The History of Chinese Checkers
A star-board descendant of the older game Halma, marketed under an exotic name that has nothing to do with where it was actually invented.
From Halma to a Star-Shaped Board
Chinese Checkers derives from Halma, the square-board race game invented around 1883-1884. In 1928, the American company Bill & Robert Company introduced a new version played on a six-pointed star board, patenting it under the trademarked name "Hop Ching Checker Game".
Other American manufacturers soon marketed their own versions of the same star-board game under the name "Chinese Checkers", a name chosen purely for its exotic marketing appeal - despite the name, the game was invented in Germany and the United States (via Halma), and has no actual connection to China.
A Lasting Popularity
Chinese Checkers caught on quickly and remains popular worldwide to this day. Its full form supports two, three, four, or six players at once, each starting in their own point of the star - a sociable variant that's especially popular as a family game, unlike the strictly two-player variants its ancestor Halma is mostly known for.
The name has stuck in English-speaking countries ever since, even though it's widely acknowledged to be a marketing invention rather than a description of the game's actual origin.
This Version
PaperGames plays the standard two-player game on the full 121-hole star board: ten marbles per side start in one point and race to fill the point directly opposite - the same movement and chained-hop rules as the full multiplayer game, just for two.