A game from Mesopotamia

How to Play Backgammon

A 5,000-year-old race of dice and nerve.

Origin MesopotamiaPlayers 1–2Price ¥200 (or ¥2,000 for all)

The rules

Roll two dice and race your 15 checkers home; bear them all off to win. A lone checker can be hit and sent to the bar. Roll doubles and you move four times.

Where it came from

Born in Mesopotamia around 5,000 years ago, with a prototype board unearthed from a royal tomb — among the oldest board games on record. Roman emperors played it; so did Japanese nobles, whose version survives in the Shōsōin treasure house.

How to win

Make points. Stack two or more checkers on a square and your opponent cannot land there. String consecutive points into a prime and the checkers you hit can never come back. Never leave a lone blot.

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