Notes on Games Britannia

Notes on Games Britannia

Ohayou, mortals!

That's right, I'm mixing Japanese in with my local vocabulary, deal with it!

Incorrectly, as well! Ohayou means "good morning" in Romaji (Romanized Japanese). It's 6:30 in the evening!

So I watched the first part of Games Britannia recently, and I have been ordered by the tyrants to make notes on it. While I maintain the philosophy of "I do what I wahwnt!", I also don't wish to bring the wrath of the local dictators down on my head. I will also cease my describing them using very negative and frankly horrifically rude terms, such as "tyrants" and "dictators".

Please let me see my family again.

Anyway, on with the topic at hand!

Games Britannia is a documentary of ancient games, or more specifically those which were played in British history.

For example, we were shown and described the oldest-known game in British history; it was found in a routine digging, as can be observed all over the country, is believed to date from the Roman invasion and occupation of England, and appears to be somewhat similar to Chess in nature. It comprises a board split into a number of squares, similarly to Chess, as well as an uneven number of pieces stretched across two sides of the board. There was also a single, smaller piece in the centre of the board. The board appears to be partially through a game, as the pieces have been moved from what would be considered traditional Chess starting positions.

Several possibilities have been suggested as to the nature of this game; it may have been left in what I believe was a tomb (I fade in and out of paying attention at times, usually during lectures) for the tomb's occupant to play in the afterlife. Or it may have been a powerful tool of war, placing the pieces to represent to movements of different groups of warriors (which would explain the uneven sides), giving the owner a great strategic advantage.

Another topic discussed was a game played by the first English king since the Roman occupation, if only I could remember his name, or the name of the game he played...

See, I feel awful now, because that's kind of an important part of English history, and it looked like a really fun game. The basic setup for this was a board with a fairly large number of squares and pieces on it. There are two players, each controlling their own pieces. One player has a larger piece, representing the King, which starts in the centre, and a number of smaller pieces, while the other player has no King and twice as many small pieces. The objective of the King-player is to get his King to one of the four corners of the board without the King being taken. The objective of the other player is to take the King. Pieces are taken by surrounding them on two sides with smaller pieces.

These, in my opinion, were the most historically interesting topics of the episode, though the rest of it was fascinating as well. Most of the rest of the show comprised either a game based on Indian religion (to my recollection, it may have just as easilly been Buddhism), where the aim was enlightenment and to become one with God; and Chess in British history, and how it became the defining board game of the world, largely due to the expansiveness of the British Empire at the time. There were also a few other games featured which linked to Christianity within Britain, including games frowned upon by the Church (mostly gambling, which was viewed as incorrect use of the Will of God), and games which were played within church.

Overall, Games Britannia was a very interesting watch, with a lot of educational heritage to be seen (I think that made sense?). I very much look forward to the next part.

I'll leave it there; Talos knows this is already a long enough post. Hopefully that satisfies the overlo-- I mean, tutors!

Hail Emperor!