christian cooper ad500xxe interactive gameplay design week 1, lecture 2 sticks & stones aka the...

Christian Cooper

AD500xxE

Interactive Gameplay Design

Week 1, Lecture 2

Sticks & Stones

AKA The History of Gaming, part I - the history of traditional games, from ancient times to the digital age.

8th October, 2005 AD500xxE Interactive Gameplay Design - Week 1, Lecture 2

2

Quotations on play

“Man only plays when in the full meaning of the word he is a man, and he is only completely a man when he plays.” (Friedrich von Schiller)

“To stimulate creativity, one must develop the childlike inclination for play and the childlike desire for recognition.” (Albert Einstein)


3

Why study the history of games?

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” (George Santayana)

• In order to design new* games, we need to know a little about the old ones.

• This is the first of two parts concerning game history.– This week is concerned with the historical

development of traditional gaming.– Next week: The history of video games.


4

History of games

• So how long have we engaged in play?– And how long have we played games?

• 100 years?

• 1,000 years?

• How old are computer games?

• How old are playing cards?

• How old is chess?

• How old is Go…?


5

Royal Game of Ur (2,600BC)

• The Royal tombs at Ur were excavated by C. Leonard Woolley in the 1920’s.

• He found what appeared to be an ancient sumerian board game.

(Image is a copy of the original which can be found in the British Museum

Image from http://www.tradgames.org.uk/games/Royal-Game-Ur.htm)


6

Senet

• Egypt, 4th Century BC.

(Image from http://home.t-online.de/home/Markus.Kantz/frsein.htm)


7

Senet

• “The game of thirty squares.”

• Found in many ancient Egyptian archaeological sites.

• The Romans played a game called Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum (the game of 12 lines) - a fore-runner of Backgammon, and believed to be derived from Senet.


8

Wei-qi

• China, 2000BC.

• Imported by Japan in 600AD!– Becomes known as Go.

(Image from http://www.cit.gu.edu.au/~anthony/rooms/library/go/board-game12.gif)


9

Mancalahttp://www.tradgames.org.uk/games/Mancala.htm

• Mancala is an arabic word meaning “to transfer.”

• This (and the many variations of this) is played in nearly every African country.– Can be played with a board and counters.– Or alternatively with holes in the ground and

pebbles.

• Possibly appeared in Egypt, using boards and counters used for accounting.


10

Mancala

(Image from http://www.tradgames.org.uk/games/Mancala.htm)


11

Morrishttp://www.tradgames.org.uk/games/Nine-Mens-Morris.htm

• Three Men’s Morris is an ancient game.– A board was found cut into the temple at

Kurna, Egypt - could date back as far as 1,500BC (but may be younger).

– It is essentially the same game as the modern noughts & crosses.

• An extension to this game, Nine Men’s Morris dates from the same time, and was widely played in England in the middle ages.


12

Dice

• Cubical dice appear in 700BC.

(Image from http://www.traipse.com/ray_tracer/large/dice.jpg)


13

Alquerque

• Egypt, 600BC.

• Played on a 5x5 Board.

• A variant, Fierges, was played in France during the 1100’s (AD), and was played on a Chess board. This is later renamed dames.

• Jeu Force (circa 1535) - identical to modern draughts.


14

Pachisihttp://www.tradgames.org.uk/games/Pachisi.htm

• Dates from circa 400BC - in India.

• A “Cross and Circle” game.

• A simplified version released in England in 1896 under the name Ludo (“I Play” in Latin).


15

Tabula

• A Latin word meaning “Table”, this game was famously played by Emperor Claudius.

• Originally known as Alea (“Gambling”), this game is derived ultimately from Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum.


16

Tafl

• Tafl dates back to at least 400AD, a fragment of an 18x18 board found at Wimose, Fyn, Denmark.

• Play of Hnefatafl (literally, “King’s Table”) was widespread in Northern Europe until the advent of Chess.

• Hala-Tafl (the Fox game) is a variant documented in the Icelandinc saga “Grettis” in 1300AD.


17

Chess

• The first reference to the forerunner to chess (Shatranj) was in a persian book written during the 6th century AD.

(Image from http://games.byond.com/start/images/chess.jpg)


18

Chess

• By 650AD, arab countries had learned of the game.

• It arrived in Europe during the latter part fo the 8th Century AD.

• The modern game of Chess (plus or minus a few rules) evolved from the primitive games of chess around the 15th Century.


19

Alphonso X Manuscript

• Alphonso X (King of Leon and Castile) Manuscript written during the 1280’s.

• Describes versions of:– Chess.– Tables.– Morris.– Alquerque.


20

Moksha-Patamu

• An ancient Indian race game.• Released in England in 1892 under the

name of Snakes & Ladders.• Originally had moral teachings:

– “Ladders” were originally virtues, allowing a player to progress up the board.

– “Snakes” were originally vices, forcing a player back down towards the beginning.

– About reincarnation, maybe?

• The moral aspect has since gone...


21

Card Games

• First recorded use of playing cards is from 1371 in Spain.

• Tarot games first played in Italy 1430's• Poch card game, ancestor to Rummy

Royale (circa 1440).• Standard card suits in France circa 1480

– hearts – clubs – spades – diamonds


22

Card Games

• Edmund Hoyle (1672 - 1769) writes a series of books (“Short Treatise”) on card and board games of the era (the best known ones were his rules for Whist and backgammon).

• Cards used for Fortune-telling (Cartomancy) first documented in 1781 in “Le Monde Primitif” by Antoine Court de Gébelin.


23

Card Games

• During the 19th Century AD, Bridge develops from earlier games (mainly variations of Whist).

• Poker first mentioned in print, 1836.– An American game, similar to Poch.– An extremely popular modern-day gambling

game.• Especially the variant “Texas hold’em.”


24

The Landlord’s Game

• Patented 1904, by Lizzie J. Magie.

(Image from http://tt.tf/gamehist/rules/lg-1904.html)


25


• Does it look familiar to a more modern game that many people have played?

• For information see “The Landlord’s Game to Monopoly: A Historical View” (http://tt.tf/gamehist/mon-index.html) – A recommended visit - history, images, rules!– Important Note: The images shown with

regards to the Landlord’s game have been used with permission from http://tt.tf/ please ensure you obtain permission if you want to reuse/redistribute these images.


26


• Released by in 1910 by Economic Game Company…

(Image from http://tt.tf/gamehist/rules/lg-1910.html)


27


• …and then re-released by Parker Brothers in 1939.

(Image Copyright Richard Biddle - see http://tt.tf/gamehist/rules/LG-1939.html for details)


28

Monopoly

• This game was originally thought to have been invented by Charles Darrow, 1933.– but what about The Landlord’s Game...?

(Image from http://www.muurkrant.nl/monopoly/english_clasic_games.htm)


29

Monopoly

• Regardless of its origins, a popular game.– Translated into 26 different languages.– Licensed in 80 different countries.

• Property is based on Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA.

• Initially rejected by Parker Bros. for having “52 fundamental design errors.”

• Is Monopoly a long, tedious and somewhat boring game?– “House Rules” - Free Parking etc.


30

Lexico

• Designed by Alfred Mosher Butts in 1931.– Originally boardless, it involved making words,

with scoring related to the use of statistically less-frequent letters.

– Patent refused in 1933.

• Lexico is combined with the concept of a crossword-style board to become Criss-Crossword in 1938.– Rejected by the big manufacturers, again!

• Becomes Scrabble in December 1948.


31

Video Games

• 1956… or perhaps 1962 (depending on whose story you believe) - the first blobs move around on a screen to form the first video game.

• More on this small insignificant event (that has subsequently spawned an entire industry) next week!


32

Othello

• Designed by Goro Hasegawa in 1971.

• First published in Japan.

• Based on Reversi - a game by Lewis Waterman in 1888.


33

Dungeons & Dragons

• Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, 1974.– Kickstarted the Role Playing Game genre.– Accusations of devil worship during the ‘80s.


34

Die Siedler von Catan (1995)

• Designed by Klaus Teuber.

• The most successful German-style board game internationally to date.

• Voted “Spiel des Jahers” (“Game of the year”) in Germany in 1995.

• Simple in terms of basic rules.

• Complex in terms of possible interactions and game dynamics.


35

Die Siedler von Catan (1995)

(Image from http://rutenshito-hp.hp.infoseek.co.jp/review/gazou/catan02_b.jpg)


36

Links and further information

• A History of Games Timelinehttp://www.historicgames.com/gamestimeline.html

• Website on Traditional Gameshttp://www.tradgames.org.uk

• A card games web sitehttp://www.pagat.com

• The Landlord’s Game to Monopoly: A Historical View http://tt.tf/gamehist/mon-index.html


37

Next Lecture

• (The last 2 hour lecture!)• The Video Game Revolution

– AKA. The history of gaming, part II.– with Christian Cooper

• The Social Issues of CG– with Mitja Kostomaj

• Thursday 13th October, 2005– 09:00 - 11:00– G.006

christian cooper ad500xxe interactive gameplay design week 1, lecture 2 sticks & stones aka the...

Documents