Board games, card games, and games using dice, tools, or other interesting toys have been with us since the earliest civilization. The sheer variety of games out there can be mind-boggling! This archive offers resources on many types of games from throughout history and around the world, all broken down by their gameplay features, and plenty of places to find out more.

American Classic Games

There are some games that just seem to define the American experience. These timeless classics have been with us for generations and, though they may be updated from time to time, they show no sign of going away any time soon. Designed in America, and reflecting some of its worldviews and quirks, these are the family favorites.

Monopoly: Illustrated history of this classic American game, which first appeared in 1935. Information from the Inventor of the Week Archive at MIT.

Scrabble Junction: Information and web resources for Scrabble enthusiasts and tournament players. Includes several sites with advanced rules and competition play information as well as more introductory information.

Life: Detailed information on gameplay. Also includes reproduction of game rules from several past editions of the iconic board game, which was first designed in 1840 and appeared in its modern form beginning in the 1960s.

Ancient Board Games - (Senet, Ur, etc.)

The earliest board games were found in ancient Egypt and the Middle East. People from all walks of life played these games and they are believed to have been very popular. The rules of these games have not survived from their original sources, but have been reconstructed by historians and game enthusiasts since.

Ancient Egyptian Games: Includes information on three Egyptian board games: Senet, Twenty Squares, and Hounds and Jackals.

The Royal Game of Ur: Cited article including a history of this Mesopotamian board game and its suggested gameplay.

Bagatelle Games

Bagatelle is a form of table-top pinball that was very popular throughout the 1700s and 1800s in England. It is still occasionally found in small-town pubs today, but the focus has shifted. Now the majority of players are young children who shoot small marbles down the table in the hopes of striking targets at the other end. Modern bagatelle is largely a game of luck, but it is the early forebear of another pub favorite – pinball.

Bagatelle: Basic history and rules of this traditional pub game. Links to great resources on this and other traditional games from British pub life and the board game enthusiast scene.

Pinball Archive: Comprehensive resource on pinball, the modern descendant of bagatelle.

Bilboquet Games

“Cup and ball” games are immensely popular among children in Asia and Latin America. They originated in France and spread to England in the mid 1700s, soon being carried to the rest of the world. They are relatively simple, with the goal of catching a tethered ball inside a cup.

Kendama: A discussion of the Japanese ring-and-pin game.

Children's Games – as depicted in Brueghel's painting Young Folks At Play

Pieter Brueghel the Elder was a master painter in Netherlands during what is known as the Northern Renaissance. Brueghel loved to paint landscape scenes that showed ordinary peasants at work and play, and is known as one of the first great painters to do so, though his depictions ranged from humorous to insightful to unsympathetic. One of his best-loved works is Young Folks at Play, where children are shown engaging in many old-time games. There are at least eighty games shown in the painting, but not all are known to modern scholars.

Brueghel: Young Folks at Play: Great resource offering information on the kids’ games depicted in the famous painting. Presented in an accessible format using an image map of the original painting.

Classic Board Games

Checkers and chess are two games whose origins are lost in history. These two games of strategy have spread to every corner of the globe and are played in local variations by millions of people. Their basic goal is to capture enemy pieces within the movement rules of your own pieces – but this hardly begins to describe them! Go, a game of Asian origin less well-known in the west, has a similar ancient lineage and, despite its simplicity, has extraordinary strategic depth.

The English Draughts Association: Official website of a checkers organization founded in 1897. In-depth information, plus move guides, tournaments, and links to further resources.

United States Chess Federation: Official website of the governing body of most major chess tournaments in the U.S., with a variety of informative pieces on the history and play of the game.

Go: Tutorial and introduction to the game known as the chess of Asia.

Count & Capture Games

“Count and capture” or mancala games are extremely important throughout Africa and many parts of Asia. The game probably originated in Ethiopia in the 600s AD, though there is speculation it might be even older. Rules vary from place to place, but the game is always played on a board with a number of hollows. Seeds are selected from one hollow and then “sown” into the other hollows around the board, with the goal of capturing as many enemy seeds as possible by winning them from opponent’s hollows. The number of rows of hollow spaces on the board dictates the game’s complexity.

Mindsports Worldwide: Mancala: A great introduction discussing the history and general rules of the game. Describes variations on the game including bao, which it calls the most complex of all.

Mancala Web 2.0: Rules, history, and an online version of the game.

Mancala Rules: Another introduction to Mancala, from the Oware Society.

Disney Themed Games

Over the years there have been a huge variety of games featuring Disney characters. These range from reproductions of existing games with Disney-themed art and characters, to complete games designed from the bottom up to take advantage of the Disney mythos. There’s an enormous number of both kinds of games, as anyone who’s been inside a toy store lately can attest!

Disney-Themed Board Games: Listings and reviews of Disney games both past and present from board gaming enthusiasts. Includes dozens of listings and a variety of game types – board, card, and “Scene It”-type games that are played in conjunction with video clips from Disney properties.

Strong National Museum of Play: Offers information on a variety of board games, card games, and table games intended for younger children, including games with Disney themes: Peter Pan, Cinderella, and a wide range of others.

Electronic Games

Simple electronic games have been around a lot longer than the complex portable video game machines of today. In the 1980s and 1990s, a single portable device played only one game, with – perhaps! – variable difficulty modes. The screens provided a single, static background, with gameplay elements represented on them by one-color graphics. Even simpler games were found on wristwatches.

Handheld Games Museum: Information and photographs on a huge variety of classic handheld electronic games. Covers hundreds of games from dozens of developers and publishers, including games from the Tiger Electronics company that dominated the hand-held games market before the advent of the Game Boy.

What is a Tamagotchi?: Critical retrospective on the Tamagotchi, a first-generation “virtual pet” that swept schools and homes across America and Japan starting in 1996.

Games in Playing Card Format

Playing card games have been popular throughout the history of the United States. Even in colonial times, cards were popular enough to be affected by the British Stamp Act that sought to exact taxes from the Colonies. Cards became part of the American psyche and are inextricably linked with images of the Old West. There are literally thousands of card games, including many that have been around for hundreds of years, while some very popular games are brand new. Card games can involve skill, luck, or a combination.

Poker: A basic, but substantial overview and introduction to the rules and strategy of playing poker.

Advanced UNO Strategy: A detailed hobbyist website providing in-depth information on UNO, the playing card-style game from Mattel.

Card Games: Classification: Extensive resources breaking down various types of card games by their objective and providing rules for games with various play features. Also has information on national and regional card games from around the world.

Inuit (Eskimo) Games

The Inuit people, who inhabit the Arctic regions of the U.S., Canada, Russia, and Greenland, have their own long tradition of games that others would easily recognize as being within the “board game” milieu. These games have a variety of pieces and the rules and objectives are diverse. Many traditional Inuit pastimes incorporate skills that are needed for survival in the Arctic tundra, and naturally, the game pieces and tools are made from the natural resources at hand, like furs, bone, and tusk.

Games of the Arctic: Several pages of information on traditional Inuit games, including illustrations and overviews of gameplay.

Peoples of the Arctic: Lessons and Activities: Focuses on games requiring physical strength or dexterity, but also links to resources discussing Inuit board games and other competitive activities using toys and objects.

Map Games

Board games featuring a world map often focus on political intrigue or military conquest in a given region. These games may have elaborate rules requiring their own miniature figures, event cards, dice, and other elements that allow for skill and strategy while introducing some random chance.

Geographical Game of the French Republic: Information on a classic, historical game produced in 1795 to commemorate the heroes of the republican cause in France. Text in English with illustrations.

Risk Official Website: Information on the modern incarnation of this classic war game that allows participants to wage campaigns throughout the world in an effort to achieve total domination.

Diplomacy Archive: Nonprofit hobbyist website devoted to rules and strategy for Diplomacy (formerly called Realpolitik), a board game that simulates political intrigue in Europe. A variety of printable game maps are provided on the site.

Axis and Allies: Oldest online web community devoted to developing strategies and expanded rule sets for this game that simulates World War II.

Playing Cards

Playing cards have been collected and studied for hundreds of years. European aristocrats of the Renaissance used to collect beautifully hand-painted cards quite apart from their value in playing any game. Cards were relatively rare in their early history, and were also used by some to divine the future. With the passing of time, cards have become more common and have enjoyed a rich history that attracts antiquarians and collectors.

International Playing Card Society: Information on the history of cards, their art, games using them, and much more.

The Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards: Information on this historical English craft guild and its role in the production of cards. Includes a fantastic gallery of card designs ranging from 1882 to 2003.

Playing Cards Frequently Asked Questions: In-depth question-and-answer index covering all aspects of collecting cards, including playing cards, tarot cards, the history of cards throughout the world, games played with cards, and a gallery of historic cards.

Puzzles

Two of the most prominent puzzles in the world are the jigsaw puzzle and the Rubik’s cube. Jigsaw puzzles consist of images that have been separated into unevenly-shaped pieces. The goal is simply to reassemble them, but complex images can present a real challenge. The Rubik’s cube, on the other hand, is practically the definition of a hard puzzle! The cube consists of rows of colored squares that must be manipulated until all faces of the cube are the same color. Though the toy is less than thirty years old, it has already inspired a worldwide fan following.

World Cube Association: An international organization devoted to “cubing”, the art of solving the famous Rubik’s Cube.

American Jigsaw Puzzle Society: Including history, information for enthusiasts, the world’s largest jigsaw puzzle, and more.

Row Games

“Row” games have been around for a very long time, and are easily played with materials as simple as a stick and some wet ground, or any other surface that will take an impression. Row games can be as simple as tic-tac-toe, which is usually played on a 3x3 grid with the goal of getting three in a row, or much more complex, with larger grids, unusual shapes, pieces, and more.

Tic-Tac-Toe Strategy: An investigation of the winning strategies behind this deceptively simple game.

Mill / Nine Men’s Morris: Illustrated rules guide and free online play for Nine Men’s Morris, one of the more complex row games.

Table Games

Table games are all very different, but they are united by one common factor: they require a table, which might be set up with obstacles or patterned with images that indicate their importance in the game. Table games can rely on manual dexterity or strategy and planning – or they can rely mainly on luck. It all depends on the setup of the table and what kind of pieces are involved.

Crokinole: History, rules, and frequently asked questions about this game, which involves shooting small discs across a board in the effort to score and knock opponents’ pieces out of scoring zones.

Caroms: Illustrations and rules in brief. Same site includes information on an enormous variety of traditional games, including pub games, table games, and board games.

Dominos: Huge variety of rules for different variations on the game of dominos. Also includes news, puzzles, and other content.

TV Games

TV shows have inspired board games and card games of various kinds almost since the first commercial broadcast. Their rules and themes are all very different and can encompass virtually any gameplay elements. Shows that have had board games include All in the Family, Dukes of Hazzard, Scooby Doo, Jeopardy, The Simpsons, Family Guy, and many, many more.

Television Board Games: Massive directory of high-quality, illustrated information on dozens of board games based on television programs, both classic and modern.

Antique Games

These sites are devoted to games that have been around at least a hundred years or more and have collector value, as well as older games that don’t quite fit in anywhere else or are out of production today.

Association of Game and Puzzle Collectors: Hobbyist website devoted to preserving, maintaining, and highlighting games from bygone eras. Covers all types of games, with an extensive catalog of games by date (going back to the mid 1800s) and publisher.

Antique Toys and Games: Directory of web resources for finding information on antique games, including websites that deal in or collect games that are no longer produced or no longer widely played.

The World Marbles Federation: Information, rules, photographs, and tournament play data for marbles, which were first mass-produced for play in the United States in the 1870s.

People have been playing board games, card games, and other kinds of amusing diversions for thousands of years. As time goes on, the amazing number of games will only grow and grow. Even modern computer and video games can’t quite replace the experience of a good, classic game. With that in mind, happy trails – and keep gaming!

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