Why do people love Contract Bridge? Because it’s so logical, elegant and strategic. And why do people love Poker? Because its surprising, risky and unpredictable. Now imagine there’s a card game that has features and benefits of Bridge and Poker. This game is called Oh Hell and you just have to give it a try.
Continue reading “Oh Hell! Somewhere between Contract Bridge and Poker”
Summer holidays are coming! This means a lot of spare time for parties, beer, family barbecues and other pleasures like… games! But you need a right game, well suited for playing with friends. Kimbo is just perfect. It’s a contemporary game, though a bit forgotten and worth the reminder. Continue reading “Kimbo – put up your fences and go around others”
When you hear “chess”, you think about the intellectual duel of two people. Therefore you may be surprised by the fact, that one of the Chess ancestors is a game for 4 players and with an element of luck. The goal of the game was no to checkmate but to score points, however, this old game is still “chessy” . The name of this game is Chaturaji.
Continue reading “Chaturaji – chess-like game for 4 players and with a dice”
Matador is a domino game, typical and unique at the same time. Typical because players use tiles to build a line of play and the goal of the game is to get rid of all bones from hand. But matador is unique thanks to the unusual rule of combining tiles and thanks to the existence of special tiles that can be added to the line of play at any time.
Continue reading “Matador – double-six domino based on sevens”
I love trick-taking card games in which you have to win certain cards to earn points. They are popular in my part of Europe – Thousand in Poland and Ukraine, and 66 (or Schnapsen) in Germany and Austria. Both games have a common ancestor, an old game called Mariage (in Polish: Mariasz).
Continue reading “Mariage – the ancestor of Thousand and Sixty-six. How to play this game?”
It is believed that popular game of Ludo is very old, but is it? It was patented in 1986, but it was a modern variant of really old game called Pachisi. And I must tell you this older game is more strategic and has a unique, ancient nature.
It fits in your pocket, it costs a few dollars (pounds), you can buy it everywhere and immediately play hundreds of games with it. It does not require any power source. This is of course a deck of cards. Most versatile and comfortable gaming platform in the world! If you want to fully appreciate its charms, if you want to really understand it, you have to learn something about its history and all possible uses in games!
Continue reading “Understanding cards – most universal game platform”
If you like old American movies you could see people playing Gin Rummy. Why exactly this game? There are few reasons! First, this is a game for smart people. Secondly, this is a game with dramatic ending. Thirdly… Gin Rummy has unique taste of the risk mixed with a cool strategy.
If you are looking for a relaxing but not too easy game to play with friends, Malefiz is a great choice. Unfortunately, the basic variant is for 4 players only. What to do if you gather a larger group of 5 or 6 people? No problem. There’s a variant on a larger board!
Continue reading “Malefiz for 6 players”
I think everyone knows what domino is. Often we treat dominoes as blocks for children, a simple toy used to learning to count. Sometimes we play with kids because this game seems simple. In my country (Poland) it’s rather unusual to see adults playing dominoes. What a pity! This game is more addictive than you think, and besides, it has a fascinating history. You can play many games with one set of domino tiles, just like you can play many games with one deck of cards.
Bona Ludo 