PLAY YE ON!

FIVE OLD GAMES TO DELIGHT AND DISTRACT

NINE MEN’S MORRIS

Like morris dancing, nine men’s morris probably has a Middle Eastern (“Moorish”) origin, and is a good choice for players who want something testing, but don’t want to wrestle with complicated rules. Like draughts, each player has only one kind of piece, black or white, while rules are fairly simple, the aim being to capture the opponents’ pieces by forming lines of three.

HNEFATAFL

The odd name of this game probably derives from the Viking word “hnefi” meaning “fist”, and is one of a whole family of Nordic “tafl” (table) games. The intriguing feature of this particular game is that the opposing forces are unequal. The white king and his retinue at the centre must make his way to one of the corners to win, while the four opposing armies along the four sides try to capture or kill him.

RITHMOMACHY

“The most noble, ancient and learned” game of rithmomachy was an upper-class game for senior clerics and royal courts. The two players sit at opposite sides of a board, with pieces inscribed with numbers which determine how they can be captured, and the players use these to protect their most important piece, the pyramid. It’s like chess in some ways, unlike it in others.

OMBRE

Described by the historian of tarot Michael Dummett as “the most successful card game ever invented,” Ombre is a three-player game in which a standard pack can be used, with the eights, nines and tens stripped out. The trump maker (ombre) tries to win more tricks, and takes the pool if successful. The game is interestingly complex and full of evocative Spanish terminology.

GLEEK

An adaptation of the classic two-hander piquet for three players, this game was hugely popular in England from the 16th to the 18th century, and is often referred to in plays and guides to gentlemanly pursuits. Played with a normal pack with the ones, twos and threes removed, it involves exchanging cards to gain a flush, a gleek (three of a kind) or mournival (four of a kind), followed by a round of trick-play.

Available from sites such as mastersofgames.com, danielshandcrafted.co.uk and cyningstan.com