Editing Board game (section)

===Europe===
{{further|Eurogame#History}}
Board games have a long tradition in Europe. The oldest records of board gaming in Europe date back to [[Homer]]'s ''[[Iliad]]'' (written in the 8th century BC), in which he mentions the Ancient Greek game of ''[[petteia]]''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Brouwers|first=Josho|title=Ancient Greek heroes at play|url=https://www.ancientworldmagazine.com/articles/ancient-greek-heroes-play|access-date=6 March 2020|website=Ancient World Magazine|date=29 November 2018|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241111205115/https://www.ancientworldmagazine.com/articles/ancient-greek-heroes-play|archive-date=11 November 2024|url-status=live|df=dmy}}</ref> This game of ''petteia'' would later evolve into the Roman game of ''[[ludus latrunculorum]]''.<ref name=":0" />
{{ublist
|'''Germany'''
:{{lang|de|[[Kriegsspiel]]}} is a genre of wargaming developed in 19th century [[Prussia]], to teach battle tactics to officers.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Asbury|first=Susan|date=Winter 2018|title=It's All a Game: The History of Board Games from Monopoly to Settlers of Catan|url=https://www.journalofplay.org/sites/www.journalofplay.org/files/pdf-articles/10-2-Book-review2.pdf|url-status=dead|department=Book Reviews|journal=American Journal of Play|volume=10|issue=2|page=230|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711112435/https://www.journalofplay.org/sites/www.journalofplay.org/files/pdf-articles/10-2-Book-review2.pdf|archive-date=11 July 2020|access-date=5 March 2020}}</ref>
|'''Ireland'''
:''[[Fidchell]]'' boards dating from the 10th century has been uncovered in Ireland,<ref>{{Cite book|first=Kenneth Hurlstone|last=Jackson|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pkTUotRW8_AC&q=the+oldest+irish+tradition|title=The Oldest Irish Tradition: A Window on the Iron Age|date=28 February 2011|isbn=9780521134934|page=23|publisher=Cambridge University Press|access-date=28 December 2024|df=dmy}} [https://ia600105.us.archive.org/1/items/hurlstone-2011-the-oldest-irish-tradition/Hurlstone%20%282011%29%20The%20Oldest%20Irish%20Tradition.pdf Alt URL]</ref> with the game said to date back to at least 144 AD.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Harding|first=Timothy|date=2010|title='A Fenian pastime'? Early Irish board games and their identification with chess|journal=Irish Historical Studies|volume=37|issue=145|page=5|doi=10.1017/S0021121400000031|issn=0021-1214|jstor=20750042|hdl-access=free|hdl=2262/38847|s2cid=163144950}}</ref> 
|'''Scandnavia'''
:The ancient Norse game of [[Tafl games|hnefatafl]] was developed sometime before 400 [[Anno Domini|AD]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Schulte|first=Michael|title=Board games of the Vikings – From hnefatafl to chess|url=http://ojs.novus.no/index.php/MOM/article/download/1426/1411|page=5}}</ref> 
|'''United Kingdom'''
:In the United Kingdom, the association of dice and cards with gambling led to all dice games except backgammon being treated as "lotteries by dice" in the Gaming Acts of [[Gaming Act 1710|1710]] and [[Gaming Act 1845|1845]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Neilson|first=W Bryce|title=Gaming history and Law|website=Gamesboard.org|url=https://www.gamesboard.org.uk/articles/gaming-law-bryce-neilson-aug-2020.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001082026/https://www.gamesboard.org.uk/articles/gaming-law-bryce-neilson-aug-2020.pdf|archive-date=1 October 2020|access-date=15 February 2022}}</ref> One of the most prolific publishers of board games of the late 18th and early 19th centuries was the English board game publisher [[John Wallis (publisher)|John Wallis]] and his sons (John Wallis Jr. and Edward Wallis).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Adam|first=Gottfried|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lb6ZEAAAQBAJ&dq=John+Wallis++publishers+of+board+games&pg=PA177|title=Thumb Bibles: The History of a Literary Genre|date=31 October 2022|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-52588-7|language=en}}</ref> The global popularisation of board games, with special themes and branding, coincided with the formation of the global dominance of the [[British Empire]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kentel|first=Koca|date=Fall 2018|title=Empire on a Board: Navigating the British Empire through Geographical Board Games in the Nineteenth Century|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6JW86M71|journal=The Portolan|volume=102|pages=27–42|doi=10.17613/M6JW86M71}}</ref>  Examples of british empire games included:
}}  
{| class="wikitable"
|+ British Empire Games
|-
! Game Title
! Release Date
! Creator
! Description
! Ref
|-

| ''A Tour Through the British Colonies and Foreign Possessions''
| 1850
| John Betts
| This board game was a [[race game]] that consisted of a board with 37 numbered pictures, each correlating to a British colony, arranged in four circular levels, numbered 1 ([[Heligoland]], Germany) to 37 ([[London]], England), three concentric ones and an inner fourth level of London ("Metropolis of the British Empire"). A [[teetotum]] was spun with a player's piece correspondingly moving ahead through the spaces of the game board, upon which a corresponding description to the space the player lands was read out aloud from an accompanying rule booklet by the presiding player (a player abstaining from directly playing the game), except when directed in the book. The descriptions included commentary about the various colonies and occasional game board movement directions to the player. There winner would be the player to reach London first. 
| <ref>{{Cite web|title=A Tour Through the British Colonies and Foreign Possessions │ Board Game │ 1850-60 (published)|url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O26285/a-tour-through-the-british-board-game-betts-john|website=Victoria and Albert Museum (www.vam.ac.uk)|access-date=28 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231102100727/https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O26352/a-voyage-of-discovery-or-board-game-spooner-william|archive-date=2 November 2023|url-status=live|df=dmy}}</ref><ref name="colony-tour_betts_1850">{{cite book|title=A Tour Through the British Colonies and Foreign Possessions|via=National Library of Australia (www.library.gov.au)|date=1850|first=John|last=Betts|language=en|url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-360189129/view?partId=nla.obj-360192281#page/n0/mode/1up|access-date=28 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241228000000/https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-360189129/view?partId=nla.obj-360192281#page/n0/mode/1up|archive-date=28 December 2024|url-status=live|df=dmy}} [https://ia802208.us.archive.org/33/items/betts-1850-a-tour-of-the-british-colonies-and-foreign-possessions/Betts%20%281850%29%20A%20Tour%20of%20the%20British%20Colonies%20and%20Foreign%20Possessions.pdf Alt URL]</ref><ref name="colony-tour_yale-centre_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=A tour through the British colonies and foreign possessions, [1850s?]|website=Yale Centre for British Art|language=en|url=https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/orbis:14039395|access-date=28 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240731062554/https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/orbis:14039395|archive-date=31 July 2024|url-status=live|df=dmy}}</ref>
|-

|style="white-space: nowrap;"| ''A Voyage of Discovery'', or<br>''The Five Navigators''
| 1836
| William Spooner
| A [[race game]] where five players ('sailors') follow distinctly colored tracks, on a board decorated with islands; seas; and ships, with each player restricted to the path of their own color. The player's followed the instructions printed in circles along the tracks, which contained sailor-themed dangers and advantages. 
| <ref name="voyage-of-discovery_vam_current(2025)">{{Cite web|title=A Voyage of Discovery or The Five Navigators │ Board Game │ 1863 (published)|date=4 March 2000|url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O26352/a-voyage-of-discovery-or-board-game-spooner-william|website=Victoria and Albert Museum (www.collections.vam.ac.uk)|access-date=28 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231102100727/https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O26352/a-voyage-of-discovery-or-board-game-spooner-william|archive-date=2 November 2023|url-status=live|df=dmy}}</ref>
|}

<gallery mode="packed" heights="160">
File:Attic Black-Figure Neck Amphora - Achilles and Ajax playing a board game overseen by Athena.jpg|Achilles and Ajax playing a board game overseen by Athena, Attic black-figure neck amphora, {{circa|510&nbsp;BC}}
File:German - Box for Board Games - Walters 7193 - Bottom.jpg|''Box for Board Games'', {{Circa}} 15th century, Walters Art Museum
File:Clevelandart 1953.284.jpg|An early [[games table desk]] (Germany, 1735) featuring [[chess]]/[[draughts]] ({{em|right}}) and [[nine men's morris]] ({{em|left}})
</gallery>