A board game is a game played with counters or pieces that are placed on, removed from, or moved across a "board" (a premarked surface, usually specific to that game). Simple board games often make ideal "family entertainment" since they are often appropriate for all ages. Some board games, such as chess, go/weiqi, xiangqi, shogi, or oware, have intense strategic value and have been classics for centuries.
There are many different types of board games. Many games simulate aspects of real life. Popular games of this type include:
- Monopoly, which simulates the real estate market
- Cluedo/Clue, which simulates a murder mystery
- Risk, which simulates warfare
- Life, which simulates major life decisions and milestones
Other games only loosely, or do not at all, attempt to imitate reality. These games include:
- abstract strategy games like chess, checkers, irensei or go
- race games like pachisi or backgammon
- word games, like Scrabble
- trivia games, like Trivial Pursuit.
- combination games, like Brain Chain, which mix abstract strategy with trivia.
History
Board games have been played in most cultures and societies throughout history; some even pre-date literacy skill development in the earliest civilizations. A number of important historical sites, artifacts and documents exist which shed light on early board games. Some of these include:
- Senet has been found in Predynastic and First Dynasty burials of Egypt, c. 3500 BC and 3100 BC respectively. Senet is the oldest board game known to have existed, having been pictured in a fresco found in Merknera's tomb (3300-2700 BC).
- Mehen is another ancient board game from Predynastic Egypt.
- Go is an ancient strategic board game originating in China
- Patolli is a board game originating in mesoamerica and played by the ancient mayans.
- The Royal Tombs of Ur contained, among others, the Royal Game of Ur. They were excavated by Leonard Woolley, but his books document little on the games found. Most of the games he excavated are now housed in the British Museum in London.
- Buddha games list is the earliest known list of games.
Board games first became widely popular among the general population early in the 20th century when the rise of the middle class with disposable income and leisure time made them a receptive audience to such games. This popularity expanded after the Second World War, a period from which many classic board games date.
Many board games are now available as computer games, including the option to have the computer act as an opponent; and many acclaimed computer games such as Civilization were originally based upon board games. The rise of computers has also led to a relative decline in the most complicated board games, as computers require less space, and the games don't have to be set up and cleared away. With the Internet, many board games can now be played online against a computer or other players. Some web sites allow play in real time and immediately show the opponent's moves, while most use e-mail to notify the players after each move (see the links at the end of this article).
Some board games make use of additional components, aside from the board and playing pieces. Some games use CDs, video cassettes and more recently DVDs to provide an accompaniment to the game. A genre of DVD games makes use of the interactive features of DVDs, often to provide a "quizmaster" for trivia games.
The modern board game industry is rife with corporate mergers and acquisitions, with large companies such as Hasbro owning many subsidiaries and selling products under a variety of brand names. It is difficult to successfully market a new board game to the mass market. Retailers tend to be conservative about stocking games of untested popularity, and most large board game companies have established criteria that a game must meet in order to be produced. If, for instance, Monopoly were introduced as a new game today, it might not meet the criteria for production.
