Liubo

Liubo was an ancient Chinese board game for two players. Its rules have largely been lost, but each player is believed to have had six game pieces that were moved around the points of a square board with a distinctive, symmetrical pattern. Moves were determined by the throw of six sticks, which did the same job that dice do in other race games. The game was invented no later than the middle of the first millennium BCE and was popular during the Han dynasty, from 202 BCE to 220 CE. After the Han dynasty it declined rapidly in popularity, possibly because of the rise of weiqi, or go, and it was eventually forgotten. Knowledge of it has grown through archaeological discoveries of Liubo boards and equipment in ancient tombs and of Han dynasty picture stones and bricks showing players.