Games - General

Games are one of the oldest forms of social interaction on earth. Games of all sorts date back to ancient times. The oldest complete game set ever found is called the "Royal Game of Ur," which dates back to 3000 BC. Also called the "Game of Twenty Squares," it was a race game played with pawns and dice. Other early games include Senet, played in Egypt around 3100 BC and an early predecessor of Backgammon, played in what is now Iran around 3000 BC.

More recently, the first commercial board games were produced in the 1700s and early 1800s. These games were often designed to teach an educational or moral topic. By the later 1800s, they were evolving into modern board games, including "The Checkered Game of Life" first produced by Milton Bradley in 1860, Parcheesi copy written in the United States by E.G. Selchow & Co. in 1869, and "The Landlord's Game," patented in 1904, which was the inspiration for the game of Monopoly.

Game collectors are attracted to the colorful board and boxes and interesting game pieces of vintage games. Hand painted or lithographed game boards are the attraction for antique games from the 1800s. Collectors of Monopoly games often look for the early metal game pieces. Some collectors search for games that they played as children.

Quick Facts

• "The Checkered Game of Life" mentioned above started out as a morality game where success was dependent on good deeds and reaching "Happy Old Age." The game was revised in the 1960s to reflect modern times and was renamed "The Game of Life"
• Game collectors usually refer to a game as "antique" when it has been in publication for 60 or more years
• A 1967 BAMCO game called Be A Manager recently sold for $1500. The game was based on major league baseball