Games Britannia [TV] Notes

• In 1996 an archaeological team found a grave from the roman invasio, packed with precious relics, surgical kits, and most interestingly, a board game. The game showed that the ancient Britains were smarter than thought previously. He was likely a Druid, and he perhaps used the board to foresee prophesies of sorts.

• Games allow the players to see something they couldn't otherwise. Whereas the average UK citizen couldn't go around causing havok with a large array of weaponry, in a game like Grand Theft Auto, you can take to the streets of New York City in helicopters and cars, guns blazing. It was the same in the past, children could have learnt that inside a lot of higher class houses, there were billiard rooms.

• Chess, draughts and backgammon are thought to have originated in Northwest India during the Gupta Empire in the 6th century. These games were brought to Britain overseas, and by the year 1000 it had spread throughout the whole of Europe.

• In medieval times, whilst waiting to see the bishop, men carved games and played them in the stones around the church. 9 Men's Norris was the most popular one, carved out numerous times in the stone. It was a game which is similar to Noughts and Crosses, in which two players went head-to-head to get lines of three. It is more complex though, and the ability to hinder your opponent and take their pieces is possible.

• Hazard was also brought from the East, it was a gambling game, thought of as the game of the devil. It was condemned by the church as it was not simply about passing the time, but instead for material goods. Dice were also used as foreseeing the will of god, so of course the Church would be offended that they were used for such a minuscule game.

• In 1823 a trial took place when a man murdered two people after losing a £300 game of Backgammon, after this the Gaming Act was put forwards to regulate gambling for the next century.

• Companies started producing games based on The Game of Goose, a famous middle class board game to teach good virtue to children, starting a new trend of gaming for Britain.

• Guan Chapoor was the inspiration for a snakes and ladders, it was a game based on a quest from a state of nothingness to enlightenment. It wasn't necessarily a fun game, but what it did was teach about enlightenment and the stages needed to get there.

• Howard Staunton hosted a world tournament of chess, using a standardised set of chess with set rules, and marked the first time that the best chess players in Europe would meet in a single event. It took place at the Great Exhibition in London, May 1851, because Staunton thought the Great Exhibition presented a unique opportunity because the difficulties that prevented international participation would be greatly reduced, for example it would be easier for contestants to obtain passports and leave from work.