Get on Board and Enjoy a Game

However, long before computers were invented, there was another type of game popular among various cultures—board games. As anyone can see with a simple stroll through neighbourhoods in Beijing, through thousands of years’ development, people’s interest in games has never slackened. Indeed, they have created new forms of board games, even combining them with computer games.

The original definition of a board game is a game played with counters or pieces that are placed on, removed from, or moved across a "board" (a pre-marked surface, usually specific to that game). They have been played in most cultures and societies throughout history; some even pre-date literacy-skill development in the earliest civilizations.

Senet is the oldest board game known to have existed, having been pictured in frescos found in predynastic and First Dynasty burials of Egypt (3,300–2,700 BC). The game board contains a grid of 30 squares, arranged in three rows of ten. Senet was a race game for two players, with its moves determined by tosses of a throw stick or, sometimes, a knucklebone though the actual rules of the game remain a topic of some debate.

Board games first became widely popular among the general population early in the 20th century when the rise of the middle class, with their disposable incomes and leisure time, made them a receptive audience for such games. This popularity expanded after the World War II, a period from which many classic board games date.

There are many different types of board games. Some simulate aspects of real life such as Monopoly, which simulates the real estate market; Cluedo or Clue, which simulates a murder mystery; and Risk, which simulates warfare. Other games only loosely imitate reality or make no attempt at all. These include: abstract strategy games such as chess, checkers or Go, word games like Scrabble and trivia games like Trivial Pursuit.

Simple board games often make ideal family entertainment as they are suitable for all ages. Some board games, such as chess, go/weiqi, xiangqi, have intense strategic value and have been classics for centuries.

Many board games are now available as computer games, including an option to have the computer act as an opponent; and many acclaimed computer games such as Civilization are based upon board games. With the Internet, many board games can now be played online against a computer or other players.

Weiqi (Go)

Weiqi, or Go as it is known in Japan and generally in the West, often described as the oriental version of chess, is considered to be one of the world's foremost games of strategy and skill and the most ancient Chinese board game.

According to Chinese folk tales, weiqi was invented by the legendary Emperor Yao (2,255–2206 BC) to help develop the intelligence of his son, Danzhu. An alternative version attributes the invention to U, who lived during the reign of Emperor Kieh Kwei (1818–1767 BC). The earliest written reference is found in the works of Mencius around 400 BC. The first books about weiqi were written during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618–906) and there are enough poems and other literature written during the 10th century to deduce that the game must have been well established by then.

Most people who have played the game would agree that the game is the most intellectually challenging though with the fewest rules. It is a two-player game played on a grid of 19 horizontal and vertical lines. Unlike games such as chess and checkers, it is played not on the holes between the lines, but on the intersections of the lines––361 of them. The intersections of the fourth, tenth and sixteenth lines in each direction are called "handicap points," and are marked with dots.

Each player receives a supply of black or white stones with which the game is played. Black goes first and places a stone on any intersection of the lines (known as "points"). The two players alternate turns, each placing a stone on an empty point, with the aim of capturing territory by surrounding opponent’s stones. The player who ends up owning the most territory wins the game.

 

Mah-Jong (Majiang)

Mah-jong is probably the most popular board game in China and the most important entertainment in most areas in the country. It is played with 144 tiles—small rectangular blocks of wood or ivory with a face showing various characters and designs. There are 108 suit tiles (bamboo, circles, and characters), 28 honour titles (winds and dragons), and 8 flower tiles.

The game is played in two primary ways: traditional and solitaire. The traditional game is played with four players drawing and discarding tiles until one player wins with a hand of four combinations of three tiles each and a pair of matching tiles. The solitaire game is a computer-game version of mah-jong which is played with one opponent, and consists entirely of matching tiles from various layouts.

 

Connect Five (Wuziqi)

Connect Five, also known as Gomoku, is an abstract strategy board game, with the object to get five pieces in a row on a game board of unlimited size. It is traditionally played with Go pieces (black and white stones) on a Go board (19 horizontal and vertical lines); however, because placed pieces are not moved or removed from the board, the game may also be played as a “paper and pencil game.”

Black plays first, and players alternate in placing a stone of their colour on an empty intersection. The winner is the first player to get an unbroken row of five stones horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.

 

Chinese Chess (Xiangqi)

Chinese chess is a two-player strategic Chinese board game in the same family as western chess. Though its precise origin has not yet been confirmed, the earliest indications reveal that the game was played as early as the fourth century BC in China.

The game board consists of two sides: the "northern territory" (typically using blue pieces) and the "southern territory" (using red), separated by a space called "the river." Each territory contains a "king's palace," and the objective is to capture your opponent's king, while simultaneously protecting your own king. Each side starts with 16 pieces. Red moves first, and each side makes one move at a time. Distinctive features of Chinese chess include the unique movement of the pao (cannon) piece, a rule prohibiting the generals (similar to chess kings) from facing each other directly, and the river and palace board features, which restrict the movement of some pieces. 

 

People seem to never stop improving and creating new board games to meet the modern society’s needs. The Mafia Game (or simply Mafia) is such a game, with simple game pieces (a set of pokers or just several pieces of paper and a pen) but with more complicated rules. During the game people tend to communicate with each other while trying to cheat and lie to each other. Sounds like modern life, doesn’t it?

According to the 1997 National Puzzlers' League Convention of the United States, Dimitry Davidoff invented the game in 1986 when teaching students psychology at Moscow State University. His initial intention was to create an activity for the students in class so that he wouldn’t have to prepare so much. The game has now spread worldwide and it is probably the most popular “modern” board game in Beijing.

It is said that the game was brought to China in 1999 by students returning from Silicon Valley in the United States, first becoming popular in Guangzhou before spreading to other big cities in China. The game basically involves players sitting around a table arguing over which one of them is the killer, with each person trying to prove their innocence to the group. Other more complicated rules have been added to the game during these years, making it more mentally challenging and exciting.

Since 2005 the game has become extremely hot in Beijing. Five to six clubs have been opened specifically for the game. The PK Game Club was one of the first and biggest clubs for Mafia in Beijing; it is located at 3F 41 Maizidian Jie, Chaoyang District. The club, which has seven rooms capable of holding 12 to 16 people each, exists solely to provide a venue for the 2,000-plus members to play the game from 5 p.m–8 a.m.. Music gets piped into the rooms to signal when the rounds change, and referees make sure things proceed in an organized fashion. The club also offers training for prospective players who aren't yet up to international assassin levels.

According to one of the managers, Zhang Yan, the game is popular because it can improve people's personalities, making them smarter and quicker.

Zhang said their members are from a wide range of circles, including public relations workers, media people, IT engineers and students.

“The name might sound a bit scary, but actually it builds up your brain without any actual violence. It demands high concentration, which is a great challenge meanwhile making it attractive,” said player Chen Yaqi, an editor from sina.com.

“I think this game is much more meaningful than surfing online, Karaoke singing, or playing poker in my spare time,” said Zhang.