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Board games in Ancient Egypt were dead serious 💀
Answers for Globle, Metazooa, Chronogram and more from Oct 6 - Oct 12
Abe Train
October 13, 2025
Coming to your inbox every Monday with a brand new fun-fact and all the answers to Trainwreck Labs games from the past week.
This week, we have…
A fun fact inspired by Globle
Answers to last week's games
Reader survey
Board games in Ancient Egypt were dead serious
Some say the board game Candyland, like Senet, also reflects the journey of the soul into the afterlife.
Thousands of years before video games or smartphones, people still craved entertainment and competition. In Egypt (Globle answer for October 9), that entertainment came in the form of Senet, a strategic board game dating back to around 3100 BCE that was so beloved it accompanied pharaohs into their tombs.
Senet was played on a rectangular board with 30 squares arranged in a 3x10 grid. The game pieces, often made of wood, faience (a blue-green ceramic), or ivory, were moved based on the throw of sticks or knucklebones, and players aimed to navigate their pieces off the board before their opponent. What makes this game particularly intriguing is its dual role; it also had a ritualistic significance, believed to reflect the journey of the soul in the afterlife. Some boards even featured hieroglyphics that hinted at the spiritual beliefs surrounding the game, suggesting a blend of entertainment and religious significance.
While the exact rules of Senet remain a mystery, modern archaeologists and game enthusiasts have reconstructed potential gameplay based on historical findings. The renewed interest in ancient games like Senet not only entertains but also encourages us to explore the complexities of human interaction, strategy, and the cultural significance of play throughout history.
Learn more: Otago Museum
Trivia
What is the oldest, continuously played board game? (Including variations) |
Answers to last week's games
Monday, October 6 to Sunday, October 12.
Globle
| Globle: Capitals
|
Chronogram
| Fictogram
|
Metazooa
| Metaflora
|
Linxicon
The following are the shortest paths from last week:
#601 would → did → succeeded → success
#602 crazy → mad → angry → elect
#603 enable → allow → exceptions → except
#604 mother → time → while
#605 deck → wood → vocabulary → definition
#606 student → girl → attractive
#607 fund → funding → government → state
#608 Play now!
Elemingle
#257 Actinium
#258 Nihonium
#259 Flerovium
#260 Xenon
#261 Iodine
#262 Oxygen
#263 Rhodium
#264 Play now!
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading!
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