Task: Games Britannia - Dicing With Destiny.

  I recently watched a TV programme (I know, old-school) called Games Britannia, in which the presenter Benjamin Woolley explores popular games in Britain from the Iron age to present day, and unravels the cultural and social history behind the games we play today.

  The programme starts with Woolley describing an archaeological dig where a grave was found, the body was buried on top of a pre-set game board and other ancient relics we now know as Alea Evangelii.  The body found in this grave must have been of some importance to this great find, the creator perhaps, or a means for divination?

  We then move on to the works of Dr. Irving Finkel, the Curator of the British Museum (at time of broadcast) whom goes on to talk about the possible rules of the game, which are still only speculated.  The board is 19x19 squares (as seen below) and one player will have more pieces than the other.

So, let's go into the basic premise of game play... 

- The Black Player takes the first turn of the game.
- A player must move one piece on a turn.
- If a player cannot move one piece they lose a turn.

Movement
- Pieces move orthogonally any number of intersections.
- No piece can move onto or through an occupied intersection.
- The King is the only piece that can move onto or through the Castle.
- The King is the only piece that can move onto or through the Citadels.

Capturing a basic piece:
- A piece can only be captured on the enemy's turn by the enemy piece moved on that turn.
- A piece is captured by an enemy piece when it becomes surrounded on two opposite sides by adjacent enemy pieces.
- The King cannot be one of the pieces used in the capturing of an enemy piece.

Capturing the King happens:
- If the King becomes surrounded on all four sides by enemy pieces.
- If the King becomes surrounded on three sides by enemy pieces when positioned on the edge of the game board.

End of the game:
- The Black Player wins the game if the King is captured.
- The White Player wins the game if the King sails to a corner.

  Woolley then goes on to investigate other ancient games that we know as modern games, Such as Chess, Ludo and Snakes & Ladders to name a few.  These games originally came from India and were modified in such a way to remove the spiritual aspect and lean more towards sales and feasibility.

  In all, I enjoyed learning that the games I grew up with were originally spiritual games played many moons ago, I look forward to watching another episode.