Backgammon
~3000 BC (~1980 version) / Strategy board game / 2 players / Mesopotamia or somewhere
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It was about time I learned what this thing was, having never worked out how to scale those stalactites and stalagmites on the Amiga public domain version in childhood that helpfully didn't include rules and evidently lacking the curiosity to check out a free online version since then.
Maybe because it's the underdog, or because I came to it independently without expectations, I warmed to it faster than I ever did to chess. It helps that I can actually get my head around it too.
Traditionally acquired through 3-in-1 games compendiums with a board you'll never reverse, my vintage Spears version was bundled with a discounted Deluxe Draughts set in my convoluted quest to pick up a stout chess board. I wonder what backgammon boards double up with? I still see a cave.
