Discover some of the most extreme and dangerous games ever played in human history. From Native American chunkey and patolli to Hawaiian hōlua sledding, Minoan bull-leaping, Cherokee stickball, Pentecost land diving, jallikattu, the Rapa Nui birdman competition, Moche combat rituals, and the ancient Mesoamerican ballgame, these traditions pushed skill, courage, gambling, and survival to the limit.

Archaeology, historical accounts, and surviving traditions reveal a world where games could decide status, wealth, freedom, political disputes—and sometimes life or death. Many of their original rules are now lost, leaving behind courts, carvings, equipment, and evidence that researchers are still trying to understand.