Board games—those delightful boxes of fun that have sparked family feuds and friendly competitions for centuries—have a surprisingly ancient history. Long before Monopoly and Scrabble, our ancestors were rolling dice, moving tokens, and strategizing their way to victory.

The first known board game dates back to around 3100 BC in Egypt. It was called Senet, a game of strategy that was so popular, it was played by pharaohs, including King Tut! In fact, it was believed to help guide souls to the afterlife. Over in Mesopotamia around 2500 BC, the Royal Game of Ur was being played, and it’s the earliest game to have been played with dice.

Fast forward to Ancient Rome and Greece, and games like Ludus Latrunculorum (a predecessor of chess) became popular pastimes for soldiers and philosophers alike. 

The board game boom took off in the 19th century, thanks to the rise of leisure time and mass production. In 1860, The Game of Life (yes, that Life) was invented in the U.S. as a moral journey from childhood to adulthood. During the Great Depression, Monopoly hit the scene, giving people the chance to dream of owning property and striking it rich, even when money was tight.

Later on, we entered the golden age of board games. Classics like Scrabble (1938) and Clue (1949) soon joined the lineup, offering wordplay and mystery-solving fun. In the 1980s and beyond, Trivial Pursuit and Risk captured imaginations, while modern-day hits like Catan and Ticket to Ride brought new waves of innovation and strategy. So whether you’re battling it out in Candy Land, plotting world domination in Risk, or trading sheep in Catan, there’s a board game for everyone.