Coronum Solaris: “The Crown of the Sun”!

Elementary is the modern name we gave and copyrighted (in 2008) for our RJH boardgame, but actually its ‘origin’ may date back to 20,000 years ago!! Long before any civilization we know of for certain, there was a very advanced people living on a huge island in the Atlantic Ocean… You guessed it, Atlantis.

The strategy game of “Elementary” we’ve created is the fruit of many years of research. However, it could very well be that in Atlantis, the elements were also used in a “game”. Of course, there’s no way of verifying this, but there can be no doubt that ancient cultures - Egypt, Greece, China, India, American Indians, Africans, Aboriginals in Australia, etc. - all were fascinated by the 4 natural elements and their “properties”.

The following depicts a fictional tale of what might have been the ‘first game of the Elements’. This material will also be used for one of our book stories: “A Day in the Life of Atlantis”.

Contact us to consult the RJHgames bibliography (password required).

The Atlantean game of the elements was called: Coronum Solaris or Crown of the Sun. And it wasn’t just a game, it was something that can’t really be described in words today (but we’ll try to give you an interesting sneak peak below!)

Coronum Solaris, was a strategy “board game” and a sport, an art and a live form of entertainment, all at the same time! Wizards would play in front of huge crowds with magical “pieces”, called ‘Perytons’, and it was probably one of the first large-scale public gatherings and entertainment to have existed in early civilization: Fire wizards would challenge Water wizards from all over the land.

Atlantis had one very large central island but was also comprised of a group of smaller surrounding islands, a giant archipelago in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Master Wizards (high-level players) and Apprentices alike would aspire to the great “Atlantean Championship”: who would be crowned uncontested champion of the land.

Coronum Solaris would be played in forums starting at dusk, because the “board” or Solaris as it was called, would literally glow at night! It had 19 spaces, like the Elementary board from RJHgames. Interestingly, 19 is still the number of the Sun in the Tarot card deck. Also interestingly, the total number of pieces (18), is still today the Tarot card number for the Moon.

The Moon & Sun game was pure magic!

Children would be allowed to stay up later on those championship nights, it was like a day off from school and other work-related activities. The champions would play on the great Solaris board in the heart of Atlantis. The excitement would build in nearby villages or in the great city days before the match, and people would rejoice at the idea of going to see the game.

This form of entertainment would have far preceded the Romans, Spartans, Aztecs, Inca, Mayans or other cultures, it was not violent or barbaric in any way, no blood would be shed whatsoever. Furthermore, it wasn’t just about athletic performance (as we see in the Greek Olympics). Coronum Solaris was a combination of magic, abstract-strategy gaming (as in chess), athleticism, agility, and overall was played with “dignity along side divinity”. No one would criticize the winner or the loser.

An incredible game for an incredible time.

Note: the word “game” is an anagram of the word ‘mage’.

The distribution of pieces was as you see today in our beautiful Elementary: There would be 6 Fire perytons with 3 Airs, against 6 Water perytons with 3 Earths. The perytons literally “glowed” at night:

Fire was bright-orange (with red and yellow hues) and was in constant flux or motion. Water was blue-green phosphorescent in color (and had a sideways motion). Both sphere-shaped pieces would make a humming sound on their own, and were kept in “check” when off the Solaris board by their respective players or Wizards (a bit like joggling water-filled balloons or fire sticks as seen in a circus today).

You see, Coronum Solaris was not just a strategy ‘board’ game, it was also a true sport! Players would have to expend physical energy with hands and arms to maintain the energy-filled pieces moving around them outside the playing field, and then would literally throw them back on the Solaris playing board (at the desired space).

Some players would add showmanship to dazzle the crowds and would rotate or even dance as they played with the perytons during a game. Games were usually short in duration, a match would normally be about 15 to 20 moves in total, as with Elementary on computer. Occasionally, a game could go on for 50 - 100 moves (as with our game of Elementary) and players would get tired - much like during rigorous, competitive sports.

Parents, kids, workers, dignitaries, etc. would all enjoy a beautiful night-time show. The arena or forum would be decorated, dancers with special choreography and musicians would be playing to further embellish the event.

At half-time, there would be a recess where players (Fire & Water wizards) would mingle with the crowds, discuss game strategies and theories of openings and endings. They would inspire children and apprentices to learn the skills of the Masters’ level of play. Crowds would also mingle to talk about the beauty of life under the stars and the many divinities that existed at the time of Atlantis.

Imagine the night-sky 20,000 years ago on an island in the middle of the ocean!

Coronum Solaris may also have been played in pairs: each team (Air-Fire vs. Earth-Water) would have one player manning the Perytons (Fire or Water) outside the Solaris, and the other taking care of moving pieces on the board. Players in a team would communicate often in order to get the best game, and sometimes interchange their positions.

We can’t fully describe this ancient art-form… Magic like there was in Atlantis unfortunately no longer exists in the world today. The magic may be gone (in terms of living Fire vs Water pieces), but the more you play our game, the more you realize Elementary is full of life too!

Interestingly, the symbols found through history for Air, Fire, Water and Earth (in ancient “Alchemy”), which are still used today in modern chemistry, most likely took their origin from Atlantis:

- Fire, an upright triangle – which can hold exactly 6 Fires

- Water, a downward triangle – which can hold exactly 6 Waters

- Air, an upright triangle with a bar, holding 3 Airs (the bar isolates the top Air which has to be the first move)

- Earth, a downward triangle with a bar, holding 3 Earths (the bar isolates the bottom Earth, the second move)

It could also be argued that the way we measure time i.e. modern clocks and days of the week, which came from the Greco-Roman era, may in fact have originated from the Solaris. Note the 12 spaces in the outer ring - the twelve hours of the day, and the 7 central spaces - the seven days of the week (with “Sun” day being the central yellow space).

Alpha-numerical labeling in radial form

The capture rule due to adjacency is now “driven” by the fascinating Multiscan algorithm - RJHgames © 1998-2025, Les jeux RJH. Multiscan or MSC replaces the fact that the Fire and Water ‘perytons’ were actually living-energy pieces. The incredible game of Elementary - and its amazing sister game Taktix7 - both remind us of magic, like at the time of Atlantis!

Return to a mystical time when man and divinity were together under the sun and stars. People rejoiced at the spectacle of life, love and the pursuit of happiness😊

Other stories in our repertoire include: JIBU the last dragon, Solith Trigonid, The fantastic adventures of Joe Goggle, The Sudanese family, The Remora, A day in the life of Atlantis, and Eutopia - Rise of the Machines.

To have a more detailed look at our list of stories, contact us to consult the RJHgames bibliography (password required).

To remind us further how “small is powerful”, read the next story we have for you (a modified short tale based on Greek mythology). An asynchronous lesson in history, philosophy and biology!

In this “comical” take on the two opposing constellations from Greek mythology, Scorpi – a gangster scorpion – is asked to intervene by Mother Nature to get rid of Orion the Hunter, who wants to destroy all the animals. On his way, Scorpi meets interesting characters, discusses history, philosophy and even biology, before confronting the Hunter in a final showdown in the big city coliseum.

Look in a bit deeper, as you go into the rabbit hole! << Orion the Hunter versus Scorpion the Gangster >> Contact us for the password.