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Board Game History: Games by Date
Published:
Last updated 2026-10-19 · Run by Qdan, Inc.
Compare surviving boards, pieces and books in four chapters, with the type of date and current rules explained on each card.
These are dates of surviving evidence, rather than the years games were invented.
Three Games to Try First
- Royal Game of Ur
Compare an excavated twenty-square board with a dice-driven race.
- Tic-Tac-Toe
Try the historical book’s line-of-three description in a short game.
- Hokusai's Kamakura–Enoshima–Oyama Sugoroku
Explore a late Edo travel print and its return route.
What the Dates Mean
Dates refer to events documented for each object, such as its production, dedication or printing. Read what is dated alongside the source, then compare the surviving evidence with the actions you can try in BGJ.
- Ancient Boards and Equipment3 games
- Medieval Boards and Pieces3 games
- Modern Books and Equipment5 games
Compare Dates and Evidence
Games with overlapping date ranges share a chapter. The order within a chapter is not an age ranking, and uncertain dates are not replaced with invented years. Follow the comparison and card references to their sources.
| Game | Players and time | Date | What is dated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Game of Ur | 2 players, About 15 min | 2600–2400 BCE | Production date of a board excavated at Ur [1] |
| Go | 2 players, About 60 min | 756 CE | Year the marquetry go board was dedicated [2] |
| Ban-sugoroku | 2 players, About 15 min | 756 CE | Year a sugoroku board was listed in a dedication inventory [13] |
| Shogi | 2 players, About 20 min | Late 11th century (associated inscription: 1058) | Estimated production period of excavated shogi pieces [14] |
| Xiangqi | 2 players, About 25 min | Song dynasty (960–1279 CE) | Production period assigned to excavated bronze pieces (Song dynasty) [15] |
| Chess | 2 players, About 20 min | 12th century (1101–1200 CE) | Production period of chess pieces attributed to Iran [3] |
| Backgammon | 2 players, About 15 min | 1743 CE | Publication of Hoyle’s rule book [16] |
| Checkers | 2 players, About 10 min | 1756 CE | Publication of Payne’s instruction book [17] |
| Leifeng Pagoda Sugoroku | 2–6 players, About 15 min | 1736–1795 CE | Production date of the printed board [18] |
| Hokusai's Kamakura–Enoshima–Oyama Sugoroku | 2–6 players, About 15 min | Late Edo period (no specific year recorded) | Publication period recorded by the National Diet Library [4] [5] |
| Kuniyasu's Four Seasons of Edo Sugoroku | 2–6 players, About 15 min | 1804–1844 CE (another collection’s copy) | Publication period assigned to the Edo-Tokyo Museum’s print [6] [7] |
| Yoshikazu's Samurai Armour Sugoroku | 2–6 players, About 15 min | 1858 CE (Ansei 5) | Publication of the picture sugoroku print [19] |
| Tic-Tac-Toe | 2 players, About 2 min | 1864 CE | Publication of a book describing play [20] |
| Gomoku | 2 players, About 10 min | 1891 CE (Meiji 24) | Publication of a gomoku instruction book [21] |
| Renju | 2 players, About 15 min | 1906 CE (Meiji 39) | Publication of a renju book [22] |
| Riichi Mahjong | 3–4 players, About 25 min | 1924 CE (Taisho 13) | Publication of a book explaining mahjong [37] |
| Ludo | 2–4 players, About 20 min | 1900s (the museum’s wording) | Production period of the collection item [23] |
| Chinese Checkers | 2–6 players, About 20 min | Circa 1940–1942 CE | Production period of a star-shaped board and pieces [24] |
Explore Games by Date
Every date identifies what is dated and links to its sources. This sequence compares surviving evidence; it does not establish transmission or a family tree between games.
Ancient Boards and Equipment
Compare an excavated board with eighth-century dedication records. Distinguish production dates from recorded events as you explore boards and equipment.
Royal Game of Ur
Production date of a board excavated at Ur [1]
The range follows the British Museum’s collection record.
Race your pieces off the board with dice. A board from the Royal Cemetery at Ur preserves shell inlay and twenty squares, offering a trace of the equipment used for play. [1]
In BGJ, throw four tetrahedral dice and race seven pieces off the board. Rosettes grant another throw, and opposing pieces can be sent back from the shared column.
BGJ rules [8]
Go
Year the marquetry go board was dedicated [2]
This is a dedication date, not a production date. Treasure number: North section 36.
Place stones on intersections to gain territory and captures. The Shosoin board’s examination report records seventeen flower-shaped marks, rather than the usual nine. [2]
In BGJ, take turns placing stones on intersections and compare territory plus captures. Choose a 9×9, 13×13 or 19×19 board.
BGJ rules [9]
Ban-sugoroku
Year a sugoroku board was listed in a dedication inventory [13]
The inventory is dated the twenty-first day of the sixth lunar month; it does not give a complete rule set.
Use the dice to bring your stones home. The inventory lists a marquetry sugoroku board and equipment, documenting a board dedicated in the eighth century. [13]
In BGJ, move fifteen stones with two dice and win by bringing them all home. Doubles allow two moves. These rules are not presented as a full reconstruction from the 756 inventory.
BGJ rules [25]
Medieval Boards and Pieces
Explore pieces excavated in Japan and China alongside a surviving set attributed to Iran. Their dates overlap, so compare shapes and inscriptions without ranking them by age.
Shogi
Estimated production period of excavated shogi pieces [14]
The whole eleventh century is used only as an enclosing range. The 1058 inscription is on an associated scroll spindle, not a production or modern-rule date.
Move pieces to close off the opposing king’s escape. Wooden kings, gold generals and pawns were excavated at Kofuku-ji with a scroll spindle inscribed 1058. [14]
BGJ offers modern shogi on a 9×9 board, including the reuse of captured pieces. The finds preserve piece forms and inscriptions; they do not establish a complete rule set for that period.
BGJ rules [26]
Xiangqi
Production period assigned to excavated bronze pieces (Song dynasty) [15]
The museum’s full dynastic range is retained. The 2016 excavation date is distinct from the object date.
Move across the river and trap the opposing general. Chengdu Museum preserves thirty bronze pieces excavated from a Song-dynasty tomb, with characters distinguishing their roles. [15]
In BGJ, each side uses sixteen pieces on the intersections of nine vertical and ten horizontal lines. The museum set is incomplete; its thirty surviving pieces are not treated as a modern starting position.
BGJ rules [27]
Chess
Production period of chess pieces attributed to Iran [3]
The collection’s “12th century” is kept as a full century range.
Move pieces to leave the opposing king without an escape. The surviving set uses throne shapes for kings and viziers and two projections for elephants, preserving forms different from today’s pieces. [3]
BGJ offers present-day chess on an 8×8 board with sixteen pieces per side, including queens and bishops. Aim to leave the opposing king with no escape from check.
BGJ rules [10]
18th–19th Centuries: Edo Sugoroku and Boards and Books Elsewhere
Compare Japanese picture sugoroku with Chinese boards and British books from the same period. Broad dates such as late Edo remain broad, without ranking overlapping items.
Backgammon
Publication of Hoyle’s rule book [16]
This is the year on the title page, not the invention date of the board or game.
Allocate your dice to race fifteen pieces off the board. Hoyle’s book discusses dice probabilities, moving pieces home and laws of play. [16]
BGJ offers current play with two dice. Choose between hitting a lone opposing piece and protecting your own, then gather your pieces home before bearing them off.
BGJ rules [28]
Checkers
Publication of Payne’s instruction book [17]
The publication year is verified in the holding institution’s catalogue, alongside the author and publication statement.
Move diagonally and jump over opposing pieces to capture them. Payne’s instruction book contains fifty selected games, showing play being taught in print in the eighteenth century. [17]
In BGJ, play on an 8×8 board and win by capturing or immobilising the opposing pieces. These are current rules, rather than a reproduction of every rule in the 1756 book.
BGJ rules [29]
Leifeng Pagoda Sugoroku
Production date of the printed board [18]
The museum’s Qianlong-period range is retained rather than narrowed to one year.
Follow the spiral towards the central pagoda. The Cleveland print depicts figures and scenes from the Legend of the White Snake, preserving a board based on a Chinese story. [18]
BGJ uses the collection image as its board and moves pieces with one die. Jumping between matching pictures and the numbered route are reconstructed additions; the print supplies no rules.
BGJ rules [30]
Hokusai's Kamakura–Enoshima–Oyama Sugoroku
Publication period recorded by the National Diet Library [4] [5]
No starting year is inferred for “late Edo.” The timeline uses the whole Edo period, 1603–1867, as an enclosing range, not as precise limits for this print’s date.
Travel the route and aim to return to Nihonbashi. The library’s colour print has text selected by Ryutei Tanehiko and pictures by Zen Hokusai Iitsu, depicting sights along the journey. [4] [5]
BGJ uses the library’s board image. Roll one die and follow the printed numbers from Nihonbashi through Kamakura, Enoshima and Oyama, returning to Nihonbashi with an exact roll.
BGJ rules [11]
Kuniyasu's Four Seasons of Edo Sugoroku
Publication period assigned to the Edo-Tokyo Museum’s print [6] [7]
The library item has no recorded date. Title, artist Utagawa Kuniyasu and publisher Yamamoto Heikichi match, but the two items are not asserted to be the same impression.
Travel through seasonal sights towards the Asakusa market. The library’s original and a museum copy with the same title survive; the Bunka–Tenpo date belongs to the museum item. [6] [7]
BGJ uses the library’s board image for a tour through seasonal sights to the Asakusa market. Route numbers absent from the print are added to make a 37-square game played with one die.
BGJ rules [12]
Yoshikazu's Samurai Armour Sugoroku
Publication of the picture sugoroku print [19]
The year is recorded in the original item’s metadata. The depicted setting and the print’s publication date are separate matters.
Collect equipment as you advance towards returning to camp. Yoshikazu’s colour print combines scenes of putting on armour with written directions for movement. [19]
BGJ uses the library’s image, with movement guided by a die and the board’s instructions. The rules page distinguishes the printed directions from additions needed to make a playable game.
BGJ rules [31]
Tic-Tac-Toe
Publication of a book describing play [20]
The author’s title page and pp.467–469 were checked. This is not an invention date.
Make a row of three marks vertically, horizontally or diagonally. Babbage’s own book describes alternate placements on nine squares and discusses a machine to play the game. [20]
BGJ offers the basic game of alternate placements on a 3×3 board. Play a short match with people or a CPU; this does not recreate the machine proposed in the book.
BGJ rules [32]
Modern Books and Equipment
Explore Meiji-era instruction books and twentieth-century household boards. The museum’s “1900s” is not narrowed to specific years, and object dates remain distinct from current rules.
Gomoku
Publication of a gomoku instruction book [21]
The original colophon, PDF p.44, records publication on 31 July.
Place stones to make a line of five. Muro Naosaburo’s instruction book includes board diagrams, preserving a printed account of the game from Meiji Japan. [21]
In BGJ, place stones alternately on a 15×15 grid, without forbidden moves. The historical book’s complete rules and its preface’s claims are not used as the authority for current BGJ play.
BGJ rules [33]
Renju
Publication of a renju book [22]
The colophon records issue on 30 July. This does not date the establishment of all modern forbidden moves or opening rules.
Build a line of five while blocking your opponent’s plans. Takayama Goraku’s Renju Shinri preserves diagrams and explanations of the game as studied at the time. [22]
BGJ uses a 15×15 board with double-threes, double-fours and overlines forbidden for Black. Modern restrictions and opening settings are kept distinct from the 1906 book.
BGJ rules [34]
Riichi Mahjong
Publication of a book explaining mahjong [37]
This is the library’s date for the second edition, not the invention of mahjong or the completion of today’s Japanese rules.
Combine tiles into a winning hand to earn points. The National Diet Library holds the second edition of Takahashi Tetsuo’s Mahjong no Asobikata, published in Tianjin in 1924, preserving an account of how the game was explained then. [37]
BGJ offers Japanese mahjong for three or four players. Current rules, including riichi and dora, are presented separately from the contents of this 1924 book.
BGJ rules [38]
Ludo
Production period of the collection item [23]
Neither 1900 nor 1900–1909 is inferred. The whole twentieth century is an enclosing range, so its position within this chapter is not a ranking.
Roll to advance your pieces and bring them all home. Te Papa preserves a London-made board of paper and cardboard, showing the form of equipment used for household play. [23]
In BGJ, two to four players move four pieces each. Roll a six to enter and travel around the board towards the centre. These current rules are separate from the item’s production period.
BGJ rules [35]
Chinese Checkers
Production period of a star-shaped board and pieces [24]
This is the museum’s estimated object date, supported by a 1942 gift inscription, not a game-origin date.
Hop over neighbouring pieces to move yours into the opposite camp. The collection set includes a star-shaped board, ten wooden pieces per colour and a gift inscription dated 1942. [24]
In BGJ, plan chains of hops and bring all your pieces to the opposite camp. Neither this item’s date nor the game’s English name is used to infer where the game originated.
BGJ rules [36]
Frequently Asked Questions
Are these the years the games were invented?
No. They are production periods for surviving boards and pieces, dates of inventory entries and publication years. They do not date the establishment of every rule played today.
Does this guide identify the world’s oldest board game?
These selected examples cannot settle that question. The guide links dated evidence to games available in BGJ; it does not survey every surviving object or record worldwide.
Which game came first when date ranges overlap?
The records do not always establish an order. Periods such as Song dynasty, late Edo and the museum’s “1900s” are retained, without ranking overlapping items within a chapter.
Do the old objects establish the rules used today?
Not always. Excavated pieces may leave rules unknown, and printed boards may need route numbers or reconstructed rules. Each card separates surviving evidence from play in BGJ.
How can I start playing after reading?
Use Play on a card to open its game page. Learn on the board offers an interactive introduction, and View rules explains the details.
Sources and How BGJ Plays
- British Museum — The Royal Game of Ur (record supplied by the museum)Date created, registration number and board description / 1928,1009.378 / Checked: ↩
- Office of the Shosoin Treasure House, Imperial Household Agency — The Go Game Board of Red Sandalwood with Marquetry and its Box with Hexagonal DesignShosoin Bulletin 35, p. 113: dedication, treasure number and flower-shaped marks / 北倉36 / North section 36 / Checked: ↩
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Chess SetObject date, attribution, number and description of the pieces / 1971.193a–ff / Checked: ↩
- National Diet Library — Shinpan Orai SugorokuPublication date [late Edo period], creators, publishers and persistent identifier / 024019194 / 寄別8-3-2-5 / pid 1307090 / Checked: ↩
- National Diet Library — Japanese Mathematics in the Edo Period: The Early Edo PeriodOpening dates for the Edo period (1603–1867); used only as an enclosing period, not to narrow the print date / 第1部 第1章 / Part 1, Chapter 1 / Checked: ↩
- National Diet Library — Edo Meisho Shiki Yusan Sugoroku (original item metadata)Title, creator, publisher and call number; no publication date supplied / 000008618411 / 本別9-27 / pid 1310735 / Checked: ↩
- Edo-Tokyo Museum — Four Seasons of Visiting Famous Places of Edo Sugoroku BoardAn item with the same title, artist and publisher; dated Bunka–Tenpo, 1804–1844 / 91212358 / Checked: ↩
- BoardGameJoin — Royal Game of Ur: BGJ rulesSetup, play and winning / Checked: ↩
- BoardGameJoin — Go: BGJ rulesSetup, play and winning / Checked: ↩
- BoardGameJoin — Chess: BGJ rulesSetup, play and winning / Checked: ↩
- BoardGameJoin — Hokusai's Kamakura–Enoshima–Oyama Sugoroku: BGJ rulesSetup, play and winning / Checked: ↩
- BoardGameJoin — Kuniyasu's Four Seasons of Edo Sugoroku: BGJ rulesSetup, play and winning / Checked: ↩
- Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties — Transcription of the Todai-ji dedication inventory: sugoroku boardDedicatory inventory dated Tenpyo Shoho 8, sixth month, day 21; board and equipment / 東大寺献物帳 / 『大日本古文書』4, pp.130–132 / Checked: ↩
- Nara Prefecture / Museum, Archaeological Institute of Kashihara — Shogi pieces, writing tablet and scroll spindle excavated at Kofuku-jiOverview: late-eleventh-century fill and pieces associated with a spindle inscribed 1058 / 奈良県歴史文化資源DB 14731 / 吉祥院地区1992年度調査 / Checked: ↩
- Chengdu Museum — Bronze Xiangqi PiecesTang and Song collection: Song dynasty (960–1279), findspot and thirty surviving pieces / 青铜象棋子 / 2016年5月・成都天府新区万安鎮出土 / Checked: ↩
- British Library (original volume) — A Short Treatise on the Game of Back-GammonOriginal title page: London, 1743; laws of play near the end of the text / British Library 7913.aa.60 / ESTC T87537 / Checked: ↩
- Wellcome Collection — An Introduction to the Game of DraughtsCatalogue: date 1756, author, publication statement and subject Checkers / jvfs29xc / William Payne, 1756 / Checked: ↩
- Cleveland Museum of Art — Leifeng Pagoda Board GameObject record: creation date 1736–1795, woodblock print on paper / 2025.105 / Checked: ↩
- National Diet Library — Katchu Chakuyo Sonai SugorokuOriginal item metadata: publication date Ansei 5, 1858; artist Yoshikazu / pid 1310599 / 本別9-27 / Checked: ↩
- Charles Babbage (author) — Passages from the Life of a PhilosopherTitle page, 1864, and Games of Skill: nine squares, alternate placements and a line of three / Charles Babbage, 1864, pp.467–469 / Checked: ↩
- Nihon Renju Sha (original scan) — Igo Joseki: Gomoku Narabi ShinanColophon, PDF p.44: printed 25 July and published 31 July, Meiji 24 (1891); preface and board diagrams / 室直三郎『囲碁定石 五目竝指南 全』 / PDF 44頁・奥付 / Checked: ↩
- National Diet Library — Renju ShinriOriginal colophon, frame 113: printed 27 July, issued 30 July, Meiji 39 (1906); matching catalogue date / pid 861325 / 特23-458 / 113コマ・奥付 / Checked: ↩
- Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa — Board Game, LudoProduction field: “1900s; London”; no narrower date is inferred / GH003819 / Checked: ↩
- Museums Victoria — Star-shaped board and playing piecesDate made: circa 1940–1942; gift inscription dated 1942 and ten pieces in each colour / SH 900410 / Checked: ↩
- BoardGameJoin — Ban-sugoroku: How BGJ PlaysSetup, play and winning / Checked: ↩
- BoardGameJoin — Shogi: How BGJ PlaysSetup, play and winning / Checked: ↩
- BoardGameJoin — Xiangqi: How BGJ PlaysSetup, play and winning / Checked: ↩
- BoardGameJoin — Backgammon: How BGJ PlaysSetup, play and winning / Checked: ↩
- BoardGameJoin — Checkers: How BGJ PlaysSetup, play and winning / Checked: ↩
- BoardGameJoin — Leifeng Pagoda Sugoroku: How BGJ PlaysSetup, play and winning / Checked: ↩
- BoardGameJoin — Yoshikazu's Samurai Armour Sugoroku: How BGJ PlaysSetup, play and winning / Checked: ↩
- BoardGameJoin — Tic-Tac-Toe: How BGJ PlaysSetup, play and winning / Checked: ↩
- BoardGameJoin — Gomoku: How BGJ PlaysSetup, play and winning / Checked: ↩
- BoardGameJoin — Renju: How BGJ PlaysSetup, play and winning / Checked: ↩
- BoardGameJoin — Ludo: How BGJ PlaysSetup, play and winning / Checked: ↩
- BoardGameJoin — Chinese Checkers: How BGJ PlaysSetup, play and winning / Checked: ↩
- National Diet Library — Mahjong no Asobikata, second edition: original-volume cataloguePublication: Tianjin, Chugoku Bussan Koshi, Taisho 13 (1924) / NDL 特115-308 / 書誌ID 000000542895 / 高橋哲雄・2版・大正13年 / Checked: ↩
- BoardGameJoin — Mahjong: How BGJ PlaysSetup, play and winning / Checked: ↩