In 1901, at During a visit to Crete, British archaeologist Arthur Evans uncovered what he believed to be a thousand-year-old royal game: ivory, gold, silver, and stones made of stone, and four pieces resembling coconuts nearby, which are thought to be symbols. The play, however, offended Evans, and many others later who stabbed him. There was no textbook, no instructions, and no other copies were available. Games need guidance for players to follow. Without a doubt, the work of the Greek community remained unresolved — that is, until recently.
Enter technology, with a team of researchers from the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands. Due to the algorithm he developed, the simulations have been removed Knossos game. Nowadays, the game is not only complete with rules that can be followed from millions of possible, but also online games. And for the first time, so are hundreds of other games thought to be lost in history.
Board games go back a long way. A few hundred years ago, before chess was introduced today, there were Chaturanga in India, Shogi in Japan, and Xiangqi in China. And long ago they were the Senet, one of the most famous sportsmen of all time, who, along with others who played in ancient Egypt, probably promoted backgammon. “Sport is a fuel for humanity,” explains Cameron Browne, a university computer scientist who received his PhD in AI and game design. “Even if two cultures do not speak the same language, they can still exchange games. This has happened throughout history. Wherever the people spread, wherever there were soldiers, wherever merchants traded. Anyone who had time to kill often trained the people who played the game they knew. “
Whether found in the rubble, hidden in the graveyard, or inscribed on a tablet, archaeological evidence remains to show that almost all cultures made and played games. But like most of the complexities that have been explored, our knowledge of the ancient games is fragmented. We know where they came from, but the game has been a stumbling block for a long time, because the rules are given orally instead of written. Little is known about the modern translation.
With this ending in the history of the game he gave the legs for five years Digital Ludeme Project, led by Browne. “Sport is a very good sport that has never been used properly. “We don’t know how many games were played, especially if you go back a long way,” he says.
As it turns out, the answer is a resounding yes! It’s been three years since Browne and his teammates started working, and he has already brought in nearly a thousand board games. on the Internet, ranging from three times and nine stages. Thanks to them, the game once popular in the second and first centuries BC, like 58 holes, now it’s just a few clicks for everyone on the internet.
Interestingly, this reconstruction work begins with a twist. Games are first divided into the most important sections called ludemes, which define games such as multiplayer, moving pieces, or winning modes. When a game is modified in this way, the team fills in the missing pages of its rule book with the help of a lot of historical information, such as when the game or other games with the same ludeme were played and by whom.