The Fascinating History of Four Classic Games

Some games disappear almost as soon as they arrive. Others, like Uno, become beloved generational games. And then there are the ones that go on to become all-time classics.

If a game remains popular after hundreds of years, then you know it has really caught the public’s imagination. In this post, we’ll run through the history of some of the world’s most famous games, but don’t get to thinking that this is the final say on these games — after all, they’re all still going strong, so it’s likely that they’ll have a future that’s just as bright as their past. 

Chess

Chess has a long history that stretches all the way back to 7th century India, which makes it nearly 1500 years old. Of course, the game that they were playing back then was pretty different to what we play today. Over the centuries, the game has developed and evolved. For example, it was only in the year 1200 (or thereabouts) that the Queen gained the ability to move anywhere, bishops could move diagonally, and starter pawns could move two places. 

Though the game is old, it only became popular relatively recently. Most historians argue that it only gained its status as an intellectual game around the 19th century. And today? Why, it’s more popular than ever, with more than 600 million regular players. 

Roulette

Roulette dates back to 17th century France, when the wheel was accidentally invented by Blaise Pascal, who was trying to invent something else. Over the years,  the game spread throughout France and into Monaco, before eventually crossing the pond. Today, most people play online, especially since the expense of a real-world table means that not every land-based casino offers the game. 

As with most classic games, roulette has undergone some changes over the years. In the 1840s, it became common in Europe for tables to have a single 0, as opposed to a double 00. American casinos kept the double zero, which means today the game is different depending on whether you’re playing in the United States or Europe, though most online casinos offer both versions of the title. The game, popular since the beginning, is still one of the world’s most commonly played casino games, in part because no special skills are required to play.

Blackjack

There’s no widespread consensus on when blackjack was invented, or by whom. The best guess is that it’s a development of the French game Vingt-et-Un – for non-French speakers, that translates to ‘21 – which dates to around 1700. However, there’s also evidence that Vingt-et-Un itself is an evolution of previously existing games, perhaps even one that goes all the way back to Roman times.

In reality, we’ll probably never fully get to the bottom of how the game came to be. That’s a shame for whoever did invent the game since they would have been credited with the invention of the most popular casino game of all time. The lesson? If you invent a game that you think people will love and want to ensure you get your due credit, put your name on it.

Checkers

Checkers might be older than chess, or it might not — it all depends on who you ask. There’s evidence that people were playing a checkers-esque game around 3000 BC, which means it could be 5000 years old! Only, the game they were playing back then only resembled checkers, so it’s hard to say whether it’s really a precursor to checkers or just another game that didn’t quite stand the test of time.

Other people argue that checkers was invented in 12th century France when one bright spark decided to invent a new game that could be played on a chess board. So if you agree with that theory, then, yes, chess would be older. Still, we’d argue that checkers would still be deemed a roaring success; after all, still going strong after 800 years is pretty impressive!