Traveling within the World
Traditional Games of the Ages
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Fitchneal
Setup:The board is set up with the pieces placed in the squares as shown.Play:One player controls the king and eight defenders. The other player controls 16 attackers. Attacker moves first. Each piece can move as many squares as desired in a straight line, like the rook in chess. The center square…
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Farkle?
Does anyone have real evidence that the dice game "Farkle" pre-dates the 20th century? I sell games of the past to historical reenactors, and have people asking about it every once in a while. But I have found no evidence for it prior to the 20th century, not even with the French name "dix mille"…
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Bone Ace a Card Game
Here's a really easy and fast moving card game. It would be easy to play a few hands if you've got a spare 10 minutes at a reenactment or Renaissance faire, and would take no time at all to teach some patrons to play in the local Renfaire pub.Bone-Ace is an ancestor to modern Blackjack, and other…
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Games of Halloween
Games and other activitiesIn this Halloween greeting card from 1904,…
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Go
Play:The game of Go is usually played on a 19 x 19 board. For our tournament we are using a 9 x 9 board to give the players time to play other games. The object of the game is to gain and hold as much territory as possible. Starting with the blue stone, players take turns placing a stone on one of…
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Alquerque
Setup:The board is set up with the pieces placed on the intersections of the lines as shown.Play:A random player is chosen to move first. The pieces move one space at a time along any line and in any direction. Jumping, as in checkers, captures pieces. Multiple jumps are permitted. A player must…
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Byzantine Chess
Setup:The board is setup as shown in the diagram.Play:Byzantine Chess is played very much like modern chess, with the following exceptions:The rook and king may not castle.Pawns may not make an opening move of two spaces.Because there is no opposite side of the board, there is no promotion of…
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Chess of the Four Seasons
Setup:Chess of the Four Seasons is a four player chess game which comes was described in the Spanish King Alfonso X El Sabio’s Book of Games (1283). Each player has eight pieces (4 pawns, 1 bishop, 1 knight, 1 rook, and 1 king), setup as shown in the diagram. The pieces are colored green, red,…
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Fox and Geese
Setup:The board is set up with the pieces placed on the intersections of the lines, as shown.Play:One player plays the 13 geese and will move first. The other player plays the fox. All pieces may move one space at a time in any direction along the lines. The players take turns moving with the geese…
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Game of Goose
Setup:Each player places a pawn on the start space (before space 1). Each rolls one die with high roll moving first. Play then proceeds clockwise around the table.Play:When it is your turn, roll both dice and move the total number of spaces shown. Note if you throw a nine from the starting space,…
