Board Games in Ancient Fiction: Egypt, Iran, Greece

I've played Senet regularly for over 15 years. I was working over the holidays on a GNOME Senet game which I hope to put out there soon. I think it strikes a fun balance between chance and strategy. It probably won't appease chess die-hards on the complexity front, but for casual gameplay it's nice.

Ancient texts weren't just mythic or didactic, they were playful, experimental, and self-aware about narrative mechanics

Interesting. Apion's description of the pessoi game mentioned in the Odyssey: flicking pebbles toward the Penelope-pebble convinces me more than translating pessoi as draughts. The problem with Apion's description is:

- There were 108 suitors (we know this from the Odyssey 16.245-254 [1]).

- All that Homer told us is: They were gladdening their hearts at pessoi in front of the doors, sitting on the hides of oxen which they themselves had slain (the Odyssey 1.106-108 [2]).

- You can't have 108 sitting men play the same game of marbles.

IMHO, pessoi was a 1:1 game and it was not a board game.

[1] https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hom.+Od.+16.24...

[2] https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hom.+Od.+1.106...

There was ancient Egypt and Greece. But isn't ancient Iran = Persia?

Like you wouldn't call (Kievan) Rus' "ancient Russia"