HT Games
Knucklebones
The Romans used the ankle bones of goats or sheep as knucklebones, gaming or gambling tools similar to dice today. These bones had four sides distinctive in appearance. The child's version of knucklebones was played like jacks--a player tossed one bone up in the air and tried to grab all the other scattered bones before catching the first bone in the same hand.
Board Games
Archaeologists often find grids scratched into the floors of excavated homes, and Roman artwork often depicts boardgames using these grids. The rules have been lost over time but different-colored stones or bits of glass were used in a similar manner to checkers today.
Odd or Even, or Micatio
Micatio (or micatio digitorum) was common and popular, probably because it required so little equipment. Players stand in a circle and prepare to cast out a hand displaying one to five fingers; meanwhile, players shout out whether they believe the sum of displayed fingers will be odd or even. Another variation allows players to hold a number of rocks in their hand instead of showing fingers. Micatio was often used as a gambling game, with the amount won based on the sum of fingers or rocks.
Dice and Gambling Games
According to Lionel Casson in "Everyday Life in Ancient Rome," even children were welcomed into real gambling games. This included dice, micatio and casting lots and the previously-mentioned knucklebones.
Tali, or knucklebones played as a gambling game, had complex rules. Players cast four knucklebones and scored the toss based on which of the four sides was on top for each game piece. In another variant, a player tossed his knucklebones one at a time into a narrow-topped glass jar. Only bones that landed in the jar could be counted in scoring.