Editing Board game (section)

===Asia===
{{ublist
|'''Mesopotamia'''
: A version of the 4,600-year-old board game of the [[Royal Game of Ur]], was found in the ancient Mesopotamian royal tombs of Ur ({{Circa|2600&nbsp;BC}} – {{Circa|2400&nbsp;BC}}),<ref name="oldest-games_oldest_current(2025)"/> is the oldest discovered playable board game.<ref name="fv">{{Cite web|last=Edwards|first=Jason R.|title=Saving Families, One Game at a Time|url=http://visionandvalues.org/docs/familymatters/Edwards_Jason.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205071220/http://visionandvalues.org/docs/familymatters/Edwards_Jason.pdf|archive-date=5 February 2016}}</ref><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/><ref name="oman_simsonium-magazine_2021"/> The game's rules of this version were written on a cuneiform tablet by a Babylonian astronomer in 177 BC, and involved two players racing their pieces from one end of a 20-square board to the other in a similar way to backgammon, with the central squares being used for fortune telling.<ref name="oman_simsonium-magazine_2021">{{cite web|title=Archaeologists Unearth 4,000-Year-Old Stone Board Game in Oman|website=Smith Sonianmag (www.smithsonianmag.com)|date=11 January 2022|first=David|last=Kindy|language=en|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-unearth-4000-year-old-stone-board-game-in-oman-180979340|access-date=3 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241216131112/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-unearth-4000-year-old-stone-board-game-in-oman-180979340|archive-date=16 December 2024|url-status=live|df=dmy}}</ref><ref name="ur_british-museum_2021"/><ref name="oldest-board-game_smithsonian-magazine_2021"/> [[Backgammon]] also originated in ancient Mesopotamia about 5,000 years ago.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Backgammon History|url=https://bkgm.com/articles/Bray/BackgammonHistory|access-date=12 December 2024|website=bkgm.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240405115545/https://www.bkgm.com/articles/Bray/BackgammonHistory|archive-date=5 April 2024|url-status=live|df=dmy}}</ref> 
|'''China'''
:Though speculative, [[Go (board game)|Go]] has been though to have originated in China somewhere in the 10th and 4th century BC.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Potter|first=Donald L.|year=1985|title=Go in the Classics (ii): the Tso-chuan|journal=[[Go World]]|issue=42|publisher=Ishi Press|location=Tokyo|pages=19–21|url=http://www.kiseido.com/classics.htm|access-date=2 November 2007|archive-date=18 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101218113923/http://kiseido.com/classics.htm|url-status=dead|df=dmy}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pandanet.co.jp/English/essay/goancientchina.html|title=Go in Ancient China|last=Fairbairn|first=John|year=1995|access-date=2 November 2007|df=dmy}}</ref> While no archeological or reliable documentary evidence exists of the exact origins of the game, according to legend, [[Liubo]] was invented in around 1728–1675 BC in China by Wu Cao, a minister of [[Jie of Xia|King Jie]] the last [[Xia dynasty]] king. China developed a number of chess variants, including [[xiangqi]] (Chinese chess), [[Jungle (board game)|dou shou qi]] (Chinese animal chess), and [[luzhanqi]] (Chinese army chess), each with their own variants.<ref name="chess-variants)ancient-chess_current(2025)">{{Cite news|title=How to Play Chess from Around the World|language=en|website=Ancient Chess (www.ancientchess.com)|url=https://ancientchess.com/page/play-all.htm|access-date=12 December 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20241212025110/https://ancientchess.com/page/play-all.htm|archive-date=12 December 2024|url-status=live|df=dmy}}</ref> Games like [[mahjong]], and [[Dou dizhu|Fighting the Landlords (Dou DiZhu)]] also originated in China.{{pb}}In modern-day China, board game cafes have became popular, with cities like Shanghai having more game cafés than Starbucks.<ref name="china-cafes_flamingogroup_current(2025)">{{Cite web|title=Six Reasons China Loves Board Game Cafés|url=http://flamingogroup.com/six-reasons-china-loves-board-game-cafes#|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160520043014/http://flamingogroup.com/six-reasons-china-loves-board-game-cafes|archive-date=20 May 2016|access-date=22 April 2016|website=Flamingo}}</ref> 
|'''India'''
:[[Ashtapada]], [[chess]], [[pachisi]] and [[chaupar]] originated in India.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}} In modern day India, a community game called [[Carrom]] is popular.<ref>{{Cite web|date=12 September 2020|title=The most popular board games in non-Western cultures|url=https://boardgametheories.com/most-popular-board-games-in-other-cultures|access-date=1 October 2020|website=BoardGameTheories|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241127003628/https://boardgametheories.com/most-popular-board-games-in-other-cultures|archive-date=27 November 2024|url-status=live|df=dmy}}</ref> 
|'''Iran'''
:[[Jiroft culture|Jiroft civilization]] [[game board]]s<ref>{{Cite book|last=Maǧīdzāda|first=Yūsuf|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/249152908|title=Jiroft: the earliest oriental civilization|date=2003|publisher=Organization of the Ministry of Culture ans Islamic Guidance|isbn=964-422-478-7|oclc=249152908}}</ref>{{Verify source|date=May 2024}} in Iran, is one of several important historical sites, artifacts, and documents shed light on early board games.
|'''South Koean'''
:A board game of flicking stones ([[Alkkagi]]) became popular among people in [[South Korea]] after various [[Korean variety show]]s demonstrated its gameplay on television.<ref>{{Cite web |date=8 July 2016|title=Alkkagi: A Korean Game.|url=https://kpopjacketlady.com/2016/07/08/alkkagi-a-korean-game/|website=KPopJacketLady|access-date=20 March 2025 }}</ref>
|'''Oman'''
:A stone slab carved with a grid and cup holes to hold game pieces constituting a large 4,000-year-old stone board game was located in a prehistoric settlement dated back to the [[Umm an-Nar period]] ({{Circa|2600&nbsp;BC}} to {{Circa|2000&nbsp;BC}}) near the village of [[Ayn Bani Saidahat]] in the [[Qumayrah Valley]], [[Oman]].<ref name="oman_simsonium-magazine_2021"/>
}}

<gallery mode="packed" heights="160">
File:Han Pottery Figures Playing Liubo, a Lost Game (10352729936).jpg|[[Han dynasty]] glazed pottery tomb figurines playing liubo, with six sticks laid out to the side of the game board
File:British Museum Royal Game of Ur.jpg|The [[Royal Game of Ur]], southern Iraq, about {{Circa|2600&nbsp;BC}} &ndash; {{Circa|2400&nbsp;BC}}
</gallery>