If you type on a search engine the oldest tabletop game, the first (or second) likely result it spits is The British Museum listing of the Top 10 historical board games. The Royal Game of Ur is the oldest playable version, originating around 4,600 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia.

It is quite a marvelous list. Depending on your cultural childhood setting, chances are high that you have heard of at least one entry. In my case, it was Mahjong—the classical Chinese board I hardly played on the counterfeit NES. When I scrolled further down, the penultimate title seemed somewhat familiar. I couldn't recall the name, but the image was strikingly familiar. Upon reading and researching the native terms, I realized I had played this game countless times in a distant past. The name in the spotlight: Pachisi(パッチシー ; پچیسی ; पच्चीसी). The current, more popular version is known as Ludo. As it happens, it is now one of the most played games in South Asia.

Learn how this humble game became the everyday game of South Asian countries in this full article.

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