Have you ever heard about Backgammon? Even if you do not know the rules, maybe you just know what it is. A game with dice, played on board with “teeth” on which players move their numerous pieces. This game is really extraordinary, so it’s good to know its rules and rich history.
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?”
Is there really any timeless game? Some people say chess or checkers are timeless, but these games are not as old as they seem. Others talk about “timeless” computer games like Pac-Man or timeless tabletop games like Monopoly. But they are are still young. In my opinion there is one special game that deserves to be called “timeless”. It is Nine Men’s Morris also known as Mill. It is still popular, it can surprise next generations of players and many people have no idea how old this game really is!
Continue reading “Nine Men’s Morris (Mill) – truly timeless game!”
I already described 16 draughts games – 7 types of diagonal draughts, 3 variants of orthogonal draughts and 6 variants of draughts on increased boards. But I’m, still far from describing all variant of draughts. Even if we take only the game on the 64-square board with international (brazilian) rules there is still a space to invent new variants. You can just change the initial setting of pieces, board orientation, moves direction or goal of the game. Below I describe several games with such twists.
Continue reading “Twisted checkers – Diagonal, Corner, One-way and Giveaway Draughts”
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.
German word “belagerung” means “siege” and this is also a name of a quite interesting “war game” from 19th century. To be precise, this game is interesting variant of Halatafl, very old game mentioned few times on this blog.
I have already complained that majority of board games have simple boards, just straight lines or squares. Games with circular boards (like spiders and flies) are less common, and there are not many games with boards designed on more complicated shapes (like vsadniki).
Today I want to show you a strategy game that makes perfect use from a round board. It’s Ringo
I like to point out presence of games in the literature. I have already described Whist, noble game loved by Phileas Fogg from the Jules Verne’s novel. Today, I would like to present you the game of Ecarte, which occurs in books about Sherlock Holmes and not only there.
Continue reading “Ecarte – game from Arthur Conan Doyle’s books (and not only)”
Earlier I have described basic variants of Draughts and by the way I explained that draughts (checkers) is not one game. Draughts is a huge family of games with some common rules. In most draughts games pieces move diagonally, but there are also variations where pieces move in straight lines (orthogonally). Today I would like to show you three variants of orthogonal draughts – Turkish Draughts, Croda and Dameo.
Continue reading “Orthogonal draughts on 8×8 board – Turkish Draughts, Croda and Dameo”
Game of othello becomes increasingly popular, but many people know this game as “reversi“. Even in some Wikipedia posts you can read that reversi is another name of othello. In fact, they are two different games. Both played on 8×8 board with two-color discs, but details are different.
I would like to bring you closer to the rules of these two games. I would like you to perceive the differences.
Continue reading “Reversi and othello – two different games. Do you know their different rules?”
Bona Ludo 