Several authors believe that this roughly carved geometric design and other similar graffiti in and around Ephesus are ancient gameboards. According to one theory, this pattern may have been scratched into the stone for an ancient version of the game nine men's morris, known to have been played in ancient Egypt before 1400 BC, around the Roman Empire and in many places during the Middle Ages.

When and under what circumstances people decided to carve such "gameboards" into the stones of ancient monuments is unknown. It is believed that many such gamebeboards at ancient sites around the Graeco-Roman world may have been scratched onto stone paving stones and floors by bored soldiers.

Board and dice games are mentioned by several ancient authors, and depicted in ancient art, for example on Athenian vases of the 6th century BC showing Achilles and Ajax playing a board game (see Homer part 2 in the MFP People section).

The Ephesus Museum in Selçuk now exhibits a large stone slab carved with such a gameboard, set up as a table with two stools, in a creative attempt to indicate how the game was played.

Some games may have had a deeper - perhaps spiritual or symbolic - signficance for some players. "Gameboards" have been found at many ancient Greek and Roman temples, such as the Temple of Apollo at Didyma and the Parthenon in Athens. In 2009 Greek archaeologist Eleni Karakitsou announced that during the most recent restoration of the Parthenon around 50 "gameboards" were found carved on the steps and floor of the building, and there may previously have been many more. Such rough carvings are almost impossible to date, and their significance remains unclear.