Game board

They serve as the primary interaction zone for players and can range from simple to highly elaborate, sometimes incorporating three-dimensional or electronic components.Understanding of ancient board games is difficult, as artifacts from such time are often incomplete (smaller accompanying pieces are rarely found), and lack accompanying rules; in many cases even the original name of the game has been lost to time.Very few if any similar objects have been found in the archeological evidence from sites linked to the Neolithic and Bronze Age eras (one artifact dated to c. 3500 BCE and resembling a chess board exists from Tell Majnuna in Syria, although it might have been a proto-calculator).The next generation of artifacts more universally acknowledged as game boards, also more complex than the possible mancala-styled boards, are dated to the Early Bronze Age period around the Mediterranean and include those for Egyptian senet and mehen from ~3000 - 2000 BCE and similar ones from Mesopotamia (Fertile Crescent region).[15] Board games made in the early 1800s started to feature maps of real locations (ex.traditional checkered chess board or Pictionary), others can be very complex, thematic and incorporate numerous pieces of artwork (ex.[2]: 225  Some can be three-dimensional or include props such as landscape elements (volcanos, walls, or such - see for example Mouse Trap or Fireball Island).[5]: 210 [18] Most modern game boards are larger than an A4 sheet of paper; some are folded or assembled from smaller components.[5]: 206  Such spaces are tied to game rules and mechanics influencing where pieces can be placed or how they can move.[2]: 98–99 [5]: 2  In particular wargames such as Star Wars: X- Wing Miniatures Game or Warhammer 40,000 can be played on surfaces such as tables, maps or three-dimensional dioramas.
Game board for Monopoly , a popular modern game
One of the five game boards for Royal Game of Ur found by Sir Leonard Woolley in the Royal Cemetery at Ur , now held in the British Museum , dated to c. 2500 BCE
Painting in tomb of Egyptian queen Nefertari playing a board game (commonly identified as senet ) on a game board with game pieces, c. 1295–1255 BCE
An illustrated game board for a 1815 game Panorama of Europe
Patent named "Drawing for a Game Board" for Lizzie Magie's 1904 The Landlord's Game which was a predecessor of Monopoly
Game board with initial setup for Indigo , a modern (2012) game
A classic chessboard
A map-building game in progress ( Carcassonne South Seas)
Two stickers - an island hex and a cross marker - added permanently to the game board in a game of SeaFall . Such additions are prevalent in legacy-style games.
Monopolyboard gameNeolithicBronze AgeMesopotamianRoyal Game of Urrace gamesquadrilateralabstract gamesLeonard WoolleyRoyal Cemetery at UrBritish Museumhistory of board gamesnecessary and sufficient conditioncard gamestabletop gamesdice gamesNefertariGary O. RollefsonBeidhaʿAin GhazallimestonemancalaThierry Depaulischess boardEarly Bronze AgeMediterraneanMesopotamiaFertile CrescentterracottaIndus Valley CivilizationThe Landlord's GamebackgammonConfucius'sAnalectsIndigostrategy gamesMouse TrapAvalon HillwargamePanzerBlitzgeomorphicmagic circlecheckeredPictionaryShadows over CamelotpointsCarcassonneFireball IslandMall MadnessDark Towerworker placementcheckersCarcassoneSeaFallBetrayal at House on the HillwargamesWarhammer 40,000dioramasMice and Mysticspop-up bookLegacy gamesGames table deskHex mapMeeplePlay money