly two thousand years, though oddly it took a long time for it to make its way around the world — they weren’t playing it in the UK until the 1920s.
Blackjack
If you had to guess, you’d probably guess that blackjack dates back to the 1950s, when the casinos of Las Vegas were first being developed. But if you did guess that, then you would be horribly wrong. The game actually dates back to the 1600s, making it more than three hundred years old. As with chess, the game has undergone a few changes over the centuries. Modern versions that you’ll find at online casinos date back around one hundred years. With that said, there isn’t a huge difference between the modern, digital versions and the game that they played in Europe in the 17th century — after all, the earliest known versions of the game were called ‘Vingt-et-un’ and ‘Veinte-uno,’ which is the French and Spanish for ‘21.’
Snakes and Ladders
Snakes and ladders might seem like a simple and fun game to play on a summer’s afternoon, but its history is a lot more complex than you might think. It goes back to 2nd century India, and interestingly, the game wasn’t developed just for players to have some fun; it was used as a way to show them the power of sins and virtues.
Backgammon
Backgammon isn’t as widely played as chess (though virtually all chess boards can be used to play the game), but though it can’t beat it in the popularity stakes, it can beat it in the age stakes. Research suggests that backgammon is more than 5,000 years old, making it one of the oldest games that are still played today.
Dominoes
If things had turned out a little differently, dominoes might be the most important tool in the world’s gaming kit. They’re related to playing cards, which, as we all know, rose in prominence — everyone has a set of playing cards in their homes, but not everyone has a dominoes set. But the game is still relatively popular, which is pretty good considering it dates back to the 1300s.
