Games in which pieces move along a marked track toward a finish, one of David Parlett's core traditional-game families, covering Backgammon, Ludo, Parcheesi, Pachisi, Snakes and Ladders, Sorry!, Yut, Patolli, Royal Game of Ur and Senet. Monopoly and Chinese Checkers are placed here too as a browsing convenience rather than a principled Parlett-family claim: Monopoly for its roll-and-move-around-a-track structure and Chinese Checkers for its move-pieces-across-a-board-to-a-goal structure, neither a traditional dice race in the strict sense. Belongs here: games whose central mechanic is moving a piece along or across a track toward a destination. Does not belong here: games where pieces capture or displace each other along the way as the primary goal, grouped under Displacement and Capture Games.
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Sources
1. Wikipedia: Backgammon
WikipediaBackgammon, Ancient history sectionQuote, Backgammon, Ancient history section
The history of board games can be traced back nearly 5,000 years to archaeological discoveries of the Jiroft culture, in Iran, the world's oldest game set having been discovered in the region with equipment comprising a dumbbell-shaped board, counters and dice.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why are Monopoly and Chinese Checkers grouped under Race Games?
Monopoly and Chinese Checkers are placed here as a browsing convenience for their track-and-goal mechanics, not as a strict Parlett-family claim.
Race Games covers games whose central mechanic is moving a piece along or across a track toward a destination, one of David Parlett's core traditional-game families, including Backgammon, Ludo, Parcheesi, Snakes and Ladders and Senet among others. Monopoly and Chinese Checkers are placed here too as a browsing convenience rather than a principled Parlett-family claim: Monopoly for its roll-and-move-around-a-track structure and Chinese Checkers for its move-pieces-across-a-board-to-a-goal structure, neither a traditional dice race in the strict sense.