Play the Royal Game of Ur

A 4,500-year-old two-player race game from ancient Mesopotamia — now online, head-to-head, with ELO rankings.

How a turn works

  1. 1

    Roll the dice

    You roll four binary tetrahedra — the sum (0–4) is how far you move. The most common result is 2. A roll of 0 passes your turn.

  2. 2

    Move a piece

    Legal pieces glow. Bring a piece on from your home pile, advance one on the board, or — if you're in the shared middle row — land on your opponent's piece to send it home.

  3. 3

    Land on a rosette

    The three ✸ rosette squares are safe from capture and grant you an immediate extra roll.

Why play here

ELO matchmaking

Be paired with opponents near your skill level. Your rating climbs with every win — new accounts start at 1200.

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Challenge a friend

Generate a single-use invite link for a private table. Share it with anyone — no account required to accept.

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Full game history

Every move is recorded. Review your past games, see your capture count and pieces borne off, and replay any match move-by-move.