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Persian Wonders Mode



THE GAME OF 20
The Shahr-i Sokhta Board Game
Experience ↓

The Gathering
All profits go to charity in Sistan and Baluchestan, to the Popli Khalatbari Charitable Foundation

Organised by Persian Wonders

The gathering designed for a limited number of participants, as we have a limited supply of original handmade board games. You can experience the oldest complete board game ever discovered.

You can play an ancient game with the ancient rules that might have been played at that time. You'll feel as if you've traveled back in time by holding and playing with a museum-standard replica of the game, which looks and feels almost identical to the original. You can ask as many questions as you want while playing. You will experience playing the ancestor of chess and backgammon. Including canapes and drink.

Scientific Research

The game was officially introduced and played at the National Museum of Iran and was initially introduced and played at Waterstones in Cambridge. The scientific research was also presented at the University of Salento in Italy, where the latest findings from the UNESCO Bronze Age site were featured in a premier Italian photographic exhibition.

For the first time, the game board has been reconstructed and introduced with ancient rules that were likely played during that era. The scientific paper was written by Sam Jelveh from the University of Essex, School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, and Dr. Hossein Moradi, supervisor of the residential area excavation at Shahr-i Sokhta. You can access the preprint version; the publication is in process

The Shahr-i Sokhta Board Game | Sam Jelveh | In Persian

The Game of 20

For almost 50 years, no comprehensive research was undertaken by scholars on this topic to analyse and introduce ancient rules. However, a few researchers made attempts to analyse the board game set. A groundbreaking study in 2022 not only successfully reconstructed the game scientifically for the first time but also offered additional findings that may identify it as the precursor to the Game of Twenty. With all of its pieces discovered, the game is considered an ancestor of chess and backgammon. The study also demonstrates that this variant was played in southeastern Iran, representing a localised version. The scientific paper, online game, and all related information can be accessed via here History of Music Catalogue 2023