before about 3000 BCE
Deep Past and First Games
Games began with what lay to hand: knucklebones, pebbles, seeds and a patch of ground.
- Africa: Sahel, West and Central (16)
- Southeast Asia and the Islands (14)
- The Americas: Caribbean (11)
- Africa: Great Lakes and Indian Ocean (11)
- Africa: Nile and the Horn (10)
- Africa: Southern Africa (8)
- Pacific and Oceania (8)
- Mesopotamia, Levant and Arabia (6)
- Persia, Caucasus and Central Asia (4)
- South Asia (4)
- Northern and Eastern Europe (3)
- The Americas: Andes and South America (2)
- The Americas: Mesoamerica (2)
- Mediterranean (2)
- Japan and Korea (2)
- Shared across the world (1)
- Celtic and Atlantic Europe (1)
Africa: Nile and the Horn 10
Africa: Sahel, West and Central 16
Kisolo
DR Congo +1 · Board and table games
Abbia
Cameroon · Other traditionsKale
Gabon · Board and table gamesLocal mancala variants
Equatorial Guinea · Board and table gamesMancala-type sowing games
Central African Republic · Board and table gamesMangola
DR Congo · Board and table gamesNgola
Congo · Board and table gamesPilolo
Ghana · Street and playground gamesPoo
Liberia · Board and table gamesSija
Chad · Board and table games
Africa: Great Lakes and Indian Ocean 11
Africa: Southern Africa 8
Mesopotamia, Levant and Arabia 6
Mangala
Turkey · Board and table gamesArabian mancala
Yemen · Board and table gamesHajla
Palestine · Street and playground gamesSyrian mancala
Syria · Board and table gamesZarzir
Palestine · Dexterity and skill games
Persia, Caucasus and Central Asia 4
South Asia 4
Pallanguzhi
India · Board and table gamesBaibalaa
Maldives · Street and playground gamesOhvalhu
Maldives · Board and table gamesOlinda Keliya
Sri Lanka · Board and table games
Japan and Korea 2
Gonu
South Korea · Board and table games
Southeast Asia and the Islands 14
Galah panjang
Malaysia +1 · Street and playground games
Patintero
Philippines · Street and playground games
Pebbles
Laos · Dexterity and skill games
Tag
Myanmar · Street and playground gamesBatu Seremban / Five stones
Singapore · Dexterity and skill gamesFive stones
Malaysia +1 · Dexterity and skill gamesPiko
Philippines · Street and playground gamesSeed throwing
Cambodia · Dexterity and skill gamesThai pebbles
Thailand · Dexterity and skill games
Pacific and Oceania 8
Carolinian string figures
Micronesia · Dexterity and skill gamesFijian tag
Fiji · Street and playground gamesGilbert Islands string figures
Kiribati · Dexterity and skill gamesLafo
Tonga · Dexterity and skill gamesMarshallese string figures
Marshall Islands · Dexterity and skill gamesPalauan string figures
Palau · Dexterity and skill gamesSolomon string figures
Solomon Islands · Dexterity and skill gamesWhai
New Zealand · Dexterity and skill games
Mediterranean 2
Northern and Eastern Europe 3
Celtic and Atlantic Europe 1
The Americas: Mesoamerica 2
The Americas: Andes and South America 2
Glass marbles
Ecuador · Dexterity and skill games
The Americas: Caribbean 11
Street games
Bahamas · Dexterity and skill gamesAdji-boto
Suriname · Board and table gamesJacks, Dandy Shandy, ring games
Jamaica · Dexterity and skill gamesRope skipping, tops, marbles
Haiti · Dexterity and skill gamesStreet
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines +1 · Dexterity and skill games
