Oldest Games, Still Played Today

In order to better acquaint you with the history of some of our games, we have put our investigation hats on in order to bring to you the oldest games which are still played today.

Blackjack

Although certainly not the oldest game on the list, we figured that Blackjack deserves a special mention due to its worldwide popularity and the fact that you can play the finest Blackjack games right here with us.

The origins of Blackjack are still under debate, but it is widely considered by experts that Blackjack originated in French casinos around the very beginning of the 18th century. The proof? Well, the French cards were called “Vingt-et-Un,” which translates to “Twenty One.” Prior to this, there was (any still isn’t) any real proof that Blackjack originated in any other country or during any other period of history.

Backgammon

If you thought Blackjack was an old game, you haven’t seen anything yet! Backgammon dates back to roughly 3000BC, that’s 5,000 years ago! Perhaps one of the reasons for the game's longevity is its simplicity. Backgammon is played on a board with thirty checkers and a couple of sets of dice.

It was the ancient Mesopotamian’s who ‘invented’ Backgammon and, 5,000 years later, it is still played today.

The Royal Game of Ur

You may not have heard of The Royal Game of Ur (and to be honest neither had we until we started our research for this article,) but this is the oldest board-game in the world which is still played today.

According to the British Museum, the game's rules were written on a cuneiform tablet by a Babylonian Astronomer in 177 BC. The game took a while to decipher, but it was discovered that it consists of two players competing to race their pieces from one end of the board to the other. The Royal Game of Ur is full of speed and strategy and can be played online too!

Senet

Played by Ancient Egyptian icons Tutankhamun and Queen Nefertari, Senet dates to around 3100 BC. In a similar style to The Royal Game of Ur, the game is played on a board where players compete in order to race their pieces to the end of the board.

Senet has been depicted on various pieces of papyrus, sometimes with animals playing against one another!

Chess

Chess can be traced back around 1,500 years ago. Its earliest known predecessor, named Chaturanga, was born in India. Chess slowly spread from India to Persia before finding its way to Europe.

In 2021, Chess is still regarded as one of the most complex and most strategic games around. In fact, the evolution of computer chess programmes helped to advance Chess and Chess theory. Chess is now competed in as a sport whilst many of the master chess players are deemed to have well above average intelligence.

We hoped you enjoyed our quick and simple run down of some of the oldest games in history which are still played today!