The Unseen History of Board Games: From Senet & Go to Catan, Monopoly, Mahjong, and D&D | Strange History Podcast

Journey from ancient tombs and temples to modern tabletops in this witty, story-driven deep dive into board game origins. Host Amy uncovers how Senet, the Royal Game of Ur, Go, Chaturanga (chess), Hnefatafl, Mancala, Mahjong, Tarot, and dominoes evolved into crowd-pleasers like Monopoly, Scrabble, Risk, Clue, Catan, Carcassonne, Ticket to Ride, Pandemic, and legacy/co-op Eurogames. Expect archaeology, strategy, dice drama, meeples, and tongue-in-cheek faux ads—plus the surprising social tech behind games: community, negotiation, and beautifully contained chaos.

Like and Subscribe:
Apple

Spotify

IHeart

Audible

This episode of The Strange History Podcast was lovingly crafted with the help of ElevenLabs.io — the magical technology that gives Amy her time to sleep, eat, work and spend time with her dog Jack. While some might say she sounds too good to be true, we assure you, Amy is absolutely a real person… who just happens to have access to studio-grade AI vocal cords and an unnatural ability to pronounce “necromancy” without flinching. Any resemblance to an AI is purely coincidental — and mildly flattering. Dan the announcers name is really Bill and Patrick, the fake ad guy who thinks he is funny? well he is questionable at best. So yes, AI was used but the people are real and the shinanigans are.... well.... shinanigans.