#82: Backgammon
Backgammon, the oldest game on this list, dates back thousands of years. The rules were first standardized by Edmond Hoyle (yes, that Hoyle) in 1743. Age isn't bad, in this case - it's still a compelling game and played at a professional/gambler level by some. Stephen Glenn: "Proof that roll-and-move games don't have to suck."
picture from Board Game Geek
posted by Mark (aka pastor guy) at 8:03 AM
6 Comments:
This is the beginning of the end for the list. A top 100 just doesn't have room for all the public domain games out there. I can see that there are a couple in the 81-90 range, so I can only assume that there will be more: chess, go, poker, gomoku, bridge, hearts, pinochle, etc. etc. I think the list would have been better as the top 100 "published" games.
Well, technically, no, it isn't. See, there's 80 more games to list.
And, while I (Mark) wouldn't choose to include public domain games (and don't, in my Five & Dime reports), Stephen was the one who did the accounting. More power to him!
This list is what it is...
A game is a game is a game. If it's in the top 100, it deserves to be here. Why all the bias against the time-tested classics?
Granted, I'd rather play Shadows Over Camelot than Checkers, but that's beside the point. It's about what the people like.
I asked the participants to name the top 15 games they most enjoyed playing. I specifically instructed them *not* to feel compelled to include games they felt were "historically important".
I can't think of one good reason to exclude any game based simply upon its age or origin.
Backgammon is a masterpiece of plotting, planning, and a little luck. In fact, there is so little luck that you could play the game with a deck of dice and choose your card every turn, and still lose to the superior player.
Not the game most people think it is.
This is listed as "the oldest game on the list," but I'm pretty sure that go is older. If you mean "the game played longest in the current form," then go is easily much older, since there are game records still around from almost 2000 years ago that fit the current rules just fine!
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