Games travel remarkably well.

A set of rules can begin in one country and travel before they become part of everyday entertainment somewhere completely different. Sometimes the name changes. Sometimes local versions appear along the way. The basic idea survives.

Asia has produced some particularly strong examples. Chess has roots in India. Go began in China and Mahjong crossed the Pacific before becoming part of American social culture. Plenty of games have made the journey from the East.

Keno Travelled From China to North American Casinos

Keno is now closely associated with casinos. We now see digital versions that can be played online. Its history leads much further east.

The game is generally traced to China. Some of the colorful stories surrounding its earliest days are difficult to prove (as with much of history). Historical forms involved players choosing numbers before a selection was drawn. This is still the basic idea behind modern Keno.

The format eventually travelled to North America and developed into the numbered game commonly found in casinos.

Modern Keno usually presents a large field of numbers and asks players to select a group before numbers are drawn at random. Digital versions can run very quickly. The central mechanic is surprisingly old-fashioned.

Pick numbers. Wait for the draw. See how many match.

That simplicity probably helped the game travel so well. It has echoes of bingo in the way the outcome is decided (and we know how popular that is).

Playing online keno games can be very straightforward to get to grips with. Keno does not require a huge amount of explanation before a round can begin. Its basic structure works just as easily on a printed card as it does on a modern screen and there are no complex rules or strategies to understand.

It is an unusual example of a Chinese game idea becoming deeply connected with North American casino culture.

Chess Began in India Before Becoming a Global Game

Chess feels almost impossible to attach to one country now.

It has international tournaments and clubs across North America. Its roots are generally traced to an Indian game called chaturanga.

The game moved through Persia and into other parts of the world. The rules changed as it travelled.

Pieces took on different identities and movements before something close to modern chess became established in Europe.

The game adapted particularly well to modern technology too. It doesn’t matter that games are getting more high-tech. Good concepts are still good concepts.

Online chess removes one of the old problems of the game: finding somebody nearby who happens to want a match at the same time.

Now opponents can be matched almost instantly.

A game with roots stretching back well over a thousand years ended up fitting the internet rather neatly.

Go Made a Much Slower Journey West

Go also began in Asia. Its move into North American culture happened quite differently.

The game originated in China thousands of years ago before becoming deeply established in countries including Japan and Korea. Its rules look almost suspiciously simple.

Players take turns placing black and white stones on intersections of a board. They try to control territory and surround opposing stones.

There are no different piece types to learn – the stones do not move around once placed.

Then the game starts.

That simplicity suddenly becomes enormous complexity.

Go developed a serious competitive culture in East Asia long before it became organized to the same extent in North America and Europe. Online play has helped further.

Go is ideal for digital platforms because the board can be reproduced very easily on a screen. There are now thought to be around 60 million players globally.

Mahjong Became an American Social Phenomenon

Mahjong made perhaps the most dramatic cultural jump of all.

The tile game developed in China during the 19th century. Some people assume it is actually a lot older. The game draws on older Chinese card-game traditions.

It reached the United States in a major way during the early 1920s.

Mahjong became a genuine craze.

Sets were sold widely and American versions of the game began developing their own rules and customs. Mahjong became especially important within Chinese American communities and later developed strong connections with American Jewish social groups as well.

That is quite different from a game simply being copied from one culture into another.

Mahjong effectively developed another cultural identity in North America.

American Mahjong now has features that distinguish it from many Chinese versions. The tiles and basic resemblance are still obvious.

The satisfying clatter of those tiles somehow survived the trip across the Pacific.

Ludo’s Family Tree Starts With Pachisi

Ludo needs a small historical footnote because saying that Ludo itself originated in Asia would not be quite right.

Its ancestor did.

Pachisi is an Indian cross-and-circle race game that has been played for centuries. The British Museum traces clear evidence of the game to at least the 16th century. It was played in India using a cross-shaped board and cowrie shells to determine movement.

Later versions spread outside India.

Ludo developed as a simplified British adaptation. North America got another close relative: Parcheesi.

A modified form of the Indian game was reportedly being commercially sold in the United States during the 19th century.

So while Ludo itself is not an Asian invention in the strict sense, the whole family owes a great deal to Pachisi.

Pieces travel around a cross-shaped track and the “aim” is to get them safely home.

A game once played in Indian courts eventually produced versions found on tables across North America. Another game that shows an impressive history of creative games coming from the East and making a huge impact.