Board games have been a great way for people to pass the time from as early as the ancient Egyptians and Romans. Even today, board games continue to evolve and incorporate new twists to tried-and-tested mechanics which give way to more fun and complex strategic or tactical battles of wit.
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Even in the 16th century, such games occupied the idle hours of people’s leisure as evidenced by a recent discovery of a board game carved on the ruins of the Cmielow Castle in Poland.
This latest discovery isn’t quite as old as that in terms of the actual carved board, but the game could be just as ancient. According to archaeologist Tomasz Olszacki, it’s a two-person strategy board game called Mill, also known as Nine Men’s Morris, Merels, or “cowboy checkers” in North America.
A typical Mill game board is a grid with 24 intersecting points, and players must try to line up three of their nine men horizontally or vertically to form a “mill.” When this happens, they can remove one of the other player’s pieces from the board. There are also variations with three, six, and 12 pieces per player.
– via Ars Technica
(Image credit: Tomasz Olszacki)
Source: neatorama