Overview
- Ludii, an AI play system, ran thousands of simulations across more than 100 candidate rule sets and roughly 130 variations to replicate the board’s uneven abrasion.
- The best-fitting model indicates a blocking game in which one player uses four pieces against an opponent’s two, aiming to avoid being trapped the longest.
- The results appear in Antiquity, and the researchers have released a playable version dubbed Ludus Coriovalli.
- The limestone object, known as Object 04433, was found at Heerlen—Roman Coriovallum—and is displayed at Het Romeins Museum despite unclear archaeological context.
- Experts welcome the methodological advance yet stress the identification remains tentative due to the imprecise carving and the lack of comparable finds, a conclusion that could push evidence for European blocking games earlier if borne out.