Video gaming is one of the 21st century’s most exciting and innovative Big Tech industries. However, humans have been playing games of some form or another for millennia. What’s more, these activities have always been a cornerstone of entertainment, connecting people through fun and challenge. While you may be familiar with the rules or mechanics of some of these long-standing pastimes, few know as much about their history, design and development.
Whatever kind of gamer you are, come along for the ride as this post journeys behind the scenes of the likes of chess, roulette and more.
The Longest Game of Monopoly
There’s something about board games that make them appealing to aspiring record breakers…Monopoly, in particular, has spawned several entries in the Guinness Book of World Records. While most players will be eager to wrap up a game quickly, especially if they’re on a winning streak, the longest game ever played reportedly lasted a staggering 70 days. Imagine the endurance and strategy required to sustain gameplay for over two months!
How clued up are you on the history of board games? Did you know that Monopoly was first created by a woman, and that its intentions were a lot different to the modern version? When Elizabeth Magpie first invited The Landlord’s Game in 1904, her goal was to highlight the inequalities in property ownership that arises from wealth concentration. Of course, over the years it’s evolved into the complete version we’re more familiar with today.
Roulette’s Mathematical Origins
As popular today as it has been for centuries, thanks in no small part to the rise of digital technology that’s brought the game to new audiences, roulette is quite possibly the single most iconic casino game. You’d be hard pressed to find an adult who’d never seen a roulette wheel before, thanks to its long-standing presence in movies, music and pop culture. And, now that it’s accessible in various digital formats like American Roulette and High Roller Roulette at online casinos, you might even have played the game yourself. However, its origins are still unknown to many.
Legend has it that roulette can actually be traced back to French physicist’s Blaise Pascal’s early experiments with a “perpetual motion machine”. Its initial design actually had more in common with mathematics than it did gaming and entertainment.
As well as its unusual origins, there’s an extra layer of mystery surrounding the game. When all the numbers on a roulette wheel (0 to 36) are added together, they total six hundred and sixty-six, earning it the nickname ‘The Devil’s Game’ throughout history.
Pac-Man or Pizza-Man?
Of all the legendary early video games, the adventures of Pac-Man still feature heavily in the cultural zeitgeist. This memorable retro game has been beloved by players the world over for almost 50 years. Pretty impressive for a leading character who was based on pizza!
That’s right, Toru Iwatani, the game’s creator, reportedly got his big idea for the game while eating a pizza. After removing a single slice, he noticed the remaining shape resembled a mouth…and with that, gaming history was made!
Chess and Artificial Intelligence
Chess is more than just a game, it’s an internationally-recognised mindsport. If you’ve ever played the game, you know it’s actually a really powerful way to sharpen up your cognitive function and can even give your creative thinking a boost too. So, for an estimated 1500 years (that’s one and a half millennia!), chess has been developing and challenging human minds, but did you know it also played a pivotal role in the development of Artificial Intelligence?
In 1997, IBM’s Deep Blue became the first computer to defeat a reigning world champion, Garry Kasparov, in a match. This milestone was more than just a win for technology—it marked a turning point in AI research and provided that machines could analyze and adapt to real-time scenarios in ways previously thought impossible. Chess even remains a popular testing ground for the continued development of AI tech to this day.
