A team of archeologists may have uncovered a piece of tabletop history. Decades ago, an ancient Shahr-i Sokhta board game was uncovered, but its rules were not included. After some speculation and research, the team may have figured out those rules.
The Shahr-i Sokhta Board Game Rules
In a report by IFLScience, the Shahr-i Sokhta board game was uncovered in 1977 by a group of Italian and Iranian archeologists. As the name suggests, they were excavating a cemetery Shahr-i Sokhta in the south-eastern region of Iran when they uncovered the board game.
Thanks to radiocarbon dating, they were able to determine the game was created around 2600-2400 BCE. The problem is only the game was present; no rules or instructions.
For comparison there is the Royal Game of Ur. This game appeared roughly around the same time in Mesopotamia, and had its rules written down on a cuneiform tablet, allowing the British Museum to translate and interpret the game's rules. They surmised it was a strategic racing game played with dice.
The team puzzling out the Shahr-i Sokhta board game didn't have that convenience. Instead, they took what they knew about ancient board games alongside historical evidence.
Their conclusion is the game is a more strategic spin on Royal Game of Ur. This is due to the game having more varied game pieces and blockers. As the team wrote in their report:
"The blocker pieces cannot attack the opponent’s blockers, as the core of the gameplay is racing, and the rules must focus on the racing aspect. Moreover, the blocker pieces should be able to move more strategically,"
The Shahr-i Sokhta board game, now referred to as The Game of 20, is available to play online for free on Persian Wonders' website. It is described as an older version of Backgammon. The goal is for you to remove all ten of your game pieces from the board before your opponent does.
Naturally, even with a ton of research and playtesting, there is the chance this board game wasn't played as intended. But that is part of the ongoing challenges of archeology and historical research.
