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

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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.