A strange little side quest
Even a quick game like Chess Master sits on top of decades — and sometimes centuries — of ideas. Games resembling checkers were being played thousands of years ago; evidence of related games reaches back to around 1600 BC. That is only half the story. Basketball became an Olympic medal sport in 1936, while women’s basketball joined the Olympic programme in 1976. That history is one reason familiar mechanics can still feel new when they are recombined well.