Is it possible and useful to compare the tangible and intangible play cultures of Greco-Roman antiquity and of the North African and Saharan rural world, two worlds separated by so many centuries and differentiated by natural and human environments, beliefs, customs and specific social organizations? In developing this working document I started from the assumption that it could be possible and following the analysis of the differences and similarities of play activities and toys and their material and sociocultural context I noticed several affinities proven both by literary descriptions and by images