Games Around the World

Have you ever felt a wiggle in your toes that just had to run. Or maybe a giggle in your belly that wanted to chase a friend across the grass. Sometimes you might feel quiet and thoughtful, carefully moving a piece across a colorful board. You might even gather your friends and make up your own rules for a brand-new adventure. That feeling of excitement when you race to the finish line, or the happy cheer when you solve a puzzle, is me. I am the fun you have, the friends you make, and the challenges you love. I am Games.

My story begins a very, very long time ago. Let’s travel back in a time machine, more than 5,000 years ago, to the warm lands of ancient Egypt. There, around the year 3100 BCE, pharaohs and families would sit together and play a game called Senet. They would slide their game pieces along a long, rectangular board, pretending they were on a great journey. After that, I popped up in another ancient place called Mesopotamia. Around 2600 BCE, people there played something called the Royal Game of Ur. They used special dice made from bone and moved their counters across a beautifully decorated board. Even all those thousands of years ago, people knew that I was a wonderful way to spend time together, to think, and to have a little bit of friendly competition.

I didn't stay in one place for long. I love to travel and meet new people. I zipped across the sea to Ancient Greece, where around the 5th century BCE, kids would play with something called knucklebones, tossing them in the air and trying to catch them in clever ways. Then I journeyed to the amazing continent of Africa. For hundreds of years, starting around the 6th century CE, families have gathered to play a clever counting game called Mancala. They scoop and drop little seeds or stones into hollows on a board, trying to capture more than their opponent. I even appeared in what is now Mexico, where the Aztec people played a game of luck and smarts called Patolli around 200 CE. They would roll beans like dice and race their pieces around a cross-shaped path. Every culture found a different way to play with me.

Now, let’s zoom all the way back to today. You can find me everywhere. I am the game of tag you play on the playground, where you run so fast the wind tickles your ears. I am the colorful board game you pull out on a rainy afternoon, spending time with your family. I am in the sports you play with your team, learning to pass a ball and cheer for your friends. I am even in the video games on a screen, where you can explore amazing new worlds. But no matter how you play, I want you to remember something important. I am more than just winning or losing. I am about laughing, learning, and sharing happy moments with the people you care about. Wherever there is fun and friendship, you'll find me.