Board Games: Strategy, Luck, and Fun!

#38 Week 8

Author

Sigrun Sørumgård
February 21, 2025

From timeless classics to modern favourites - discover the games that bring fun to the table!

  1. Which board game takes its name from the Latin for “I play”?

  2. The phrase “back to square one” originates, or is thought to originate, from which board game?

  3. In the traditional game of Risk, what colour is the continent of Europe?

  4. The name Jenga is derived from a word meaning ‘build’ in which language?

  5. How many ships do players get in Battleship?

  6. In the game of Scrabble, how many points is the letter 'Z' worth?

  7. What colour does Piccadilly have on the London Monopoly board?

  8. Reversi is another name for what Shakespearean-inspired game?

  9. What game has pieces representing winds, dragons, flowers, and seasons?

  10. In which board game can you utter a sentence like: "I suspect Professor Plum, in the dining room, with the candlestick"?

The Wonder Wall

  • A board resembling a checkers board was found in Ur dating from 3000 BC. In the British Museum are specimens of ancient Egyptian checkerboards, found with their pieces in burial chambers, and the game was played by the pharaoh Hatshepsut. Plato mentioned a game, πεττεία or petteia, as being of Egyptian origin, and Homer also mentions it.

  • The player who goes first in Connect Four can win 100% of the time. And a traditional Connect Four board has 4,531,985,219,092 possible positions.

  • Ouija boards were widely regarded as "harmless parlor tricks" until famous spiritualists began taking them seriously in World War I.

Yesterday´s Questions & Answers

  1. Which country is known for its national dish, Paella?

    Paella is regarded as one of the community's identifying symbols. It is one of the best-known dishes in Spanish cuisine.

  2. A delicacy in Scotland, and it´s national dish, haggis is served inside what animal part?

    Haggis is traditionally made with, among other things, the liver, heart, and lungs of a sheep. The mixture is stuffed inside a sheep’s stomach and boiled.

  3. Where is Foundue the national dish?

    Fondue was popularized as a Swiss national dish by the Swiss Cheese Union (Schweizerische Käseunion) in the 1930s as a way of increasing cheese consumption.

  4. Which Nordic country has Smørrebrød, an open-faced sandwich, as a traditional dish?

    Denmark – Smørrebrød is a Danish open-faced sandwich, often topped with seafood, meats, and cheeses.

  5. Phở has become a popular dish all over the world. But which country is it considered it´s national dish?

    Residents of the city of Nam Định were the first to create Vietnamese traditional phở. It is considered Vietnam's national dish.

  6. Hungary has a national dish consists of beef and a mix of vegetables cooked down into a stew which is then flavored with paprika. What is the name of this dish?

    The national dish of Hungary is goulash. This dish has been made by Hungarians for centuries, though it only became a national favorite in the 1800s.

  7. Kibbeh, a dish made of bulgur wheat, minced meat, and spices, is considered a national dish of which two Middle Eastern countries? The word kibbeh first appeared in ancient biblical text, meaning "tent" or "tarp". Later on the word took on a new meaning in Aramaic as kababa, which means "a covering".

    Kibbeh is considered to be a national dish of both Lebanon and Syria.

  8. Ceviche, a dish made with raw fish cured in citrus juice, is the national dish of which country?

    In Peru, ceviche has been declared part of the country's national heritage and has even had a holiday declared in its honour.

  9. There is more than one national dish of Greece, it´s actually six. Four of them are souvlaki, magiritsa, kokoretsi and fasolada. Which two, which also are the most famous ones outside of Grece are missing from the list?

    Gyro and moussaka.

  10. Which Caribbean country’s national dish is Ackee and Saltfish?

    Jamaica – Ackee and Saltfish is Jamaica’s national dish, featuring ackee fruit and salted cod.