Can you have something similar to poker in a TL 1 setting
 

Sketching on a TL 1 setting and I want to make it a little Old West as well. Could you have something like poker in the Bronze Age? There's no paper, but could you have painted wood plaques, maybe?

Or could you have something similar but not using cards?

Re: Can you have something similar to poker in a TL 1 setting
 

I don't know how well cards would do, but, you could easily do dice at TL1. You'd probably have more games of skill, though. It's much easier to just throw an axe for distance and/or accuracy than to make up complicated rules, which end up with an axe to the face when somebody's accused of cheating.

Re: Can you have something similar to poker in a TL 1 setting
 

Ceramic tiles, like dominoes or mahjong, could be used for a poker-like game instead of a placement game.

Re: Can you have something similar to poker in a TL 1 setting
 

What is a placement game?

Re: Can you have something similar to poker in a TL 1 setting
 

Thin ivory plaques with engraved designs might be suitable. And I think you could play a poker-like game with Mah-jong tiles: Mah-jong is a lot like Rummy, after all, but with the wall instead of the deck, and with players' holdings on the table instead of in their hands.

Trying to rebuild the Wild West in the Bronze Age you will likely find reproducing the effects of the telegraph and railways much harder to do than poker.

Re: Can you have something similar to poker in a TL 1 setting
 

Dominoes are TL1, cards are TL3. Why can't you use dominoes for variant poker? After all, Yacht is a thing, and you can adapt it to play with dominoes of 1-6 range. Or make up something of your own.

Re: Can you have something similar to poker in a TL 1 setting
 

I was just referring to any game where tile position on the table is part of game play.

Re: Can you have something similar to poker in a TL 1 setting
 

Read the rules that come with a box of dominoes for an example. Mancala is a TL0 game, actually. Not the most exciting thing ever, but, use coin instead of pebbles, and you have gambling!

Re: Can you have something similar to poker in a TL 1 setting
 

Those are more often made of bone, ivory, or wood than ceramic. Mah-jong tiles for instance are usually ivory, bamboo, or ivory back with bamboo.

Re: Can you have something similar to poker in a TL 1 setting
 

I don't know how helpful this is going to be, but the first playing cards were invented in China 7th Century AD.

Dice however(often made out of bones at TL1 time, hence why its "Roll them bones") were around during this time. There were also tiles.

This site may prove helpful

http://www.gypsyware.com/gamblingHistory.html