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Board games have a history of over 5,000 years. They’ve been found in ancient Egyptian tombs, and are mentioned in documents from old Rome and China. They’re more popular now than ever before, though, with new games appearing alongside old favorites every year.
The variety of modern board games is a big part of their appeal. Some require players to move along a path of spaces as directed by rolls of dice. Some, like Dominion, are actually card games with no board. Others offer very different challenges. Most older board games, such as chess and go, are designed for two players. Many newer games, however, can be enjoyed by larger groups. In Scrabble, two to four players must create words from tiles showing individual letters and point values to finish it.
Monopoly allows up to eight players the chance to buy and sell property for play money. In Chinese checkers (which is actually from Germany), two to six people "jump" over their own and each other’s pieces to move across the board. And in Trivial Pursuit, teams answer questions on different topics to try to finish first.
In recent years, a new generation of board games has become very popular. These "designer games" often feature themes such as the settling of land (Catan), building of cities (Citadels), and development of resources (Carcassonne). Social in nature, they are usually easy to learn and designed to keep all players in competition until the end.
Of course, any board game requires a place to play and people to play with. Having trouble with that? No problem! Many board game stores rent games and tables to players, who may be complete strangers until they sit down together. So give Super Mario a rest and try a face-to-face contest against other humans. You just might find it a lot more fun!
桌遊已有超過5,000年的歷史。古埃及墓室就曾發現過桌遊遺跡，古羅馬和中國文獻亦有記載。不過，桌遊的人氣愈來愈居高不下，除了經典不敗的遊戲，每年還會推陳出新。
現代桌遊的種類繁多是最大賣點。有些遊戲要求玩家根據丟完骰子的點數來前進；有些如「皇輿爭霸」，則是屬於不需底板的紙牌遊戲；也有些遊戲則會提出截然不同的挑戰。西洋棋與圍棋等多數歷史悠久的桌遊，僅能兩人對戰。不過，有許多新興桌遊，則可多人同樂。以「拼字遊戲」而言便供二至四人的玩家來玩，他們必須使用顯示字母與其分數的字母牌來拼出單字。
「大富翁」至多能八人一起玩，讓大家有機會透過買賣房地產的方式體驗金流樂趣。「中式跳棋」（發源地其實是德國）能讓二至六人玩家，以「跳過」自己和他人棋子的方式，在棋盤上移行。「棋盤問答」則由組隊玩家，針對不同主題答題，先抵達終點者獲勝。
近年還出現超夯的新生代桌遊。這些所謂的「設計者遊戲」，主題囊括開拓土地（例如「卡坦島」）、建造都市（例如「富饒之城」）以及開發資源（例如「卡卡頌」）。以促進互動交流為主旨的桌遊，通常具有易於上手的特性，讓所有玩家必須玩到最後關頭才能分出勝負。
當然，任何桌遊都需要對戰空間與隊友或對手。湊不齊這兩個要件怎麼辦？別擔心！許多桌遊商店可出租遊戲和場地，讓完全陌生的大家坐下來同樂。所以，讓「超級瑪利」休息一下，試試看呼朋引伴，面對面玩場桌遊，也許會更有趣唷！
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