Is Backgammon the Oldest Game in the World? History & Origin
Picture two players bent over a wooden board, moving pieces across a run of triangular points, the rattle of dice between them. The scene is familiar in pubs, clubs and front rooms today. Yet the same essential contest was played thousands of years ago, in cities that have long since turned to dust.
Backgammon is often named when people ask about the oldest game in the world still played. It is a bold claim, and one worth examining carefully against the archaeological record rather than repeating as folklore.
Before we trace its journey, a practical note. The backgammon sets we make today are tested to UKCA and CE standards, so a game with roots in the ancient Near East can be enjoyed safely by a child learning it for the first time. You can see the range in our our backgammon collection.
Where Did Backgammon Come From? The Ancient Origins of the Game
Backgammon has no single inventor and no tidy birthday. What we have instead is a family of race games, played with dice across two rows of points, that appear across the ancient world over several thousand years.
The most celebrated ancestor is the Royal Game of Ur, excavated by Sir Leonard Woolley at the Sumerian city of Ur, in modern-day Iraq. It dates to around 2600–2400 BCE and now sits in the British Museum in London. Though its board differs from the one we know, it shares the central idea: racing pieces along a track governed by the throw of dice.
Other early relatives deserve mention. Senet, the Egyptian game dated to roughly 3100 BCE, has been found in pre-dynastic burials and in the tomb of Tutankhamun. It is frequently cited as one of the oldest known board games of all.
Neither Ur nor Senet is backgammon exactly. They are better understood as cousins in a long line. If you enjoy following these threads, we traced them further in our piece on what is the oldest board game in the world.
What links all of them is the dice-driven race, a mechanic so satisfying that it has outlived empires. You can see its descendants scattered throughout our our board games collection, where luck and judgement still sit side by side.
How Did Backgammon Travel from the Ancient World to Medieval Europe?
The direct line to the game we play runs through the Roman world. The Romans played a game called tabula, closely related to an earlier game named ludus duodecim scriptorum. Tabula used two rows of points and dice, and the resemblance to modern backgammon is unmistakable.
As Roman influence faded, the game did not. It carried on through the Byzantine east and across the medieval West under a variety of names. The Persian game nard is part of the same family, and trade routes carried these versions back and forth between east and west.
By the medieval period, a board of two tables divided into points, played with dice and a set of men for each side, was well established across Europe. The game was known under many local names, and its rules varied from place to place before anything like a standard emerged.
This long survival is a theme shared by other traditional games. Draughts, for instance, has its own deep roots, which we set out in our history of history of draughts, Britain's oldest family game. Older hunt games such as fox and geese followed similar paths, as told in our history of fox and geese.
What travelled was not a single fixed game but a strong idea, reshaped by each culture it reached. That same idea sits at the heart of the sets in our our traditional games collection.
When Did Backgammon Arrive in Britain and Become a Household Name?
In England, the game of tables was played through the medieval and Tudor periods, though under that older name. The word backgammon itself came into use in the 17th century, and from there the game settled firmly into English life.
The decisive moment for English players came with Edmond Hoyle. Hoyle was the great 18th-century authority on games, and in 1743 he published a short treatise on the game of back-gammon. By codifying the rules, he gave English-speaking players a shared standard to play by.
Hoyle's name became a byword for the correct way to play. His treatment of backgammon helped the game move from a loose folk pastime into something with agreed laws, a development that mattered for its survival.
Through the Georgian and Victorian eras, backgammon was a fixture of the drawing room, often sitting alongside chess and draughts. The same households that kept a fine chess set, of the kind found in our our chess sets collection, would keep a backgammon board close at hand.
This was the period in which a British games trade grew up to supply such homes. We are, after all, the oldest games company in the world, and games of this age formed the backbone of that craft. A good backgammon board remains a staple of our backgammon range today.
Why Is Backgammon Still Played Today When So Many Ancient Games Have Died Out?
Many ancient games are known only from museum cases and excavation reports. Senet and the Royal Game of Ur survive as objects and reconstructions, not as living traditions passed hand to hand. Their rules have been inferred rather than remembered.
Backgammon is different. It has been played continuously, generation after generation, with no break in the chain. A grandparent who teaches a child today is passing on a game taught to them, and so on backwards through centuries.
Part of this endurance lies in the balance of the game. Dice bring luck, which keeps a weaker player in the contest, while the choices of how to move keep the stronger player interested. Neither skill nor chance dominates.
The game has also kept evolving rather than freezing. The doubling cube, introduced in New York in the 1920s, added a new layer of nerve and judgement to competitive play. Its exact origin is debated, but its adoption in that decade is well recorded, and it transformed the modern game.
That willingness to adapt while keeping its core explains why backgammon thrives where others have fallen silent. You can follow a similar story of a game spreading and surviving in our history of croquet.
A living game needs a good board to be played on. The sets in our board games collection are made to be used, not merely admired.
What Makes Backgammon the Strongest Claim for the Oldest Board Game Still Played?
So is backgammon the oldest game in the world still played? The honest answer requires a careful distinction between oldest known and oldest still played.
If we ask which game is simply the oldest known, candidates such as Senet, at around 3100 BCE, and the Royal Game of Ur, at 2600–2400 BCE, have the stronger age claim by date alone. But both are reconstructions of lost traditions, revived by scholars rather than handed down.
If we ask which ancient game is still genuinely played, as a living tradition with an unbroken line to its past, backgammon has the strongest claim of all. Its family tree reaches back through tabula to the earliest race games, and it has never left the table.
That combination of deep roots and continuous play is rare. The game Hoyle wrote about in 1743 is recognisably the same one played in clubs and homes now, enriched but not replaced by additions like the doubling cube.
For anyone who wants to hold that history in their hands, a quality board is the natural starting point. Our our backgammon sets are built to be played for a lifetime, and they sit easily alongside the heritage games in our traditional games collection.
The verdict, then, is a measured one. Backgammon may not be the oldest game ever devised, but it has the best claim to being the oldest game in the world still played.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Oldest Game In The World Still Played
What is the oldest game in the world still played today?
Determining the single oldest game still played today is contested. Senet, an ancient Egyptian board game dated to approximately 3100 BCE, is among the earliest known board games, with examples found in pre-dynastic burial sites and the tomb of Tutankhamun. However, its modern rules are reconstructed rather than continuous. Backgammon, with roots tracing back thousands of years to ancient Mesopotamia, has a more unbroken lineage of play. No single game can be definitively crowned the oldest still actively played, but backgammon and senet are consistently among the strongest contenders.
Who invented backgammon and when was it created?
No single inventor of backgammon is recorded. The game evolved over millennia from race-and-capture board games played in ancient Mesopotamia, with archaeological evidence pointing to precursor games dating back well over 4,000 years. The modern form of backgammon, with standardised rules for English-speaking players, was significantly shaped when Edmond Hoyle published 'A Short Treatise on the Game of Back-Gammon' in 1743. The doubling cube, now a hallmark of competitive play, was introduced in New York in the 1920s, adding the wagering element familiar to contemporary players.
Where did backgammon originate?
Backgammon is widely believed to have originated in ancient Mesopotamia, the region encompassing modern-day Iraq and surrounding areas. Archaeological finds from ancient Sumerian sites, including boards and dice discovered at Ur, point to sophisticated race-based board games being played in this region as early as 2600–2400 BCE. The game spread over centuries through Persia, the Arab world, and eventually into Europe, where it was refined and codified. By the medieval period, versions of the game were well established across the Middle East and throughout Europe.
Is backgammon older than chess?
Yes, backgammon is considerably older than chess. Backgammon's precursor games can be traced to ancient Mesopotamia, with evidence of related race-and-dice games dating to around 2600–2400 BCE. Chess, by contrast, is generally believed to have originated in India around the 6th century CE, making it roughly 3,000 years younger than backgammon's earliest known ancestors. While both games have ancient pedigrees and have been refined over centuries, backgammon's lineage is substantially longer, placing it among the oldest continuously played board games in recorded history.
Is backgammon a British game?
Backgammon is not British in origin; it evolved from ancient Mesopotamian race games thousands of years before reaching Britain. However, Britain played a significant role in codifying and popularising the modern game. Edmond Hoyle, the celebrated authority on games, published 'A Short Treatise on the Game of Back-Gammon' in 1743, establishing standardised rules for English-speaking audiences. The game had been popular in Britain well before this, with references to similar games appearing in medieval English texts. Jaques of London has long stocked quality backgammon sets reflecting the game's enduring British popularity.
Why is it called backgammon?
The name backgammon is generally believed to derive from Middle English or Welsh roots. The most widely accepted explanation combines 'back' and 'gamen', an old Welsh or Middle English word meaning 'game' or 'play'. The 'back' element likely refers to the rule by which counters can be sent back to the start of the board when hit by an opponent. The name appears in English texts from the 17th century. Earlier versions of the game were known by different names across various cultures, but 'backgammon' became the standard English term from around the 1600s onwards.
How old is the game of backgammon?
Backgammon in its modern form is several centuries old, but its direct ancestors date back approximately 5,000 years. Archaeological evidence from ancient Mesopotamia, including game boards and dice found at Ur dating to around 2600–2400 BCE, points to sophisticated precursor games. The game evolved through Persian, Arab, and European cultures over millennia. The name 'backgammon' appears in English from the 17th century. Modern competitive rules were further shaped by Edmond Hoyle's 1743 publication and, later, by the introduction of the doubling cube in New York during the 1920s.
What was backgammon called in ancient times?
Backgammon's ancient predecessors were known by various names across different cultures. In ancient Persia, a related game was called 'Nard' or 'Nardshir', and Persian texts describe the game in considerable detail. The Romans played a similar race game called 'Tabula', meaning 'table' or 'board'. In medieval Europe, precursor games were known as 'Tables', a collective term for a family of race-and-dice board games. The specific name 'backgammon' emerged in English during the 17th century. Each cultural iteration shared the fundamental concept of racing pieces around a board using dice.
Was backgammon played in ancient Egypt or Mesopotamia?
Evidence points more strongly to ancient Mesopotamia as the cradle of backgammon's precursors. The Royal Game of Ur, excavated at the ancient Sumerian city of Ur in modern-day Iraq and dated to around 2600–2400 BCE, represents one of the earliest known race-based board games and is housed in the British Museum. Ancient Egypt is better associated with Senet, dated to approximately 3100 BCE, which is a distinct game found in pre-dynastic burial sites and the tomb of Tutankhamun. While both regions produced early board games, Mesopotamia is more directly linked to backgammon's ancestry.
What is the oldest board game ever found by archaeologists?
Senet is frequently cited as one of the oldest board games ever discovered by archaeologists. This ancient Egyptian game dates to approximately 3100 BCE, with examples recovered from pre-dynastic burial sites and famously from the tomb of Tutankhamun; examples are held in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. The Royal Game of Ur, excavated by Sir Leonard Woolley at the ancient Sumerian city of Ur in modern-day Iraq, dates to around 2600–2400 BCE and is another leading contender; the original board is housed in the British Museum, London. Both pre-date modern games by thousands of years.