Backgammon is the oldest game on the planet. It was first played about 5,000 years ago in Mesopotamia (today known as Iraq) at the centre of the Sumerian empire. Not content with giving us the best game in the world, those crafty Sumerians are also credited with inventing the wheel, the first algebra and geometry, and the world's first written language. No doubt they also used to use an ancient version of Tic-Tac.
Another version of the game is more than 1,600 years old. It was known in Persia and the Near East as Takhteh Nard, meaning 'Battle on Wood', and was introduced to Europe by the Arabs. The board had 24 points, 30 playing pieces and a pair of dice, which is the exact same format as today's game.
