Board Games
The strategy game and the race game are the two main types of board game. The race game appears in all sorts of guises: educational, moral, competitive and fun. A race game involves two or more players competing against each other in order to win.
Race games can be simple or complex. The simple ones require a single playing piece that is moved along a set track on a playing surface from start to finish, for example Snakes and Ladders.
Strategy games are usually played by two people and require at least some degree of skill. These can be subdivided into several different categories: war games that involve capturing, such as Chess and Draughts; hunting or chasing games, such as Fox and Geese and Chinese Chequers; and alignment games, such as Nine Men's Morris and Connect-4.
Backgammon
According to Indian legend, backgammon was invented by a man named Qaflan. He designed the game board to have 24 points for the hours of a day.
Pachisi and Ludo
Pachisi is a game with equal measures of luck and skill which has been played in India for more than 1,200 years.
Scrabble
Scrabble was invented in the USA by Alfred Butts, who had lost his job in the 1930’s depression. He named his first version Lexico and later Criss-Crosswords, neither of which were successful. The game underwent some refinements and was patented with the new name of Scrabble in 1948.
Snakes and Ladders
Snakes and Ladders has been a favourite race game in Britain for over 100 years. When it was originally devised Snakes and Ladders was a moral game with virtues in the shape of the ladders, allowing the players to reach heaven quickly, while the vices, in the shape of snakes, forced the player back down.
Monopoly
The game of Monopoly was first published in the United States in 1936 by Parker Brothers. John Waddington was granted the licence to publish it in Britain in the same year. Parker Brothers had bought the rights to the game from Charles Darrow, who claimed to have invented it.
Game of Goose
The Game of the Goose originated in Italy and is regarded as the father of the modern race game. It was probably based on earlier games from the Far and Middle East but the first mention of it is as a gift sent by Francesco de' Medici, Grand Duke of Florence (1574-1587) to King Philip II of Spain.
The Mansion of Bliss
The Mansion of Bliss is a typical example of the Museum's collection of 19th century race games. It is a moral game 'designed for the amusement of youth, with a view to promote the progressive improvement of the juvenile mind and to deter them from pursuing the dangerous paths of vice'.
Chess
Chess is widely known and played throughout the world. Even though it seems that it is a set game with set rules, there are in fact many variations.
