A hundred years
of Gaming culture

Games have been a part of human culture forever. Ancient board games and modern video games alike provide entertainment, challenge, and opportunities for social connection and personal growth. Here are our favourites with a strange spin:

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2003

Chess Boxing is a unique hybrid sport that combines the mental challenge of chess with the physical intensity of boxing. The sport originated in the early 2000s in Berlin, and has gained a devoted following around the world. Two combatants play alternating rounds of blitz chess and boxing until one wins by checkmate or knockout.

The Chess Boxing Club Berlin is pretty close to our regular spot and some of their members do join us on occasion for a few friendly games (without the boxing part).

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1985

Super Mario Bros, a creation of the renowned game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, was introduced by Nintendo in the mid-1980s. It swiftly rose to prominence and has since established itself as one of the most iconic and instantly recognizable video game franchises worldwide. The objective is to race through the Mushroom Kingdom, survive the main antagonist Bowser's forces, and save Princess Peach Toadstool.

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1984

Tetris originated in the Soviet Union, developed by a Russian computer programmer, and has emerged as a highly beloved and long-lasting puzzle game. Its enduring popularity stems from its straightforward yet stimulating gameplay, accompanied by a memorable soundtrack, cementing its status as a timeless favorite across various generations and platforms. The objective is to create as many complete horizontal lines as possible. When a line is completed, it disappears, and the blocks above fall one rank.

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1983

Bomber Man was released in 1983 for Japanese home computers, and featured a single-player maze-like game in which the player had to navigate through a series of obstacles and enemies using bombs to clear a path. As of 1998, the bomberman series has sold over 10 million copies. Destroy obstacles and enemies using bombs, which explode after a certain amount of time. Collect various power-ups, that give you larger explosions or the ability to place multiple bombs.

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1981

Donkey Kong an arcade video game created and published by Nintendo, holds significant historical importance. Not only does it mark the inception of the Donkey Kong series, but it also serves as Mario's debut in the world of video games. As Mario, the player runs and jumps on platforms and climbs ladders to ascend a construction site and rescue Pauline from the titular giant gorilla.

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1980s

Maze game is a video game genre that emerged in the 1980s. These games feature a playing field entirely composed of a maze where players must exhibit swift actions to evade monsters, outpace opponents, or maneuver through the maze within specified time constraints. After the release of Namco's Pac-Man in 1980, many maze games followed its conventions of completing a level by traversing all paths and a way of temporarily turning the tables on pursuers.

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1980

Pac Man, a legendary arcade game originating in Japan in 1980, remains an iconic masterpiece. Developed by Namco, the game showcases a memorable, yellow, circular protagonist named Pac-Man, whose objective is to traverse diverse mazes while devouring pellets and evading mischievous ghosts. The game's instant success catapulted it into a cultural phenomenon, leading to a wide array of merchandise, spin-offs, and a multitude of imitators. The objective of the game is to eat all of the dots placed in the maze while avoiding four colored ghosts.

The introduction of affordable home video game consoles and personal computers in the 1980s brought gaming to the masses. Popularity of arcade games continued to soar, with classics such as Pac-Man, Space Invaders, or Donkey Kong dominating the field.

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1978

Space Invaders is regarded as one of the most influential video games in history. This classic title falls under the genre of fixed shooters, where players control a laser cannon positioned at the bottom of the screen. The objective is to shoot at the aliens advancing from above. Initially, the aliens appear as five rows consisting of eleven creatures, collectively moving horizontally and periodically descending when reaching the screen's edges.

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1976

Snake originated in the late 1990s as a pre-installed game on Nokia phones and gained immense popularity worldwide. Its addictive gameplay and uncomplicated mechanics have endured over time, solidifying its status as a beloved choice among casual gamers. The player must keep the snake from colliding with both other obstacles and itself, which gets harder as the snake lengthens.
Play

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1974

Connect Four Just like Chess Connect Four is a two-player game with perfect information for both sides, meaning that nothing is hidden from anyone. It also belongs to the classification of an adversarial, zero-sum game, since a player's advantage is an opponent's disadvantage. So stay sharp! Connect four of your checkers in a row while preventing your opponent from doing the same.

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1972

Tank Wars is a turn-based video game that involves cannons trying to destroy each other. Artillery games are among the earliest computer games developed; their theme is an extension of the original uses of computer themselves, which were once used to calculate the trajectories of rockets. The core mechanics of the gameplay is to aim at the opponent following a ballistic trajectory.

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1972

Pong is a table tennis–themed twitch arcade sports video game, featuring simple two-dimensional graphics, manufactured by Atari and was the first commercially successful video game, which helped to establish the video game industry. The goal is for each player to reach eleven points before the opponent.

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1960s

Mine Sweeper is a captivating puzzle game that challenges players to navigate a board filled with hidden mines. The board is divided into cells, each having three possible states: unopened, opened, or flagged. Unopened cells are blank and can be clicked on, while opened cells are revealed. The objective is to clear the board without detonating any mines, with help from clues about the number of neighboring mines in each field.

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1938

Scrabble, conceived during the Great Depression, emerged as an affordable source of entertainment during challenging times. Over the years, it has garnered a dedicated following and established itself as a cherished classic among enthusiasts of word games. Accumulate points by placing tiles, each with one letter, onto a board comprised of a 15×15 grid. The tiles are arranged to form words that read horizontally from left to right and vertically from top to bottom, much like a crossword puzzle. To be valid, the words must be found in a standard dictionary or lexicon.

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1933

Monopoly, conceived in the early 20th century, initially served as a tool to educate individuals on the negative impacts of monopolies and the advantages of a progressive tax structure. Over time, it has transformed into a cherished game that embodies family entertainment and amicable competition. Players roll two dice to move around the game board, buying and trading properties and developing them with houses and hotels. Players collect rent from their opponents and aim to drive them into bankruptcy.

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1931

Battleship initially known as "Broadsides" in its pencil-and-paper form, underwent commercialization by Milton Bradley, ultimately becoming the iconic board game enjoyed by many. Players take turns strategically launching "shots" at their opponent's fleet. The goal is to tactically locate and destroy the opposing player's ships, leading to victory in the game.

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1914

Man don't fret is a German board game, developed by Josef Friedrich Schmidt in 1907/1908. Some 70 million copies have been sold since its introduction in 1914 and it is played in many European countries. Each player has four game pieces, which are in the "out" area when the game starts, and which must be brought into the player's "home" row. The players throw game dice in turn and can advance any of their pieces in the game by the thrown number of dots on the die.

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Ancient

Tic Tac Toe Games played on three-in-a-row boards can be traced back to ancient Egypt, where such game boards have been found on roofing tiles dating from around 1300 BC. The player who succeeds in placing three of their marks in a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal row is the winner. It is a solved game, with a forced draw assuming best play from both players.