Games Brittania - 'Dicing with Destiny'

During Eddie's lesson we watched part one of a series from BBC4 called Games Brittania. The series is presented by Benjamin Wooley, who takes a look at popular games in Britain from the Iron Age to the Information Age. During part one Wooley investigates how peoples instinct to play games is just as universal and elemental as communication.

During an archaeological dig in 1996, a board game was discovered. This showed evidence of games existing in ancient Britain.

Games offer players abilities that would not normally be possible and this was the same idea in the past. Games would be created for an escapism element.

The very popular games Chess, Draughts and Backgammon are believed to have originated from India during the 6th century. These have now had a large influence throughout Europe.

Naughts and Crosses has been heavily influenced by a game called 9 Men's Morris. This is a game people used to play when waiting for the Bishop. As no board had been created, the playing area was often carved into stone.

Games that included gambling, rather than just leisurely fun, were condemned by the church. Games such as Hazard were seen as evil.

Another game that was influenced by subjects from the past is Snakes and Ladders. This is a simplified version of a game called Guan Chopper which follows a playing piece through its journey to enlightenment As shown in the episode, this didn't appear to be a very fun game and could take a long time to finish.

From watching the first episode of the series, I have come to realise how much of an influence older games have had on games that are created today. Also I realised how early people starting creating games for escapism and to pass the time  .