The game has a similar board to the Royal Game of Ur
The game, dubbed the “Game of 20 Squares,” worked with two sets of 10 “runner” tiles for each player, star-shaped markers for “safe houses” and cone-shaped “blockers.”
A 4,500-year-old board game discovered in Shahr-i Sokhta in southeastern Iran has captivated researchers and game enthusiasts. Discovered in 1977 in a grave dating to 2600-2400 BC, the old game included a board27 pieces and four dice. Despite the similarities to the Royal Game of Ur, another game from the same era, the rules of this unique find were undefined – until now.
A team led by computer scientist Sam Jelveh from the University of Essex and independent archaeologist Hossein Moradi combined physical evidence and probability models to formulate a hypothesis about the rules. His, soon to be published in Iran: Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies, offers an insightful reconstruction of how the game might have been played.
The board, with the shape of a serpenthas 20 spaces, a central “bridge” section, a head, and a tail. Players would likely advance the pieces by rolling dice.
Pieces include two sets of 10 “hallway” pieces for each player, star-shaped markers for “safe houses” and cone-shaped “blockers.” These features align with gameplay elements from other ancient board games, such as Royal Game of Ur a jiroft.
“The suggested rules are intended to be historically accurate and give meaning to each component of the game board,” the researchers wrote. Tested by 50 modern playersthe reconstructed rules ranked highly in terms of originality and replayability, suggesting an engaging pastime for longtime gamers, writes .
While the exact name of the game remains unknown, investigators refer to it as “the game of twenty squares”. It is likely that each culture had its own designation for this type of game, underscoring the shared but diverse traditions of the ancient game.
“By revealing the meaning of certain game pieces, this study has the potential to reshape our understanding of board games in the Near East,” the researchers concluded.
