Bygone: Ancient Board Games

Bygone brings the world's oldest board games to your phone. Play Mancala, the Royal Game of Ur, Senet and Nine Men's Morris against the computer, with a friend on the same phone, or in live online multiplayer matches against players around the world. More ancient games are on the way.

These are strategy games people have played for thousands of years, simple to learn and deep enough to play for a lifetime. Bygone is also honest about their history. Every game wears a badge that says how well the historical record supports the rules you are playing (Attested, Reconstructed, Conjectural or Modern), and tells the story of where the game was found.

FOUR CLASSIC BOARD GAMES TO START
• Mancala: the classic seed sowing game, played as Kalah. Sow seeds around the pits, capture your opponent's seeds and fill your store.
• Royal Game of Ur: the ancient race game from Mesopotamia, about 4,500 years old. Roll the dice, race your seven pieces home, and land on a rosette to roll again.
• Senet: the board game of ancient Egypt, buried with pharaohs. Throw the sticks and guide your pieces off the board.
• Nine Men's Morris: the strategy game also known as Mill or Merels. Place your men, form mills of three and capture your opponent's pieces.

PLAY ONLINE OR AGAINST THE COMPUTER
• Live online multiplayer: challenge players around the world, casual or ranked
• Play against the computer at four levels, from Learning to Master
• Two player mode: pass the phone and play a friend at the same table
• Ranked matches with a rating for each game, and ranks from Novice to Grandmaster
• Short turns, so every match keeps moving
• Add friends, see who is online, send a challenge and chat
• Watch live matches and react with emoji

LEARN TO PLAY
Never played Senet, the Royal Game of Ur or Nine Men's Morris? Each game comes with a guided tutorial on the real board and a How to Play page with the full rules.

HISTORY IN EVERY ROOM
Each board sits in a room based on a real place: a torchlit chamber at Ur, the cloister of Gloucester Cathedral, the tomb of Queen Nefertari in Egypt, and a worn stone court for Mancala. Every game has its own music and sounds, inspired by where it comes from.

MAKE IT YOURS
Unlock new boards and rooms for every game, from an old library to a starship, each room with its own music. Dress up your player card with avatars, frames and name colors. Earn coins by playing, or buy them. Coins only buy looks, never an advantage, so every match is decided by the players.

MORE GAMES ON THE WAY
Bygone is built to grow. More of history's oldest board games are coming, each with its own board, its own room and its own music.

Built to run smoothly on older phones as well as new ones.

Questions or problems? Open Settings and tap Report a bug, or email support@bygone.games.

Recent changes:
- Bygone now asks to turn on notifications, so you hear when a friend challenges you, sends you a friend request or writes to you. If notifications are turned off for Bygone in your phone's settings, the app shows you where to turn them back on.