Blog Task Week 3 - Dicing With Destiny - Games Britannia

Last week we watched the first part of a three part series called Games Britannia - Dicing with Destiny. This series will provide me with information about the history of games, particular board games, and how they were played.

The first part of the series that we watched covered the very begging of games from the Ancient and medieval times, important games such as The Royal Game of Ur, Nine Men’s Morris and Chess. In the olden ages these games were not simply played for fun, but also to serve as a more strategic game.

For example, chess has been used to represent war, allowing players to have a better understanding on how a battle was fought. Players have to strategically move their pieces around the board whilst taking out enemy pieces and also avoiding being taken by the enemy. Nine Men’s Morris has also been considered a game that allowed games such as tic tack toe and noughts and crosses evolve. These early games were played more and more, as we reached the middle ages games started to involve certain kinds of gambling.

The documentary goes on to explain about a certain game called Faro which was popular among the upper classes during the 18th and 19th century. Gambling was heavily involved with the game Faro and caused many bankruptcies. Games with dice and cards became increasingly popular and these too also became branded with gamblers among games across the country. 

Games from other countries started being introduced to Britain through the world’s first games industry. Games such as Snakes and Ladders and Ludo were all adaptations of foreign games, Snakes and ladders being a Hindu game that portrayed the journey to enlightenment.

The end of the episode reiterates the evolution of the game Chess. It tells the story of how Chess has become a worldwide phenomenon, there are even tournaments around the world with Chess champions specific to certain countries. It even goes into detail about the first company to properly produce and makes Chess pieces that are still widely used today. Ultimately the documentary explains to us that current day Chess is about mastery of the game and over the opponent. 

I learned a lot from this documentary and look forward to seeing the next episodes in order to learn more about the history of games.