The history of that number game you play on the way to work every day goes farther back than you think. In fact the history of number games predates many of the other kinds of entertainment we enjoy. In fact, there is historical evidence of the Egyptians playing a variation of our modern Sudoku as far back as 1850 B.C.

Mathematical games can even be traced back to ancient China where a game involving tangrams was used. There has been a historical fascination with mathematics and various mathematical games since almost as far back as man can count. Other early adventures of games included those where participants counted rings on a bar. In 1857, a game presented at the British Association in Dublin was patented in London in 1859.

This game was significant because the Icosian Game, as it was called, had many resemblances to today’s mathematical games like Sudoku. Just as the old saying talks about everything being new again, it’s easy to see how the entertainment we enjoy today has its roots in the interests of our forefathers.

Around 1850, two professional inventors of mathematical puzzles caused a worldwide sensation with some of their inventions. Sam Loyd and Henry Ernest Dudeney enjoyed worldwide recognition for many of their creations, especially the 15 puzzle. This game is considered to be a forefather of the modern Sudoku puzzle.

The most famous of the modern puzzles is of course the Rubik’s cube which was invented by a Hungarian in 1974. Although it was on the market in Hungary in 1977, it did not take the world by storm until 1981. By 1982 the game had sold over 10 million copies which was more than the population of the country where it was invented.

While there are still more traditional mathematical games on the market today, Sudoku has taken a large percentage of the population over. Part of the reason for this game’s popularity is the fact that it can be played almost anywhere. All you need to enjoy a rousing game of Sudoku is a flat surface and just a little bit of privacy.

Our fascination with number games is nothing new. We’ve enjoyed these contests for as long as the human race could count, and there is no reason to believe that we will not enjoy them for a long time to come.