We still play these games nowadays because they are timeless. Also, just like in ancient times, they are cheap still. On amazon, you can buy a folding, wood board with all the pebbles for ten dollars. I wouldn’t be surprised if those who live in Black Africa, and Egypt, still sit under trees and play. Kalah is fun; I can remember playing in elementary school and it was quite addicting. Kalah is based entirely upon strategy, even Board Game Arena rates it a five for strategy. The pebbles remind me of marbles, so maybe Kalah is a descendent of the game of marbles.
Senet, as Board Game Arena describes, is over five thousand years old and is “probably the oldest board game ever known.” Senet originates in ancient Egypt, “where it was used to amuse people and serve as a religional metaphor for the human souls’ journey towards a blessed afterlife.” The goal of the game is to move from the top left of the board to the bottom right. It’s basically a race to the finish. Similar to that of Nyout, Pachisi, and Patolli, which are games that are centered on “not seeking to win by defeating each other by elimination or immobilization, but are competing to pass successfully along a fixed course from begging to end.” Also, Senet can be attributed to the “Idea of reaching a goal in life, overcoming difficulties and hindrances along the way.” It is easy to understand the metaphor that this game creates in regards to the afterlife because Senet is also called “The Game of Passing Through the Netherworld.” The game is parallel to reaching Heaven, all while going through obstacles such as the House of Water, which causes a pawn to drown unless a four is thrown or if the pawn is moved back to square fifteen. The game is tense, just like how real life can be when trying to make it to a blessed afterlife. The reading points out that “the first board games had a religious rather than purely secular use.” Obviously, nowadays this game is played for fun and to recognize early board games. I think that all games that use pawns must have descended from Senet, such as chess. I guess one could say that all games originated from Senet, being it is the first board game ever. Also, the casting sticks are basically the first version of dice, along with bone from the foot of a dog or a sheep. These bones or “astragalus,” were numbered from one to six on different sides. It just goes to show that there are many different sources that modern games could have descended from. Overall, these two games are rooted in more history than any other games.