More stuff I've made

Elder wanted to play some board games the other day, which reminded me that I have made some games in the past.  They are all simply made from leftover wood with the games painted on.  Here are some pictures and brief explanations.

First off, Monotony, er, Monopoly.  I made this board when the old board wore out.

This was the game she wanted to play, but, unfortunately, Frodo got into the tin where we keep the pieces and the cards, so good luck with that.  Does anyone know of any stores where I could get replacements?

Next up, the game on the other side of the board, The Game Of The Goose.

Think of it as a renaissance Snakes and Ladders.  I found out about it when I had an interest in old games.  The design is from a photo I found on the net.  The hardest part was drawing a spiral, but I figured something out in the end.  This is the game Elder and I ended up playing that day.  Frodo also lost the pieces for this one, so we improvised...

 



... with dinosaurs.  These were some toys I made for bazaars which didn't sell.  They worked fine, though, for just two players.  Besides, everything is more awesome with dinosaurs.  This is a well established fact.

 

Up next, some asymmetrical games.  I find the idea of these games fascinating, because they are unusual in our era.  Most out our board games are symmetrical:  Two or more equal sides with identical goals, like Chess.  Asymmetrical games have two unequal sides with different goals.  First up is the Viking board game, Hnefatafl.

 

Many of the boards for this game are elaborately decorated with Celtic knotwork and whatnot.  Good for them.  This board is simple, made with a paint marker a  straight edge.  It looks a little like a small Go board.  Hnefatafl is curious, in part because no one is entirely certain how it is played. But a simple Google search will give you dozens of educated guesses, some less flawed than the others.  Here's the board with a conjectured set up.

 

If I were to make the pieces again, I'd probably go with dinosaurs, because if there's one thing more awesome than Vikings, it's dinosaur Vikings.  The goal of this game is to get the king, the taller piece in the centre, to one of the corners, or to stop that from happening.

 

On the other side of the board is what was apparently Queen Victoria's favourite game:  Fox and Geese.

 

Queen Victoria was amused.

Again, I kept it simple.  Here's a possible set up:

 

 

The idea is one fox versus a bunch of geese.  Movement is along the lines.  The fox can capture geese by jumping like a checker piece.  The geese cannot jump the fox.  The fox attempts to capture all the geese.  The geese try and corner the fox.  It is cool, although it would be more awesome if it were called "Tyrannosaur and Triceratops."

 

And there you go.  Cheap to make, and fun for the family.  Batteries not required.