Board games have celebrated a creative revolution during recent decades; designers’ ever-increasing deftness in meshing in-game actions with story and meaning creates opportunities for new dimensions in player experience. One example: the increasing sophistication of cooperative and semi-cooperative board games, in which everyone playing or teams of players win or lose as a group. This research guide grew from the efforts of students and faculty in several Evergreen courses and programs as we made, studied, and played analog strategy games. Enjoy!
In 1928, a British archaeologist, Sir Leonard Woolley, discovered five ancient board games in the Royal Cemetery of the Sumerian city, Ur (now in Iraq). These five worn boards made of wood, shell, and lapis lazuli remain the oldest board games in existence, dating from 2600-2400 B.C.E. Variations of the game have been found in Egypt, Iran, Syria, Cyprus, Crete, and among the Kochi Jews of India.