Game of Go (China and Japan) - Considered to be one of the oldest board games, Go is a territorial game played by two. Players place black and white stones on the intersections of lines on a board marked with a 19-by-19 grid. Spaces on the board are surrounded and captured by players and points awarded for number of intersections in each captured territory. The player with the higher number of points wins a game.

Mahjong (China) - A game for four players that involves skill, strategy, calculation and a certain amount of luck. Many variations of the original game are found today throughout the world. Depending on the version, players are dealt thirteen or sixteen tiles. Tiles are drawn and discarded each turn with the objective of making one pair and four or five melds. Once a tile is drawn that completes the hand, the game is won.

Pachisi (India) - This is the national game of India. The modern commercial board games Sorry and Ludo are very similar to Pachisi. Four players play as two teams using four pieces each in yellow, black, red and green pieces. They move their pieces around a cross shaped board from start to finish. Six or seven cowrie (sea snail) shells are thrown and the shells that land with the opening up determine the number of places the pieces will be moved. The first team to move all their pieces from start to finish wins the game.

Mancala (Africa and Asia) - Is a common name given to the family of 'sowing' or 'count-and-capture' games. Best known examples are Oware, Kalah and Bao. Two players pick and place equal number of seeds inside holes carved on the board to capture seeds from their opponent. Depending on the game variant, the board may have two, three or four ranks of holes. Once all the holes of a player's side becomes empty the game is over. The player with the highest count of seeds in his collection hole (or mancala) wins the game.

Chess (India, Persia, China, Japan, Burma, Europe, Thailand and Korea) - Although the exact origin of Chess is subject to debate, many versions of the game are found all over the world. Rules and the chess pieces differ across the countries but the 8-by-8 game board is common to all. The most well known form of Chess found today originated from Europe.

Solitaire (Origin France) - This is a game that has been popular the world over for generations. Believed to be invented by a French Count in the 17th century and brought to England in the 1700s. The game board is similar to that of the Fox and Geese board game (1300 AD). Pegs are placed in all holes on a cross except the middle hole. Pegs area removed by hopping over another until a single peg is left in the middle hole.

Nine Men's Morris (England) - It is a descendant of Three Men's Morris which dates back to 1440 BC. Two players place 9 pieces each on the available 24 points of the board and then move them to make 'mills' or 3 in a row. Each time a mill is achieved an opponent's piece can be removed. To win, the opponent must be left with less than three pieces on the board.

Summary - A large variety of board games are played throughout the world and some of these have similar origins.