Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Royal Game of Ur originated approximately 4,600 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia and was discovered in royal tombs. A Babylonian astronomer wrote down well-defined rules on a cuneiform tablet, making it the oldest playable boardgame in the world according to current scholarship.
Margaret Hofer coined the term Golden Age for the period spanning the 1880s to 1920s when board games became cheaper and more readily available through mass production. Monopoly emerged as the most popular board game sold during this era with 500 million games played as of 1999.
The Settlers of Catan released in 1995 is often credited with popularizing German-style board games outside Europe and growing the hobbyist market significantly. Carcassonne arrived in 2000 and Ticket to Ride came out in 2004 marking major parts of what experts call the Board Game Renaissance.
Homer's Iliad written in the 8th century BC contains the oldest records of board gaming in Europe mentioning the Ancient Greek game of petteia. This game later evolved into the Roman ludus latrunculorum showing clear historical continuity across civilizations.
Many physical board games are now available as video games called digital board games that can be played online against computers or other human opponents. Websites such as boardgamearena.com and yucata.de allow real-time play showing opponent moves immediately while others use email notifications after each turn.