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Old-Style Games

As long as people have roamed the earth, there have been games. Whether they were early games of competition or later games of strategy and chance, entertainment has often included games. Even before jousting tournaments among knights in Europe, there were board games and sporting events throughout the ancient world. Games have developed from board and card games to video games.

Ancient Board and Strategy Games
- Mancala, also known as the African stone game, is considered the oldest game in the world. Players use stones and an egg-crate-style board to practice counting and probability. Konane, another ancient game, originated in Hawaii and features a board similar to checkers. Jumping and capturing an opponents pieces is the objective. One of the most commonly cited ancient games is Senet, a board game from Ancient Egypt. Neighboring Persians were known to play versions of backgammon and chess more than 2,000 years ago.
Old-Style Sporting Games
- Nearly all of the events in modern day track and field have their origins in Ancient Greece during their Olympic events, including the discus throw, shotput and javelin toss, and running events. Wrestling and horse racing also appear to have their origins in the original Greek Olympics. An ancient sporting game practiced in Greece and beyond, archery was also a significant competitive sport in China. A cross between soccer and basketball was played by the Mayans in Meso-America as a major part of their socio-political culture.
Victorian and Rustic Games
- During Victorian times, parlor games were popular during social gatherings, including charades, lookabout, blindman's bluff, and forfeits. Cribbage, which appears to date back to the seventeenth century, is a combination card and board game still played today. Billiards and whist were common games in early American homes, as were other card games. Some of the oldest card games are Old Maid, Crazy Eights, and Solitaire.
Old-Style Video Games
- Pong, a more popular version of the first credited video game, Tennis for Two, by Magnavox, was one of the earliest video games, invented in the 1970s for the Atari platform. It was followed by classics such as Pac Man and Space Invaders. After the video game crash in 1983, Nintendo pulled the gaming industry out of its slump with the game-changer, Metroid. This was later followed by the popular series Super Mario Brothers and Donkey Kong.

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