The Royal Game of Ur is the oldest known game, dated to about 2.5 thousand years BC. The most widespread reconstruction is by Irving Finkel and it is the version you can play here.
The Royal Game of Ur is a race game. (a game about racing, even tho the color scheme could also allow for other interpretations). The goal is to move all seven stones from the starting field (the occupied darker field) to the ending field (the other, unoccupied, darker field). You are white, and your trusty computer is black.
Stones travel on a set path. Each player starts on their side, moving away from their starting field. Once they reach the end, they move to the shared "combat" zone in the middle, moving towards the other end. There they step back onto their side and eventually into the ending field.
Players move their stones based on the result of a throw of four binary dice, represented above the board. Player moves by the total number of white throws, therefore one can roll from 0 to 4, while 2 being the most common, 1 and 3 being rarer and 0 and 4 being the rarest. If you roll a 0, you lose a turn, as you do when you don't have any legal move.
You must make a move if possible. To move, simply click the stone you wish to move. You need to move exactly to the ending field, you cannot overshoot it! You can move over stones. You cannot move onto your stones, but if you move on the opponent's stone, you capture it, moving it back to the starting field.
The last gameplay mechanic are the "rosettes" (the green fields). If you move your stone on a rosette, you get another turn. In addition, while your stone stands on a rosette, it cannot be captured, making the single rosette in the combat zone a very strategic area.
This implementation consists of only a singe html file, and can
therefore be simply downloaded (<Ctrl-S>) and played
offline.
To restart the game, reload the page.
This project has been made as a part of the
2026 Ctrl-C Webpage Jam.
Have fun!