What's your favorite ancient/traditional game?
 

i.e. Go, Chess, Backgammon, checkers, mancala, Mah Jongg, dominos etc.

I'd have to say chess, even though I'm only so so. It just feels the most natural and straightforward. Though Dominos comes in 2nd for fun factor.

I grew up on Backgammon. My mom and I used to play epic games when I was school aged. I remember playing before leaving for school and the board waiting for me when I came home. I've since played with my wife some, but not lately. My son is too young to play yet, but I'll likely play with him when he's old enough to learn.

I like the simplicity of the game when starting contrasted with the strategy of the game as you develop your skill.

I'm intrigued by chess, but have never gotten beyond knowing the basic rules and openings.

Cribbage.

I wonder if there was a form of Scrabble years ago,
that would qualify as ancient.

Loteria.

Lotería - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

like bingo but with pictures. hehe.

I play for quarters son!

stratego, battleship, and connect four.

my favorite ancient video game is archon I and II.

Definitely Golf. It's magical, a great walk in park-like settings and never boring.

Dominoes are dominant, in my book.

In our family we played LOTS of cards and most specifically Euchre (though why it is spelled like this and pronounced yoo-cr is beyond me). 6 handed (player) games were the usual and there was a lot riding on the result (which team made the tea afterwards!!)

GO. But I have never had a game with a player that was better than me to show me awesome strategies. It has always been players that were playing for the 1st time which made me better... Not too fun.

Tag. You don't sweat when you're taking a pawn at c5 and being "it" is a better work-out than soccer.

As a young white male fresh from military service, I am obligated to make the requisite "smear the queer" joke.

___insert joke here___

That is all.

Carry on.

I like me some Go, but don't play it nearly enough.

I've always loved card games. Hearts and Spades are a couple favorites. Also poker.

This reminds me of playing "Red Rover"/"British Bulldog" at school. This involved the kids running from one 'safe' area to another and one kid having to tackle anyone else. Once tackled, you had to help the first kid stop others. once every was tackled, the first kid tackled was then 'in' for the start of the next round. This was played by kids from every age group in school so could be a huge 'pile on'.

It ended up banned in schools after several broken limbs etc.

Good memories :)

I used to live out in the boondocks as a kid, and we had a game called that. Basically tag with a football....What a hick town that was.

Scrabble. I love that game. I have the deluxe version, with a rotating board and fancy time piece and all the fixins.

I love Mah Jongg. :D It would be awesome to purchase a real mah jongg tile set too.

Yahtzee! (spelling?) Haven't played in decades, but loved it when I did.

I was also going to say Mah Jong, but you beat me to it :)

It's so addicting!!

I play go regularly at around the 7K level (so basically, i suck).

i also enjoy playing chess and mahjong. i'm terrible at these 2 games. even more than go.

I love backgammon as well, and was even taught by my mother in the same manner. When I was about eight years old, I had a blue leather backgammon briefcase that was worth hundreds, but I have long misplaced it since then. It's a shame that now here in America virtually no one pays any mind to it, but I have discovered that some Muslims from the neighborhood are enthusiastic about the game as much as I am.

If anyone cares to strike up a game, I think yahoo caters to nearly any and all classic games online.

Bridge or Cribbage - card games
Risk or Monopoly - board games
Alternate Reality the City (Apple][+ version) Freelancer (PC) - computer games

Rummy, plain ol' Uno, chess, and Duck Duck Goose.

Since I work in childcare, I often get the opportunity to participate in playground games--Red Light Green Light, What Time is it Mister Fox?, Red Rover, various forms of tag, Hide and Seek, and Simon Says. We tried to play Duck Duck Goose a couple weeks ago, but some of the younger kids didn't quite get the gist of the game. It didn't last more than 2 rounds. :(

Mah Jong and chess. I also enjoy card games like poker and blackjack, but I'm not sure if they're considered "ancient/traditional".

Mankala. Made me feel learned when I was a child.

D&D and other pen and paper RPGs. The latest one that we're playing is based on Star Trek: The Next Generation, and it takes place two years before the Dominion War, which happened on Deep Space Nine.

that actually sounds pretty fun

I'm not saying it isn't but I've never been able to enjoy the scifi PnP games for some reason. Anyone else like that? Which is odd because I love scifi, more than fantasy even. I played the battlestar galactica and star wars PnP but just couldn't get into them. Yet, I love those scifi universes.