The Thetis Authentics range of puzzles and games are reproductions of sections of ancient vases, recreated on flat ceramic plaques, and, as in this instance, reproductions of ancient games. The Thetis website describes the puzzles as “archaeologically inspired” and as “museum quality ancient ceramic replicas”. In this instance, the set consists of two sets of play things: a set of six ceramic knuckle-bones decorated with a “K”, and a set of six ceramic spheres, decorated with individual swirls or stripes.

The gaming pieces are accompanied by a bilingual information sheet. The sheet gives information on three basic games that can be played with the toys: variations of Astagalismos, in which points are awarded for thrown knucklebones landing on different sides; Artiasmos ("even-odds") a game traditionally played by boys in which opponents challenge each other to guess whether the amount of play pieces concealed in the hand are odd or even; and Pentelitha/pentovola, a game traditionally played by girls in which players toss five pieces into the air and aim to catch as many as possible on the backs of their hands. The information sheet directs people to “see YouTube, Wikipedia” for the full rules of the games and their variants.

This set of games is well-produced with playing pieces that feel nice to handle. There is also something very pleasing about the idea of items for play being directly drawn from the play of children in antiquity, offering haptic connection to the ancient past and reinforcing the concept of a "lived experience" of the ancient past. There is also the potential for connection with other historical periods, as these games persisted in many places and in many ages. So enduring have these games been that children may already know the games or may have parents or grandparents who played them, providing a connection between antiquity and contemporary lived experience or living memory. Thetis prides itself on capturing the essence of past through physical artefacts.

The small font size of the information sheet provided suggests that it is written for adults rather than children. It provides limited information about the games themselves; for example, the guidance on how to play is limited and has no diagrams, and there is no exploration of why some of the games were for girls and others for boys, or of whether that should make any difference to modern players. The invitation to look up the full rules online leaves the onus on the child (or their guardian) to locate suitable or relevant information.

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Behling, Claudia-Maria, "Games Involving Nuts as a 'topos' for Childhood in Late Antiquity and Early Christian Time", in Th. Depaulis, ed., Of Boards and Men. Board Games Investigated. Proceedings of the XIIIth Board Game Studies Colloquium, Paris 14–17 Avril 2010, Paris, 2012, 29–36 [CD]. [online at academia.edu (accessed: May 30, 2019)].

Carè, Barbara, "Knucklebones from the Greek Necropolis of Locri Epizefiri, Southern Italy (VIth-IIIth century BC). Typological and Functional Analysis", in F. Lang, ed., The Sound of Bones, ARCHAEOPlus. Schriften zur Archäologie und Archäometrie an der Paris Lodron-Universität Salzburg 5, Salzburg, 2013, 87–99. [online at academia.edu (accessed: May 30, 2019)].

Carè, Barbara, "Le symbolisme des astragales", in V. Dasen, U. Schädler, eds., Archéothéma: Jeux et jouets gréco-romains, 2013, 31–56.

D'Angour, Armand, "Plato and Play. Taking Education Seriously in Ancient Greece", American Journal of Play 5.3 (2013): 293–307 [online at files.eric.ed.gov (accessed: May 30, 2019].

Dasen, Véronique, "Archéologie funéraire et histoire de l'enfance: nouveaux enjeux, nouvelles perspectives", in A.-M. Guimier-Sorbets, Y. Morizot, eds., L'enfant et la mort dans l'antiquité. Nouvelles recherches dans les nécropoles grecques, Paris: De Boccard, 2010, 19–44. [online at academia.edu (accessed: May 30, 2019)].

Finkel, Irving L., Ancient Board Games in Perspective, London: British Museum Press, 2007.

Fischer N., "The Perils of Pittalakos: Settings of Cock Fighting and Dicing in Classical Athens, in Games and Festivals in the Ancient World", in S. Bell, G. Davies, eds., Games and Festivals in Classical Antiquity: Proceedings of the Conference Held in Edinburgh 10–12 July 2000, Oxford: Archaeopress (BAR International Series 1220), 2004, 65–78.

Gaskins, Suzanne, Wendy Haight, and David F. Lancy, "The Cultural Construction of Play", in S. Gaskins, A. Gobet Fernand Gönçü, eds., Play and Development: Evolutionary, Sociocultural, and Functional Perspectives, New York: Psychology Press, 2007 [online at researchgate.net (accessed: May 30, 2019)].

Opie, Iona and Peter Opie, Children's Games with Things: Marbles, Fivestones, Throwing and Catching, Gambling, Hopscotch, Chucking and Pitching, Ball-bouncing, Skipping, Tops and Tipcat, Oxford: OUP, 1997.

Pellegrini, Anthony D., The Oxford Handbook of the Development of Play, New York: OUP, 2011.

For more examples, see notion.so (accessed: May 30, 2019).

Project websites for Locus Ludi: The Cultural Fabric of Play and Games in Classical Antiquity:
Blog (accessed: May 30, 2019).

notion.so (accessed: May 30, 2019).