Question
Board games, dice games, card games…they might seem old-fashioned to some people. Compare them to today's apps and video games, after all. But most people probably wouldn't be able to guess just how long those analog games have been around. Some of them were invented hundreds of years ago in India, long before they made their way to family game night.
Pick a Card!
The popularity of card games isn't too hard to figure out. With a single deck of cards, players can unlock countless games. Go Fish, Crazy Eights, War, Solitaire…the list goes on and on.
People in ancient India played cards too. Specifically, they played a game called Ganjifa, which is still enjoyed in some form in parts of India. Unlike some other card games, Ganjifa wasn't just a fun way for people to pass the time. It was also used to spread knowledge about culture and religion.
The game deck comprised 120 different hand-painted cards made of leather, pine leaves, and papier mâché. Ganjifa's rules were intricate, and unfortunately a lot of them have been lost through the centuries. What does remain today is the beautiful art of the cards. The skill involved in creating them was passed down through the generations.
A Game with a Lesson
The board game Monopoly can be fickle. One minute a player is on top, building hotels on Boardwalk, and the next, the player draws a Chance card and has to go to jail! The lesson there might be that life has its ups and downs.
People in ancient India had games that taught life lessons, too. One board game played with dice was called Snakes and Ladders (it still exists today, although it's called Chutes and Ladders in the United States). Snakes and Ladders was developed in ancient India to teach kids a moral lesson. The snakes stood for vices and the ladders represented virtues. As players rolled the dice, they worked to make their way to the top of the board. But the board had fewer ladders than snakes—a reminder that taking an honorable path in life can sometimes be much harder than taking a bad one.
The lesson of Snakes and Ladders related to a belief system in ancient India called karma. Karma said that a person's actions—both good and bad—came back to them in some way in the future. People in acient India believed people were reborn after they died, and that the quality of their next life was determined by their behavior in their current life. This meant they would be rewarded if they did good things in this life, but they would suffer if they did bad things.
People in ancient India were prolific game designers. In addition to card games and Snakes and Ladders, they invented some other popular games we know today, such as chess and badminton. Who knew that some of our modern games had such a multifaceted history!
QUESTION 3
3 / 8
Based on information in the Article, how are the ancient Indian games Ganjifa and Snakes and Ladders similar?
Both games were designed to teach lessons, either about culture and religion or about morals.
Both games used a single deck of cards, so players could unlock countless other games.
Both games used a single deck of cards made of leather, pine leaves, and papier mâché.
Both games were designed so that players could learn about karma while playing on a board.
Pick a Card!
The popularity of card games isn't too hard to figure out. With a single deck of cards, players can unlock countless games. Go Fish, Crazy Eights, War, Solitaire…the list goes on and on.
People in ancient India played cards too. Specifically, they played a game called Ganjifa, which is still enjoyed in some form in parts of India. Unlike some other card games, Ganjifa wasn't just a fun way for people to pass the time. It was also used to spread knowledge about culture and religion.
The game deck comprised 120 different hand-painted cards made of leather, pine leaves, and papier mâché. Ganjifa's rules were intricate, and unfortunately a lot of them have been lost through the centuries. What does remain today is the beautiful art of the cards. The skill involved in creating them was passed down through the generations.
A Game with a Lesson
The board game Monopoly can be fickle. One minute a player is on top, building hotels on Boardwalk, and the next, the player draws a Chance card and has to go to jail! The lesson there might be that life has its ups and downs.
People in ancient India had games that taught life lessons, too. One board game played with dice was called Snakes and Ladders (it still exists today, although it's called Chutes and Ladders in the United States). Snakes and Ladders was developed in ancient India to teach kids a moral lesson. The snakes stood for vices and the ladders represented virtues. As players rolled the dice, they worked to make their way to the top of the board. But the board had fewer ladders than snakes—a reminder that taking an honorable path in life can sometimes be much harder than taking a bad one.
The lesson of Snakes and Ladders related to a belief system in ancient India called karma. Karma said that a person's actions—both good and bad—came back to them in some way in the future. People in acient India believed people were reborn after they died, and that the quality of their next life was determined by their behavior in their current life. This meant they would be rewarded if they did good things in this life, but they would suffer if they did bad things.
People in ancient India were prolific game designers. In addition to card games and Snakes and Ladders, they invented some other popular games we know today, such as chess and badminton. Who knew that some of our modern games had such a multifaceted history!
QUESTION 3
3 / 8
Based on information in the Article, how are the ancient Indian games Ganjifa and Snakes and Ladders similar?
Both games were designed to teach lessons, either about culture and religion or about morals.
Both games used a single deck of cards, so players could unlock countless other games.
Both games used a single deck of cards made of leather, pine leaves, and papier mâché.
Both games were designed so that players could learn about karma while playing on a board.
Answers
GPT-4o mini
The correct answer is:
**Both games were designed to teach lessons, either about culture and religion or about morals.**
Ganjifa was used to spread knowledge about culture and religion, while Snakes and Ladders was designed to teach a moral lesson about virtues and vices.
**Both games were designed to teach lessons, either about culture and religion or about morals.**
Ganjifa was used to spread knowledge about culture and religion, while Snakes and Ladders was designed to teach a moral lesson about virtues and vices.