Feb 2006 Catalog

MNG-AJM Games and Collectibles

Feb 2006 Catalog

While I don’t publish my latest catalog on the internet, this older catalog is available for you to look through to get an idea of the sort of thing I generally have. Please be aware that many of the games in this catalog will have already sold, and if they haven’t then the prices are not necessarily still valid – the prices are only valid in the month the catalog comes out! However, if you do see something of interest email me and I’ll let you know if I still have it. Also getting the monthly catalog by email is free and without obligation, so why not just ask to be added to my subscription list, or ask me to send you the latest catalog by email?

1500 Gold, published by Ragnar Brothers. 1995. Box. Mint. £8

Players start with a team of three runners each hoping to compete in the prestigious Olympic 1500m finals. In the first stage these athletes are trained by moving them around a special track with the objective of gaining useful tactics cards. Then mini qualifying races are run to see which of the athletes will get through the quarter and semi final rounds. This makes use of dice and cards and the underlying quality of the athletes. The final is run out in full on a race track and running cards and tactic cards are used along with risk taking to squeeze through gaps and positioning to gain from being in the pack.

AD&D Dragonlance Tales: Love And War Vol 3, published by Penguin Books. 1988. Book. Good. £1

A collection of 10 short stories all set in the AD&D Dragonlance world. The stories are all standalone, so there is no need to have read any of the other Draglance novels, though obviously familiarity with this AD&D setting will make the stories more interesting. Includes the novella Raistlin's Daughter by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. 365 pages, paperback.

AD&D Ravenloft - Masque of the Red Death, published by TSR. 1994. Box. Mint. £6

Country: American, Desc. by Andy.

Roleplaying supplement for the AD&D Ravenloft world. This set allows your characters to explore the macabre world of the 1890s in Gothic Earth. Based on the feel of the works of Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker and Arthur Conan Doyle.This set includes: 128 page Guide to Gothic Earth with rules and background; 3 adventure booklets; Map of Gothic Earth; GM Screen; Bonus poster.

Advance Junior, published by Denys Fisher. 1975. Box. Box edges a little battered and taped up. £7.50

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2. Country: British, Duration: 30 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Special notes: 1 tank turret has been repaired (successfully), battery compartment damaged but functional.

Board game in which each player has three tanks which attempt to get to the opponent's home base. Movement is by dice, but in order to be permitted to move or to make an attack a nifty resolution mechanism is used. 2 batteries power a bulb and this is reflected by turning knobs controlled by the players. Essentially the two players each secretly pick one of red, green or yellow (colours which are also marked on the tanks), and then a fire button is pressed to illuminate the lights. Whether the action succeeds or not depends on whether the lights match or not.

Alaric The Goth + Attila The Hun, published by SSG. 1980. Box. Good, countersheet unpunched. £22

Special notes: A couple of unneeded 'spacers' have gone from one countersheet, and one sheet is slightly discoloured, but quite usable.

Wargame. Two games normally packaged separately, but here in a single box. Grand strategic game of the Barbarian invasions of the Roman Empire during the 4th and 5th centuries A.D. Not a direct simulation - more like an advanced version of Risk, with naval, transport and looting rules too. Can be played solitaire as the Romans defending against the oncoming hordes. Attila the Hun (Eastern Roman Empire) and Alaric The Goth (Western Roman Empire) can be played as independent games or they can be combined into one huge game.

American Football Card Game, published by Waddingtons. 1986. Box. Box shows wear. £2

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2-4. Country: British, Duration: 20 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Card game, with 40 cards representing 5 of the top American Football teams. A variation of the traditional playing card game Sevens, in which a specific card in each suit must be laid first, then specific ones either higher or lower and so on. The card mix includes some wild cards, and the objective is to get rid of all your cards. Extra large cards.

Andy Capp, published by Spears. 1990. Box. Box battered. £1.50

Card game, with 84 cards featuring the famous cartoon strip character. An English version of the Continental game Willi Wacker, which in itself is a cleaned up version of the drug game Grass. Essentially this is a set collection game, with cards which let you interfere with your opponents.

Ars Mysteriorium, published by Hangman Games. 2005. Box. New. £29

As apprentice alchemists the players see who can earn the most money by gathering basic elements (eg. Brimstone, Verdigris, Salt, etc) from various suppliers and then using them in alchemical recipes. At the end of the game monetary rewards are paid out for sets of recipes and the most successful alchemist will be declared a Master. Game play involves deciding how to deploy your 'favours' amongst the shops and the masters each turn and making the best use of the elements you manage to gather.

Atmosfear IV, published by Spears. 1993. Box. Good. £7.50

Sequel to the popular Video Board game Atmosfear, which you will need to be able to play this. This expansion changes the base game substantially, having its own sets of Time and Fate cards as well as a new deck of Black Rose cards. The players try to win in the same way as in the standard game, but players can also become vampires in various ways, and then noone is safe! Should all the players become vampires before someone has won then everyone loses. Contains a VHS cassette which is played while the game is played.

Automania, published by Livingstone. 1991. Box. Mint. £8

One of the two limited edition games (1,000 of each) by this privately owned company. Players must sell cars and maximise their profits in the markets of various countries. Card play and competitive advertising provide interaction, and players can play event cards to help their own positions and hinder others. Box and components made by Ravensburger so their quality is high.

Balanx, published by Fun Connection. 1993. Box. Good. £10

Two player strategy game from this master of the genre. The game uses a board which can tilt like a see saw, and each turn the current player tilts it towards them and the balls which are the playing pieces will move in their grooves changing the game position. The objective is to get your balls to the opposite corner of the board, but leaving a ball behind to block is not permitted. The balls are large glass marbles and two large steel ball bearings are also used. Very stylish as you would expect from Kris.

Battleship, published by Milton Bradley. 1995. Box. Good. £7

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2. Country: American, Duration: 15 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Very nice edition of this classic game, with closable plastic console, nicely moulded plastic ships and lots of markers. This is the classic game in which each player positions their fleet of ships secretly and then the players take turns firing into particular spaces and are told whether they hit or miss. First to sink their opponent’s fleet wins. While the game can be played with paper and pencil, this set is so nicely produced it makes the game much more tactile and enjoyable.

Bauernschlau, published by F X Schmid. 1991. Box. Good. £12

Players compete to build the most valuable sheep farm. Players lay fences onto an attractive hex gridded area of farmland, dividing off their farm from their neighbours’, and also populate their fields with valuable sheep while also trying to ensure all the undesirable black sheep end up in opponents' farms. Players must split their attention between managing the sheep and the fences, and getting the balance right is necessary to win.

Beachhead, published by Yaquinto. 1980. Double LP Case. Good. £6

Man-to-man war game, with a scale as low as 25 yards per hex and turns 20 minutes. Small squads of 5 to 10 American Marines attack South Pacific Islands during WWII, which are defended by Japanese units. The Americans attempt to secure themselves on the island while the Japanese attempt to keep the Americans on the beaches. Basic rules cover 9 pages and there are a further 4 pages of optional rules.

Big Brother The Game, published by Hasbro. 2000. Box. Good. £7

TV related item, based on the immensely popular reality TV programme Big Brother. Players try to be the last one left in the Big Brother house which is depicted on the board. Players roll and move around the board collecting cards. Frequently confrontations will occur as indicated by the cards, and players get to vote who goes out next using their collected votes and attributes the players have gained during the game. Visiting different rooms give the players different powers. Last player left in wins.

Billionaire, published by Spear's Games. 1984. Box. Excellent. £3.50

Card game, and a variant of the manic card trading game, Pit. Comes with a large plastic suitcase which the player who first completes a set must grab to end the round. The suitcase also acts as a card holder. Money is provided too and each set has a value which the completing player wins. There are two special cards: the tax man - whoever holds him at the end of the round loses money and a doubler which gets you twice the reward if you manage to complete a set. A good version of this classic game.

Blue Peter Explorer, published by The Green Board Game Company. 1999. Box. Excellent. £3

Childrens' TV tie-in game. Each player or team tries to be the first to complete their 18 piece jigsaw-map of the world. Pieces are earned by answering trivia questions related to the Blue Peter TV series or performing actions such as humming the Blue Peter theme tune. Very nice jigsaw-maps, and 100 trivia cards.

Breaking Away, published by Fiendish Games. 1996. Box. Good. £15

Special notes: This edition comes in a larger but flatter box and the board folds in 2 rather than 4.

Second edition of this very good cycle racing game. Each player controls a team of four cyclists, and allocates each turn's movement allowances as best as possible as the cyclists jockey for position ready to sprint for the line in each of three sections of the race. No dice are used, instead a new movement allocation number is calculated each turn (to give a choice of 3) based on how many cyclists are ahead of him in the pack (with no gaps). There is also a special rule for attempting to break away from the pack. The winner is the team which accrues the most points from sprints and finishing positions. Good face to face or postally.

Build-Up, published by Elliott. ca.1987. Box. Good but box edges show wear. £17

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2-6. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Rare promotional business game, made for a housing construction company. Eamon noted that it was designed and printed by Games Workshop, though nothing on the box or contents indicates this. Players race to be the first to build a 10 storey building in the centre of the board. Game play involves moving around a track, and when enough money and resources have been acquired the player moves onto a more central track to obtain what is needed in the next phase of the building process. A third (inner) ring is then moved to in order to complete the construction of the building itself. Players must manage their money well, and should calamities occur part constructed buildings can be mortgaged.

Cafe International, published by Mattel. 1989. Box. Good. £12.50

German Game of the Year in 1989. Players seat customers of many different nationalities in a cafe so that they are at a table designated to their nationality, but they will also be next to other people at other tables. To win you must choose the right time to play your customers to score well, and also recognise when a customer is a liability and send them to the bar instead. Customer placement rules ensuring that the number of men and women at each table don't get too unbalanced make customer placement interesting and add to the tactical possibilities.

Canaletto, published by Hans Im Gluck. 1995. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Good. £10 2) Excellent. £12

Auction game, in which players bid for batches of antiques. They then try to ensure the whole set of the antique types they own gets bought so that they can be sold for a profit. However exactly when a set is sold will determine what it is worth, and if you wait too long it is possible that they may be worth nothing. Also money can get tight, and the amount bid indicates what will be sold next, making it all very tactical and involving some careful thought.

Captain Can, published by Carnaud Metalbox. ca.1990. Box. Good. £10

Promotional game set in space. Players set off in spaceships and gather gadgets which can be used to help them in various missions to undo the evil deed of Vandalan, while also avoiding the ship destroying viroids. Movement is determined by spinner, and event cards are also used, and ensuring you always keep a good selection of gadgets on hand is the key to success. To win a player must confront Vandalan on his home planet and defeat him, returning him to Earth to face justice. Made by a tin can manufacturer, and includes information on the history of tin cans.

Carcassonne: The River 2, published by Rio Grande Games. 2005. Box. New. £3

Mini expansion for Carcassonne - 12 river tiles which can be played with the first river expansion or without as you wish. The tiles include a river branch, and a volcano as well as tiles with bridges etc.

Chess Computer - Systema Comet, published by Systema. ca.1995. Box. Good. £20

Designer Unknown. No. players: 1-2. Country: China, Desc. by Andy.

This chess computer has 100 levels of difficulty ranging from instantaneous moves to 3 minutes per move for the computer, or a mode in which it uses the same amount of time as you do, or fixed time limits per player for the whole game. In addition there is a chess problem solving facility and also a two player mode (in which the computer can give hints if desired). The ELO rating is 1950. Uses 4 AAA batteries. The unit is small and very portable and so the playing pieces are also small. Nice item.

Chessword, published by Waddingtons. 1972. Box. Shows wear. £5

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2. Country: British, Desc. by Eamon.

Special notes: Box has two strips of masking tape across it. Also edges + 1 corner taped (though less conspicuously).

Very unusual chess variant. Players use chess pieces and moves with two objectives in mind, either to eliminate their opponent's pieces or to hold certain squares with letters on, and if you hold enough squares at some time during the game to spell out a pre-chosen word, you win.

Cinema, published by Fun Connection. ca.1995. Box. Good. £5

Designer Unknown. No. players: 4+. Country: German, Duration: 45 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Game in which players use their knowledge of films to win the game. Players have partners, and a card showing a scene from a film is turned up and the players all write down anything they can think of connected to that scene. Each association made by both players in a team scores a point. The reverse of the cards show the name of a film, along with the year and main star. Sometime these are used instead to make connections. A sand-timer is used to indicate when the time is up for each round.

City And Guilds, published by JKLM Games. 2004. Box. In shrink. £23

City building game in which players place building tiles into various blocks on the board. Players have a hand of building tiles and get to draft new ones. Most of the buildings are associated with one of 4 guilds, and placing these in such a way that they are in line of sight of other buildings of that guild enhances the power of that guild at the end of the game. Also some buildings allow men to be placed on them and others give the player influence over the guilds. When a block is fully built then players score for 1st-3rd most men in the block and also for 1st-3rd most influence in the most important guild in that block. At the end of the game there are large bonuses to players who control the guilds. Recommended.

Clash, published by Peter Pan. 1986. Box. Good. £5

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2. Country: British, Duration: 20 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Strategy game in which each player has playing pieces numbered 1-7 (the pieces are actually in the shapes of the numbers) which are moved around the board. The board is gridded but with some walls to limit movement. Whenever four pieces come together the clash is resolved by adding the numbers on each side and one of the losing numbers is moved away and a winning number advanced. The objective is to either win a clash involving you opponent's '7' or to get all your numbers to the far side of the board. Part of the 'Think' series of games.

Cluedo, published by Waddingtons. Box . Several copies available:

1) 1972. Good. £1.50. In good condition except for a small tear on the bottom of the box.

2) 1965. Good. £2 3) ca.1972. Box shows wear. £1.50

4) 1983. Box shows wear. £1. Cards show wear but are still entirely usable

Surprise the family and play classic Cluedo again - actually quite a decent game of deduction, although somewhat lengthened by having to move your piece around the board according to dice rolls in order to gain clues.

Cluedo Super Challenge - Passport To Murder, published by Waddingtons. 2000. Box. New. £13

Advanced Cluedo for detective game fans and very nicely produced. Unravel the deeds on the Trans Europe Express, with 9 suspects, 9 weapons, 9 rooms, and lots of luggage to search for clues amongst. The game play is actually quite different to Cluedo, as the location, person and weapon cards which indicate the crime are placed in special holders and players move onto special spaces to get clues, which may mean looking under flaps on the card holders to get information about the card inside, which will help determine what that card is. Thus as more of these clues are seen more can be deduced about the murder.

Super Cluedo Challenge, published by Waddingtons. 1986. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Good. £11. 2) Box shows wear, 2 corners taped. £9

Advanced Cluedo for detective game fans. Rarely can a British game have been produced with such nice components. Unravel the deeds at Tudor Close, with 9 suspects, 9 weapons, 9 rooms, and garden ornaments thrown in for good measure! The game play is actually quite different to Cluedo, as the location, person and weapon cards which indicate the crime are placed in special holders and players move onto special spaces to get clues, which may mean looking under flaps on the card holders to get information about the card inside, which will help determine what that card is. Thus as more of these clues are seen more can be deduced about the murder.

Note: the above two games are clearly related, but are not exactly the same.

Connections, published by Connections International. 1991. Box. Good, but box base indented. £7.50

Abstract game in which the players try to connect a line of their pieces from one side of the board to the other, or try to surround any of their opponent's pieces in a box. The game always ends with a winner, never a stalemate, and while the rules are very simple the play is actually rather good. The components are large and impressive making it very attractive during play. Rules in umpteen languages too!

Contigo, published by 3M. 1974. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Good. £9 2) Good, but edges show wear. £8

Unusual cross between Mancala and Draughts. The 6x6 space board is surrounded by Mancala-like pits around which glass beads are moved, and the number of beads in the row or column of a playing piece determines its movement capabilities. There are two different games described. In the first players attempt to align four of their pieces in a row on the central board, and in the second game players attempt to capture their opponents' key men. Bookcase box.

Courtisans Of Versailles, published by Tilsit. 1998. Box. Excellent. £7

In the splendour of the palace of Versailles, players strive to improve their standing compared to the other courtiers. The court moves from the palace to the hunt, and possibly to the front-line if war breaks out. Titles, awards, and vast fortunes can be amassed through whim and wit, but a devastating faux pas could find you banished to the colonies, or worse yet, land you in the dungeons of La Bastille. Game play is card driven but with the opportunity for some negotiation and forming alliances as well.

Curse Of The Idol, published by Milton Bradley. 1990. Box. Good but corners taped. £9

Game based loosely on a hero like Indiana Jones. Children's adventure game (age 8+), with lots of components and a nice 3D board with a large idol centrepiece into which a player who gets to the right space thrusts a sword, with the hope of freeing the Bloodstone, which they must then race back to base with. The game board also includes a series of gears which when turned change the paths on the board. While game play is pretty simple, the components really enhance it greatly.

Cwali 5th Year, published by Cwali. ca.2001. Tube. Excellent. £4.50

A promotional game given away to customers at Spiel by this small Dutch company. The rules say it has been formerly known as Stapel, and Dutch Mountains. It is an abstract game in which each player tries to construct a tower of pieces on their home space. This is done by moving stacks or partial stacks of pieces according to restrictive rules. Very neat.

Demon's Run, published by Yaquinto. 1981. Double LP Case. Good - counters unpunched. £10.50

Race game set in space. Players start by designing the ship they wish to race. The ships then race (and fight) based on the abilities they were designed with. The area of space the race goes through contains various pitfalls such as radiation zones, black holes, and 'null zones'. Points are scored in the race for: recovering marker buoys (the more dangerously located ones being worth more points), fuel remaining, and finishing before other ships. Ship features which can be altered in the design stage include: fuel level, structural integrity, pilot integration, main engines, manoeuver engines, tractor beam, lasers, scrambler and shields.

Der Herr Der Ringe - Die Gefahrten - Spiel Zum Film, published by Kosmos. 2001. Box. Excellent. £11

Special notes: The cards have all been pasted up with English translations.

The players take the parts of the hobbits who make the journey from Hobbiton to Amun Hen in 4 stages. In each stage monsters have to be faced and events overcome, and there are bonuses for the hobbits who finish the stage first. Play involves assigning dice between movement and battle. Fast movement means you are more likely to get the end of stage bonus, but also means more battles. Losing a battle forces you backwards on the movement track. The cards show scenes from the excellent first film of the trilogy.

Der Herr Der Ringe - Die Ruckkehr Des Konigs, published by Kosmos. 2003. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Mint - still in shrink. £15 2) Excellent. £14

Lord of the Rings Film (Part 3) tie in game. The players together try to defeat Sauron. If Sauron is defeated the players count VPs to decide a winner. A round consists of first army buildup and then movement and fighting. Army buildup involves receiving new army, hero and action cards. Pieces are then moved to engage the enemy - winning a battle gains VPs and allows the battle to continue. The game ends if the player armies can breach the Black Gate or if Frodo and Sam reach mount doom, but only if they beat Gollum to it!

Die Kaufleute Von Amsterdam, published by Jumbo. 1999. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Good. £14 2) Excellent. £16

Players are the heads of rich merchant families. Game play is driven by Dutch auctions, and the game includes a large clockwork device which controls these auctions, and this makes for some very tense moments. Players bid for commodities to ship to the far reaches of the world, the right to build in key places in Amsterdam and for prominence as a shipping company. A clever time line system ensures events occur in a similar way to the real world, and gives players an idea what they need to concentrate on. Essentially a majorities game, but a good one with plenty to think about.

Dilbert: Corporate Shuffle, published by WoTC. ca.1998. Box. Excellent - unused. £4.50

Card game, 60 cards each featuring an individual full colour Dilbert cartoon. Dilbert is a character in a newspaper comic strip, a geeky computer programmer with an uncomprehending boss. The game itself is a new version of the company’s game The Great Dalmuti.

Diplomacy, various editions available:

1) Published by Avalon Hill. 1976. Good. £7. Photocopied rules booklet. Wooden pieces. Bookcase edition.
2) Published by Avalon Hill. 1999. Excellent. £17. Most recent edition with 140 beautiful metal pieces.
3) Published by Games Research Inc..ca.1971. Good. £7. Early edition.

4) Published by Games Research Inc..ca.1971. 2 box corners taped, and base indented. £4. Early edition.

5) Published by Gibsons. ca.1989. Box. Good. £4. Plastic pieces.

5) Published by Games Research Inc. ca.1971. Good. £9. This set also includes the Diplomacy Games and
Variants booklet by Strategy Games Inc. Early edition.

Classic negotiation game involving political manoeuvring, alliances and backstabbing.

D'raf, published by Splotter Spellen. 2000. Box. Excellent. £10

No. players: 3-5. Country: Dutch, Duration: 45 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Car racing game, but with a difference. The race is from one side of the table to the other and the track isn't there at the start of the game! Instead track segments get placed as the game goes on, and you can be sure that your opponents will put obstacles in your way whenever they can. While it is safer to drive behind the leader it is also slower, and this IS a race ...

Drahtseilakt, published by ASS. 1998. Box. In shrink. £7

Neat card game in which players use cards numbered 1-50, and try to end each hand with no penalty sticks. Players play a series of tricks in which the highest card 'wins' penalty sticks of one colour and the lowest card 'wins' penalty sticks of the other colour. However, when a player has both red and blue sticks an equal number of each can be handed in. Thus it is possible to do well by either avoiding sticks altogether or getting quite a few, but cancelling them out with more of the other colour. Very clever, and plays well - recommended.

Dungeon Magazine. published by TSR. Desc. by Andy. Designer Unknown. Country: American.

Excellent magazine containing adventures for TSR role-playing games, mainly AD&D, but sometimes others too. A fantastic resource for GMs looking for an adventure to run. Main articles in each issue listed below:

Vol 2 Issue 2 (#8), 1987. Good. £3. Mountain Sanctuary (Lvl 1-3), For A Lady's Honour (Lvl 4-7), In Defence of The Law (Lvl 7-10), The Wounded Worm (Lvl 4-8), The Flowers Of Flame (Oriental Adventures Lvl 5-8)

Vol 2 Issue 3 (#9), 1988. Good. £3. The Lurkers In The Library (Lvl 1-3), The Crypt Of Istaris (Lvl 3-5), The Djinn's Ring (Lvl 3 - Solo Adventure!), The Golden Bowl Of Ashu H'San (Oriental Adventures Lvl 2-4), The Ghostship Gambit (Lvl 3-6), The Plight Of Cirria (Lvl 8-12).

Vol 2 Issue 6 (#12), 1988. Good. £3. Light Of Lost Souls (Lvl 2-4), Sceptre Of The Underworld (Solo Adventure Lvl 12), At The Spottle Parlour (Lvl 1-3), Intrigue In The Depths (Lvl 4-7), Huddle Farm (Lvl 1-4), Dungeon 1-12 Index.

Vol 3 Issue 1 (#13), 1988. Good. £2.50. The Ruins of Nol-Daer (Lvl 5-8), Going Once, Going Twice (Any level), The Moor-Tomb Map (Lvl 2-4), The Treasure Vault of Kasil (Lvl 5-7), Of Nests & Nations (Lvl 8-12).

Vol 3 Issue 2 (#14), 1988. Good. £2.50. Masqueraider (Lvl 2-5), A Question of Balance (Lvl 8-12), Stranded On The Baron's Island (Lvl 4-6), Master Of Puppets (Lvl 6-8), Phantasm Chasm (Lvl 5-7), The Wererats Of Relfren (Lvl 3-6).

Vol 3 Issue 3 (#15), 1989. Good. £2.50. The Wreck Of The Shining Star (Lvl 4-8), In Pursuit of the Slayer (Lvl 6-9), The Dragon's Gift (Oriental Adventures Lvl 2-7), The Glass House (Lvl 4-6), Roarwater Caves (Lvl 1-4), The Elephants' Graveyard (Lvl 5-7).

Vol 3 Issue 4 (#16). 1989. Good. £2.50. Palace In The Sky (Lvl 7-10), The Dwarves Of Warka (Lvl 3-6), Necropolis (Lvl 2-4), Vesicant (Lvl 4-6).

Vol 3 Issue 6 (#18), 1989. Good. £2.50. Irongard (Lvl 1-3), Whitelake Mine (Lvl 2-4), Tallow's Deep (Lvl 4-7), Crocodile Tears (Oriental Adventures Lvl 4-6), Chadranther's Bane (Lvl 4-6).

Vol 4 Issue 1 (#19), 1989. Good. £2. By The Wayside (Lvl 6-10), The Vanishing Village (Lvl 3-5), The Serpent's Tooth (Lvl 3-6), Encounter In The Wildwood (Lvl 2-4), House Of Cards (Lvl 9-12).

Vol 4 Issue 2 (#20), 1989. Good. £2. The Ship Of Night (Lvl 7-9), White Fang (Solo Adventure Lvl 10 Thief), Pride Of The Sky (Lvl 8-12), Ancient Blood (Lvl 3-5).

Vol 4 Issue 3 (#21), 1990. Good. £2. The Cauldron Of Plenty (Lvl 2-4), The Bane Of Elfswood (Lvl 15-18), Jammin' (Spelljammer Any Levels), Incident At Strathern Point (Lvl 8-10), The Chest Of The Aloeids (Lvl 6-8).

Vol 4 Issue 4 (#22), 1990. Good. £2. The Dark Forest (Lvl 2-3), The Leopard Men (Lvl 8-10), Tomb It May Concern (For 1 Lvl 4-6 Paladin), Unchained (Dragonlance Lvl 6-10), Rank Amateurs (GAZ10 Humanoids Lvl 1-3).

Vol 11 Issue 2 (#62), 1994. Spine worn. £0.40. Dragon's Delve (Lvl 3-6), Blood On The Plow (Lvl 4-6), Grimjaws (Lvl 5-7), The Rat Trap (Lvl 6-10), Wild In The Streets (Lvl 1-3), Esmeralda's Bodyguard (Lvl 6-9), The Ghost At Widder Smither's (Lvl 1-3).

Esperanca, published by Da Vinci. 1999. Box. Excellent. £15

Players buy ships of varying capabilities and sail them around the Cape Verne Islands exploring potential shipwreck sites. Permission to dive on these sites is won at auction. Movement is determined in a clever way - a dice is rolled, and the start player uses the roll, the next player uses it minus one, and so on around the table, and then start player changes. Also high movement is faster, but less flexible as turning is limited, and better ships can move faster and have more options. Once a site has been explored and treasures found, the ship must return to port avoiding pirates on the way, though pirate attacks can be halted by other players' ships helping, but this too will cost. Nice wooden components.

Eurohit, published by Games Gazette. 1992. Box. Excellent. £1.50

Card game, designed and produced by the inventor. The game was later sold as Assassin by Avalon Hill. Players travel across Europe by playing cards in the correct sequences in order to score points for visiting major cities, however one player is the Hit Man and tries to assassinate his opponents by reaching the cities they are currently in, and then scores bonus points. Includes rules to allow for shorter or longer games and to change the style of the game a little.

Farming, published by Edward Fletcher. 1982. Box. Good. £13

Very attractive game, and has an interesting game-system. There are 52 cards, one for each week of the year. They are turned one by one, and the events or actions on them affect the player-owned farms. Players have decisions to make, such as which crops to cultivate, which animals to manage, and how much cash to leave in their reserve in case of disaster.. Dice are used to vary some of the events and incidents on the cards.

Fettnapf, published by Amigo. 2005. Box. Excellent. £7

Card game in which players play number cards which add to or reduce the current 'count'. Players also hold cards which show the numbers 10-30 which the 'count' can land on, and if it does so then the current player loses a life. Thus players need to remember which of these cards are out and so try to avoid playing a card which will land them on a such a number. In addition if you can force the next player to go out of the 10-30 range then you gain an extra card. Fast paced and fun memory bender.

Figurix, published by FX Schmid. 1985. Box. Good. £9

Three dice are rolled, one shows an animal symbol, one a background colour, and one an outer edge colour. Players study the board and look for precisely this combination amongst the 54 pictures on the board. The first to spot it correctly and place their counter on that space gets to leave their counter there. The first player to get rid of all 6 of their counters wins. The dice are very large and wooden.

Flucht Aus Mangrovia, published by Mattel. 1989. Box. Good. £7.50

Players race through the jungles of Mangrovia which are filled with dangerous animals. Cards are used to allow the playing pieces to get past these animals. The objective is to be the first to get both of your explorers out of the jungle to safety before anyone else.

Foil, published by 3M. 1969. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Fair. £6. 1 Battered corner and writing on the side 2) Good. £10

Book case edition of this word game. Players collect cards with which they then try to form words, and then shuffle the letters around forming anagrams, and players try to guess each others’ words. Points are scored for constructing words, guessing other people's words and for having your own words unguessed.

Fore, published by Oneliner. 1987. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Excellent. £4.50 2) Good. £4

Designer Unknown. No. players: 1-4. Country: British, Duration: 90 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Very nicely made golf game with an attractive 18 hole course laid out on three boards. The game system lets you decide which club to use, but a dice roll and a card vary the result.

Freibeuter, published by Hans Im Gluck. 1998. Box. In shrink. £16

Tile laying game with a theme of piracy on the high seas. Each player has a fleet of 25 wooden boats which are played onto the board using cards which indicate the row and column. When the ships played encircle treasure ships between the spaces the booty is distributed amongst the players with surrounding ships, but in a way which means you often have to think about where and when it is best to play. Plenty of tactical decisions, but with the cards limiting what you can actually do. Lots of wooden pieces.

Frog Juice, published by Gamewright. 1995. Box. New. £7

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2-4. Country: American, Duration: 25 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Card game, with players competing to collect concoction and power cards. The concoctions form magic spells, and consist of items like bats, newts, toads and unicorn horns. These ingredients need to be played to complete the recipes. Simple game, but with a fun theme and nicely produced cards.

Game, Set & Match, published by Waddingtons. 1982. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Good. £2.50. The scoreboard is missing - entirely playable with paper and pencil to keep score though.

2) Good. £4
Designed by Michael Kindred & Malcolm Goldsmith. No. players: 2-4. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Tennis card game. A promotional game made for Robinson’s Barley Water, who used to be the sponsors for Wimbledon. A neat fold-up board with net shows four regions in each court, and players have a hand of cards. The serve is resolved using a dice, and then following shots are played with cards: the cards have a receiving area which must match where the ball is, and a destination which is where the ball is returned to, along with a description of the shot. Thus it is really a simple hand management game. Includes rules for doubles as well.

Gold Und Rum, published by Asmodee Editions. 2003. Box. Excellent. £11. Desc. by Andy.

Unusual card game with a fantasy army theme. The cards depict dwarves, undead, goblins, barbarians etc, with some cards being very powerful but either needing a weak goblin to man them (goblin war machine) or not allowing two to be held by the same player (giants). The first half of each hand involves one player dealing out the cards face up onto a number of piles and the other players then claim piles and play cards to damage piles other players have claimed. The dealer chooses a player to side with that turn and then four battles are played in which players commit their cards to the battle in two phases, with the winner gaining victory points.

Golf Range, published by W.H.Smith. 1995. Box. Good. £7

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2-4. Country: British, Duration: 1 hr, Desc. by Andy.

Also published as Club Golf by Gibsons. Golf game in which a card shows the layout of the hole, and there are different decks to pick from for each type of club you might choose to use at each stage and this combined with a dice roll show how far you hit the ball. Once per hole you may also play an event card on either yourself (to assist) or an opponent (to hinder).

Hattrick, published by Amigo Spiele. 1995. Box. Good. £6

Trick taking game which I can recommend highly for 5-6 players (less good with 4). The cards come in three suits, and each trick can actually contain two colours of cards, which are each evaluated separately. The winner of each of these sub-tricks takes the cards and keeps them face up. At the end of the hand each player scores positively for the cards collected in one suit but negatively for cards in the other suits. A neat twist which works very well indeed.

Hexagony, published by Avalon Hill. 1980. Box. 2 copies available:

1) 1 box corner taped. £5 2) Good. £6

Essentially an unthemed wargame played on a hexagonal grid of triangles in an unusual way. Terrain markers are placed on the board before each game to ensure a different feel to each game. Players deploy their pieces on the battle board as well as using a separate supply track to obtain further supplies (needed to allow movement of pieces on the battle board). A turn can potentially consist of several linked moves providing the player's supplies are sufficient. Capture is by surrounding opposing pieces. Alliances can be negotiated too.

High Roller SuperSkins Casino, published by High Roller Games Ltd. 1992. Box.

Box good, contents unused. £9

Gambling game in which two players at a time take the role of dealer and player, who must bet for themselves to win. Other people can also participate and are able to make bets on who they think will win the hand or even bet on a stand-off. The game itself is a card game with some similarities to Pontoon / Blackjack, but with a special deck of cards and the player and dealer trying to make their cards add up to 25 rather than 21, but a few points over are allowed (up to 28), but are lower rated hands. There are also a couple of special high scoring hands: Super Five and Super Skins. Finally there are a couple of extra options during play: Drive (forcing your opponent to stick or take an extra card) and Exchange (rejecting a card drawn).

Hive, published by Gen:Four.Two. 2001. Box. Mint - still in shrink. £16

Highly regarded strategic game for two players consisting of twenty two chunky pieces: eleven blue and eleven silver, resembling a variety of creatures each with a unique way of moving. As the pieces are placed they form a shape that becomes the board. The pieces are never eliminated and not all have to be played. The object of the game is to totally surround your opponent's queen, whilst at the same time trying to block your opponent from doing the same to your queen.

Horse Stakes, published by Milton Bradley. 1995. Box. Good. £4.50

Horse racing game that borrows elements from the playing card game Racing Aces, but adds a twist or two. It is nicely presented with a ‘race case’ to store the bits, 40 cards and 6 mini-plastic pairs of binoculars which act as marker pieces. Comes in a small box and is from the designer of Ave Caesar. Initial cards laid out set the odds and then after betting is done further cards are laid out to resolve the race. However, when a card is laid onto a fence the card is checked to see if the horse makes it - if not it is disqualified.

Ido, published by Goldsieber. 1998. Box. Good. £10

Strategy game played on a board which looks like a piece of modern art, with coloured areas and striking black lines on a white background. The playing pieces are equally as impressive - plastic, but very chunky colourful cubes and blocks. Onto the board is placed a black plastic griddle which can be moved around and which effectively adds to the lines on the board. Players move their blocks into the spaces on the board, and may also move the griddle as well, which will often move some of the blocks. The objective is to get your blocks to the other side of the board, and whoever manages their moves most efficiently will win.

Imperator / Pivot. 2 editions available:

1) Imperator published by Smurfit Games. ca.1975. Box. Good. £5
2) Pivot published by Clipper. 1975. Box. Good. £5

Abstract game, made before Othello became an international hit, but it follows the same principles of surrounding pieces and turning them to your colour. The twist in this game is that the pieces are triangular and need to be surrounded on three sides. The pieces are three dimensional and plug into the plastic board.

Jagd Der Vampire, published by Ravensberger. 1991. Box. Good. £13. Desc. by Andy.

Country: German, Duration: 45 mins,

Special notes: German rules missing (translation supplied). Also includes a promotional photo.

Race game with a daft theme - the vampires have given up drinking blood and now prefer ketchup. They race through the evil forest to the castle where the Great Tomato has been hidden in one of the towers. First to get there and find it will rule the vampires! The bits are wonderful: large board, large heavy vampire tokens, big towers for the castle, big plastic bridges etc. The game itself involves moving along a track, landing on different coloured spaces to draw special cards. Moves have to be paid for with miniature ketchup bottles. Also vampires can duel, and cast spells, and special rules cover dangers within the castle. Nice item.

Jekyll & Hyde, published by Waddingtons. 1980. Box. Good. £8

Game of skill, but nerve and bluff required. All the pieces look like they are the same, but are marked differently on the back so that only the owning player knows what is what. Four of each player's pieces are Dr Jekyll and four are Mr Hyde. Players take turns moving one of their pieces with the option of capturing opposing pieces by moving onto them. However, the game can be won by capturing all four of your opponent's Jekylls, but is lost if you capture all your opponent’s Hydes! The game can also be won by getting one of your Jekylls to one of your opponent's corner spaces and then moving it off the board.

Junkyard Races, published by JKLM Games. 2003. Box. Mint. £27

Players control carts which race around a junkyard. The junkyard is littered with all sorts of useful bits of equipment and traps you can set for other players. There is a dangerous shortcut you can choose to take too. Movement is by rolling 1-3 dice and moving over hex spaces, while keeping on the track. An amusingly chaotic race over multiple laps. Pitstops can be made to change around your cart's goodies. The box is packed full of stuff: the board, hex tiles, lots of cards, 4 resin cast carts, and dice.

Kampf Um Rom, published by Kuhlmann. 1995. Box. Good. £40. Desc. by Andy.

Special notes: This set comes with the rules booklet and charts sheets for both games fully in English!

Wargame. Actually two games using the same map and components, one game by each of the authors. Germanica deals with the crumbling of the Roman Empire with the invasion of the germanic barbarians, and has some similarities with Brittania in that the players play a series of tribes which flow through the region, but with the objective of developing your tribes' culture as much as possible, which will require stability. Huns, Romans, Germans is a similarly themed game, but split into a basic and advanced game. Very nicely produced board with latin inscriptions, and wooden counters.

Karten Misch Maschine, published by Amigo. ca.2004. Box. In shrink. £17

Designer Unknown. Country: German, Desc. by Andy.

This is a card shuffling machine. It is hand driven (with a handle you turn), and is designed for standard size playing cards. There are adjusting screws designed to allow you to shuffle cards with different thicknesses. The machine essentially works by taking a deck of cards and splitting it semi-randomly into two halves, and you then put them together and repeat a few times. Sort of like a reversed riffle shuffle! Nice item for card players who have never mastered the art of a good shuffle.

King Of The Castle, published by Falcon. 1989. Box. Good. £6

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2. Country: British, Duration: 20 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Tile placement game in which players add stones to the castle wall (from the bottom up). When three in a row are lined up beneath a crown space, a crown is won. When the wall is complete, the player with the most crowns wins.

Knock Out, published by TM Spiele. 1994. Box. Mint. £9

Boxing game. Each player manages two boxers, one light and one heavyweight. Fighters challenge opponents' fighters and the bout is resolved using cards where players choose when to play their best cards and when to concede a round. There is also betting on the outcome of each round and the current boxers' managers can also take part in this. The objective is to accumulate the most money through winning fights and also astute betting.

Lemming, published by Spielfreaks. 1990. Box. Good. £12. Desc. by Andy.

Each player controls several lemmings who are all rushing inexorably towards a cliff. However, you want yours to be the last to jump! The game uses a random turn order mechanism to ensure unpredictability but allows cards to be played to divert lemmings from the fastest route, and when a lemming bumps into another one, the bumped one moves on, and in such a way that this can cause further lemmings to move too. In addition there is the occasional Mad Lemming Dash, and this all ensures a fun and unusual game which should not be taken too seriously.

Lost Valley Of The Dinosaurs, published by Waddingtons. 1985. Box. Good, but box shows a little wear. £8

Country: British, Duration: 45 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Adventure game with loads of large attractive plastic pieces and terrain. There are hills, mountains, lava, dinosaurs, sea monsters and pteranodons. Players have to send their men into the lost valley and survive the perils of the swamp and rivers, avoid the lava flows and the various dinosaurs and get to the temple where the treasure is according to legend. Game play is driven by action cards and roll and move mechanics.

Lotus, published by Ravensburger. 1988. Box. Excellent. £8

Abstract race game in which players have to try to get their playing pieces from the start area to the finish area first. Pieces can stack and the higher a stack the further the piece on top can move. There is also a 'trampoline' space which doubles movement for a piece landing on it. The board and pieces have been given a Chinese look which is quite attractive

Lowendynastie, published by Adlung Spiele. 1998. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Mint. £3.50 2) Excellent. £3

Card game, with the unusual theme of players trying to rise from being a lion cub, to becoming King of the Beasts. Based on an Aesop's Fable. A trick-taking game in which the main twists are that players can play more than once to a trick and also more than one trick can be active at a time. Includes English, French and German rules.

Mensa Mind Games, published by Index Books. 2004. Box. Excellent. £10

The main component of this set is a nicely produced 72 page paperback book of puzzles and games. The majority are problem solving puzzles, but the book also includes some games for 1 or more players. The set also comes with 120 cards which are used by many of the puzzles. There are over 200 puzzles / games, and about 100 of them you can time yourself for a more intense challenge. The chapters cover: Problem Solving, Thinking Creatively, Categories, Spatial Skills, Intuition, Word Power and Predicting Probability.

Mind Your Language, published by Spear's Games. 1992. Box. Good. £10

Designer Unknown. No. players: 3-6. Country: British, Duration: 1 hr, Desc. by Andy.

Unusual game which gets the players to ask and answer questions in foreign languages! Don't worry though -no skill in linguistics is required, as everything is spelt out phonetically and translated into English as well! The objective is to get your passport stamped for a number of foreign countries. When visiting a country you read out a question in the relevant language and choose a player to answer. If they have the answer card for that question in the right language they answer and you get your passport stamped, but they can instead block using a tourist card who answers in another language altogether or maybe they don't have the right card at all. Various event cards make it a bit harder to keep track of which cards people have too.

Mine, 2 editions available:

1) Published by Winsome Games. 1993. Country: American. Packet. Mint. £6.

2) Published by Rostherne. 1993. Country: British. Box. Good. £10. Limited edition copy (200). No. 125.

Players invest in and operate, mines, aiming to become the richest player. A clever and much under-rated business game in my opinion. Each of the mines has a different capacity, initial cost, overhead cost, production cost and reserves, and supply and demand determine the price at which ore can be sold each turn. Players can invest in surveys which mostly enhance a mine and need to be flexible enough to deal with various events. Recommended.

Munchhausen, published by Abacus. 1996. Box. Excellent. £4.50. Desc. by Eamon.

Card game, 64 colourful cards, drawing their inspiration from the stories told by (and about) Baron Munchhausen. In effect, the game is a variation of Cheat, with bluff playing a major part in the proceedings.

Munchkin Fu, published by Steve Jackson. 2003. Box. Excellent. £9

Humorous card game parody of Kung Fu movies . Very light and silly - the players have to try to get their character as powerful as possible, using the daft items available eg. 'Ebony Nunchuks Delivering Typhoon of Blows' and 'Excellent Bamboo Nose-Spreader'. Beware though as monsters and traps abound, such as 'Long Tong the Drool Demon' and the evil 'Generosity Potion'! It is also compatible with Munchkin should you wish to combine the two sets.

Murder Mystery - Murder On Misty Island, published by University Games. 1986. Box. 2 box edges split. £6

Country: English, Duration: 1 evening, Desc. by Andy.

Murder mystery party game for up to 8 players. The players role play the characters detailed and have to talk to the other players to find out who is the murderer! In this game a group of college friends have a reunuion on Misty Island, and one of them ends up dead. Those remaining need to work out who the culprit is, and they all have reasons to want Stephanie dead.

Nicht Die Bohne, published by Amigo. 1999. Box. In shrink. £6

Card game in which players try to collect valuable sets of cards in each of four colours. As well as numbered cards, there are also cards which make the value of the cards in a suit 0 and others that make them negative! Each 'trick' the players play a card in front of themselves, and then take it in turn to select a card played by another player. This results in the last player having no choice, and so careful group-think can ensure that a perceived leader gets pulled back suitably - much to their chagrin. At first read-through it seems too simple to be worth playing, but in practice it works well.

North Sea Oil, published by Omnia. 1974. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Good. £6 2) 3 Box corners damaged. £3

Oil discovery, pumping and selling game. The board shows 28 potential drilling sites, which vary in depth and productivity. There are different drilling rigs designed to reach different depths. Plots are initially explored and then put up for auction. Once bought a plot can be made active by buying a rig or moving one to it. Production is affected by weather. Though the price of oil fluctuates too and the political party in power changes and sets the interest rate on your loans (which you will have), and tax rates. Some advance warning of the next party coming to power is available to aid planning.

O' Kudos, published by R&D Games. 2005. Sheet of card. New. £2

Promotional game which was available at Spiel 2005. The board shows a completed sudoku puzzle, with each player being assigned one or more colours which cover the board. Players place counters on the board with the objective of covering their opponents' squares and not their own. Definitely not simply a parallel sudoku puzzle game.

Pac-Man, published by Milton Bradley. 1982. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Good. £4 2) Box corners split. £2.50

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2-4. Country: British, Duration: 20 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Board game version of the popular early 1980's video arcade game. Players each have their own Pac-Man which gobbles marbles as it is moved around the board. However, the ghosts must be avoided as they will steal your marbles. Great bits. Great for kids.

Palazzo, published by Rio Grande Games. 2005. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Excellent. £15 2) In shrink. £17

Auction based game in which the players vie to build the most valuable palaces. Palace segments are numbered to indicate the level they must be placed in a palace, as well as having 1-3 windows (more is better) and three different building materials. Palaces score more the bigger they are as well as for being built of all the same type of stone. Barely started palaces receive penalties. Money comes in three different types, and only one type can be bid with by each player in each auction though in addition sets of cards can be played to add to the value of a bid. You cannot always get exactly the tiles you need, so choosing which opportunities to take and which to pass up is key.

Party, Party!, published by Schmidt. 2002. Box. Excellent. £6

Children's Disney themed dice game for ages 5+. Micky Mouse's friends are depicted on tiles which are laid in a circle, and they also show a number from 1-6. Players take it in turn to roll a dice and move Mickey Mouse around the circle according to the dice roll, and may claim the tile landed on if they rolled high enough. Instead of claiming a tile it is permitted to gamble and make another dice roll, and if this ends in claiming a tile then both tiles landed on may be claimed, but if the second tile cannot be claimed then nor can the first.

Pass The Pigs, published by Milton Bradley. 1992. Box. Good. £4

Special notes: Photocopied rules

The game where you throw two plastic pigs, and the way they land determines your score. You can go on throwing building up your total, but risking throwing an Oinker and losing all your points. A nice variation on similar dice games, and which is a great game to play down the pub.

Pax Britannica, published by Victory Games. 1985. Box. Good. £16

Complex multi-player game of imperial conquest which covers the colonial period from 1880 to the outbreak of The Great War. The players control the world powers of the time: Great Britain, France, Germany (with Austria-Hungary), U.S., Imperial Russia, Japan and Italy. The players vie for control of the world which is split into areas which generate income. The players must spend money to maintain and build new military units and then manoeuver these forces to try to extend their empires and so further increase their empires. Care must be taken however, not to start the Great War - the player who does this is penalised severely and the game then ends.

Pente, published by Parker. 1984. Box. Good. £6

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2. Country: British, Duration: 30 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Generally well regarded strategy game that looks very attractive in play, the pieces being little glass stones played onto the vertices of a large square grid (like Go). Players compete to form lines of five stones, or try to capture five enemy pieces, which is done by surrounding a pair of adjacent enemy pieces with your own.

Perception, published by Gemini Games. ca.1980. Box. Good. £8.50

Special notes: Box lid good, contents still shrinkwrapped, but box base edges 'pulled in' by the shrinkwrap.

Players use skill and logic to break their opponents’ hidden code. This is from the designer of Master Mind and has a bit of a feel of that game. The hidden code is one or more letters or numbers drawn out using pegs on a 5x5 grid. Players locate the pegs battleships style, but can deduce what letter or number must be present without finding anything like all the pegs. Now quite rare game.

Poker Face, published by Piatnik. 1993. Box. Excellent. £5

Card game, 25 colourful cards are used in this game of bluff (you must keep a 'Poker-Face' as hinted in the title). Players collect cards from each other, hiding their true worth and action cards cause changes in the normal routine of play. Autographed on the front by the author.

Putsch, published by Queen Games. 1998. Box. Excellent. £11.50

Game of political manoeuverings in a banana republic. Control of each of the political groups at the end of the game scores points. Each group can perform different actions, and money and cards must be used to best effect. As you would expect from this type of game there is plenty of scope for wheeling and dealing amongst the players.

Quick Wits, published by UPL. ca.1935. Box. Good. £4

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2+. Country: British, Duration: 20 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Card game, featuring cards giving a range of categories, and a second deck of letters. There are several variations, but the basic idea is that players must name something which fits the current category and starts with the current letter.

Quixo, published by Gigamic. 1995. Box. Excellent. £9

Very attractive game with 25 large wooden cubes which are played onto a large round plastic base. The cubes have an X on one side and an O on the opposite side, with the other sides blank. Players take turns taking a blank cube or one showing one of their symbols from the edge of the board and reinsert it with their symbol showing so as to recomplete a now incomplete row. The objective is to make a line of 5 of your symbol. The game has a French award, "As D'Or 1995".

Rainbows, published by White Wind. 1995. Box. Mint. £7.50

Card game. Players first draft cards and then either pay to place a counter on the rainbow grid or put it in front of them to gain gold. Players earn points by placing adjacent counters on the board and by having numerical sequences in the cards placed in front of them. The longer the sequences the more points gained.

Rapidough Travel, published by The London Game Co. Ltd. 1994. Box. Good. £5

Designer Unknown. No. players: 4+. Country: British, Duration: 1 hr, Desc. by Andy.

Party game with 100 double sided word cards. Play is in teams and at any point one person will be attempting to model the current word using a lump of playdough! Other people try to guess what the word is. Includes modelling mats and a dough chopper which is used to remove some of a losing team's dough from the game, thus making it harder for them next round. A team has lost when it runs out of dough. This is a travel set, so has less word cards and a little less dough than the regular version, but does take up less space on the shelf / in the suitcase.

Risky Business, published by Laycee Games Inc. 1986. Box. Good. £7

Special notes: There is a mark on the base where tape was removed, which makes some of the 'blurb' unreadable.

Farming themed business game. Players breed their cows and build their herd, buying new cattle as cheaply as possible and selling others for a good profit. Also prize cows and bulls can win awards at shows. However, as the game name implies farming is a risky business, and all sorts of unfortunate events can befall the players. Game play is driven by moving around a track on the board, but with choices of which way to go at junctions.

S.P.I.V.S., published by 3 Wishes. 1986. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Good. £10 2) 2 Box corners taped. £9

Space game with each player taking the role of a slightly dodgy trader in aliens in the deep space of Quadrant 13. However the quadrant is full of hazards which must be avoided, such as a black hole, a giant space amoeba, solar flares, asteroid belts etc. Players must take care to manage their fuel well and also the aliens to be traded resent captivity and all affect the capturing ship in one way or another, perhaps affecting movement speed or eating other captured aliens etc.

Savannah Cafe, published by Euro Games. 2001. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Excellent. £8. 2) In shrink. £9

Country: French, Duration: 20 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Race game, each player has a hippo (very slow but steady), a lion (medium speed, but can be knocked back by opposing hippos) and a gazelle (fast but very erratic, and can be eaten by opponents' lions) which run to the watering hole to quench their thirst. It doesn't matter which of your animals arrives first, as long as one of them arrives before your opponents' animals. The game is driven by cards, each of which moves a particular type of animal a certain distance. A few special cards also allow for some sneaky tricks.

Save The President, published by Games for Pleasure. 1984. Box. Box good, contents unpunched. £9

Unusual game of bluff where each player has an objective, either to fulfil the title or to kill the President. Who is doing what starts out as a secret known only to the individual. The President moves in a motorcade across the board and players attempt to keep him safe / kill him by getting into the best positions. The President's route is not known in advance, but is determined randomly at each junction. Players move their agents and play cards which will hopefully give them an advantage. Players are penalised at the end of the game for hindering other players who turned out to be on the same side.

Schatztaucher, published by Salagames. 1992. Box. Good. £8

Deep sea diving themed card game with a board onto which cards are played. Each player takes it in turn to go on dives, in the hope of finding gold coins while avoiding sharks, in order to buy harpoons. When a player has enough harpoons then a dive to the ocean floor can be attempted in order to retrieve a lost treasure chest and win the game. The harpoons are needed to fend off giant squid and sharks. Game play is unusual - the cards show what depth they refer to (1-8) on the front and back, so everyone can see what depth cards you have, but only you know whether they are treasure, fishes or sharks. During a dive the diving player asks each player in turn for a card of either the next level down or up as they wish.

Schrille Stille, published by Zoch Zum Spiele. 1999. Box. Excellent. £15

Players take on the roles of record companies and try to promote their bands into the Top 10. This is done by secretly playing influence counters on the various bands in the charts. These then get resolved and can result in somewhat different results to what was expected due to the intriguing mechanism used. Record companies are then awarded points for the best bands and the least popular bands drop out of the charts to be replaced by new ones. The amazing thing about this game is the wooden CD player and the special 'CD sets' into which players put their influence chits and the way they all get resolved using the CD player - unique. I also have some simple house rules which cut the length of the game without removing any of the flavour.

Sensationen, published by Walter Muller. 1992. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Excellent £11 2) Good. £10

Unusual race game with reporters racing to get the top story theme. There are three tracks along which playing pieces will be moved, but at one time only one of these is active, and at the start of the game players secretly decide which pieces they want to win on each of the tracks. Cards are played to move the pieces along the current track, but special cards can be played to cancel other cards, double them or change the currently active track. When two of the tracks have been won points are awarded to players who correctly stated the winners. Uses Walter Muller's characteristic graphic style.

Shadis #17, published by Alderac Entertainment Group. 1995. Magazine. Good. £1.50

Independent gaming magazine which covers role playing games, collectable card games, as well as some board and card games. The main articles this issue: Real Spies, A Brief History of RPGs Part 1, The Necrology of the Vampire, Illuminating the Enemy (Using playing cards to add ideas to major NPCs), NPCs Get A Life (NPC traits and ideas), New Races, Artist Feature: Cline Siegenthaler, Hook Line & Sinker (mini scenario), The Good Bad & Ugly (NPCs), Card Games inc multi player Magic with a poster board, CCG Card listings, Games reviews: RPGs + Board Games, Miniatures, PBM games, Other magazines, Knights of the Dinner Table.

Sharpe's Attack, published by Gibsons. 1996. Box. Good. £7.50

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2. Country: British, Duration: 30 mins, Desc. by Andy.

TV related. Sharpe's Attack was Central TV's Napoleonic drama series, starring Sean Bean (photographed on the cover), so the game has a Napoleonic theme, with card illustrations by top military-uniform artist, Edward Dovey. An attractively produced game in the Stratego family, developed from the L'Attaque, with large stands and attractive graphics.

Situation 7, published by Parker. 1969. Box. Good, 1 corner taped. £22

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2 or 4. Country: American, Duration: 20 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Excellent idea for a game. Each side has enough jigsaw shapes showing outer space to complete the entire board. Players lay pieces on to the board starting from their base simultaneously, and they are considered to have captured the areas of space their pieces cover. Plastic pieces such as rockets, astronauts and satellites can be used to defend or secure your area against attack, or to start an invasion of enemy space. Various areas award bonus points as does owning complete sectors. Fantastic frenetic fun, and an amazing item for jigsaw fans who also like games.

Slik Move, published by Design Games. ca.1995. Box. Good. £6.50

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2-8. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Motor cycle racing game with plastic motorbikes. Uses a simple mechanism - movement is by dice (though they only have the numbers 3-6 on them) and a card is drawn when entering or exiting corners. There is scope for blocking other players especially if each player runs 2 or more bikes.

Sorry, published by BCM. 2 copies available:

1) ca.1935. Box & Board. Good. £9. Comes with a double deck of cards, but both decks have a few cards missing, so I am including a complete deck from an earlier set!

2) 1929. Box & Board. Good. £9

Designer Unknown. No. players: 1-4. Country: British, Duration: 30 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Early edition of this classic game, with a board, a deck of cards, and wooden pieces. A superior version of Ludo really, with more choice over the moves available as cards are played rather than dice rolled for movement. Comes with small box and separate board.

Space Walk, published by Ravensburger. 1999. Box. Excellent. £13

Space themed game which takes some ideas from the classic Mancala, but adds some neat twists. The board shows a circular track of spaces with some spaces being holes. The board is placed over the box and any spaceships landing on one of these 'black holes' is out of the game. Players play their spaceships which come in three sizes onto the board, and then move them. This is done by taking all the spaceships on one space where you have at least one ship and then placing them, largest first, one per space, onto the next spaces - hopefully getting opposing ships into the black holes while keeping your own safe. Extra turn tokens can also be used or kept for additional victory points.

Spielzeit Jan 98 No. 16, published by Redaktion Spielzeit. 1998. Magazine. Good. £0.25

Designer Unknown. Country: German, Desc. by Andy.

German language games magazine. You need to be fluent in German for this to be of interest. Games reviewed include: Downtown, Siedler Seefahrer Expansion, Newsmaker, Africa 1880. Fairplay, Twilight, Lang Lebe Der Konig, Think Series. Additional articles cover: Essen 1997 Roundup, Tripjat, Sabotage, Pyramido, Geheimnis Auf Dem Nil, Beim Zeus, Family Games, Monopoly variants, 10 Year of Zoch, Historical Games, Card Games, Palast Der Ratsel, Earthworm Jim, Hallo Dachs, Schloss Rabenstein, Top Secret.

Sprint, published by Diset. ca.1990. Box. Good. £10

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2-8. Country: Spanish, Duration: 45 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Children's game. The players build a cycle racing track using jigsaw-like pieces, thus producing a different layout each time. They then race their bicycles along the track. A spinner is used for this, and the spaces landed on also affect movement. A simple game, but with lovely components - the track tiles are very nicely made and the plastic bicycle figures have been painted.

Squander, published by Avalon Hill. 1965. Box. Good, but 2 box corners taped. £30

Extremely rare Avalon Hill game, a fore-runner of Go For Broke, being a game where you must spend all your money to win the game. Most unusual to see Avalon Hill make a family oriented game with mass appeal. The board shows a track around which the playing pieces are moved, with spaces showing all sorts of ways in which to spend money, such as duff stocks, gifts to charity, roulette bets, jewellery, being blackmailed, paying taxes etc. Definitely quite collectable.

Stack, published by BB Games. ca.1985. Box. Good - 1 corner taped. £5

Strategy game in which the players must get their pieces across the 5x8 space board to the other side. The movement range of pieces increases as they stack up whether on their own or their opponent's pieces, and a stack is controlled by the player who owns the top piece. However, jumping over other pieces or stacks is not permitted. A stack can split up, giving considerable flexibility. Quite a few similar mechanics to those in Sid Sackson's Focus. 15 rather nice stackable pieces per player.

StarForce, published by SPI. 1974. Box. Excellent. £13

Part of SPI's trilogy of three separate games - Outreach explored the grand strategy of space, Star Soldier was at the other end of the scale, with detailed tactical decisions, this one, StarForce came in between. Star Force is played on a map representing a 40 light year diameter sphere with 74 star systems. A hex grid regulates movement. Counters represent groups of interstellar ships, and space stations. Combat occurs when units are in the same 3-D location. The rules include basic and advanced rules. There are 14 scenarios, including one which is solitaire.

Stimmt So!, published by Queen. 1998. Box. Excellent. £9

Business game, with players investing in stock. Very neat game system in which there are 4 types of currency and 4 stocks available, one for each currency at any time. The aim is to get majorities in different companies when a scoring round comes. Also no change is given when purchasing, and paying exactly is rewarded highly. I have some house rules which improve it further too (just ask). This is the previous incarnation of the 2003 Spiel des Jahres winner Alhambra. Best with 3-5 players. Recommended.

Stocks & Bonds, 2 editions available:

1) Published by Avalon Hill. 1978. Box. Excellent. £6
2) Published by 3M. 1972. Box. Good. £8

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2-8. Country: American, Duration: 1hr, Desc. by Andy.

Stock market business game. A year is designated as Bull or Bear (strong or weak) and players trade accordingly. Dividends are paid and, in the advanced game, you can buy 'on margin', leaving you more capital to work with.

Stortebeker, published by Hans Im Gluck. 2000. Box. Excellent. £10. Desc. by Andy.

Designed by Andreas Wetter & Thorsten Lopmann. No. players: 2-4. Country: German, Duration: 1 hr. Each player is a pirate, out to loot galleys. To do this you need to have the right provisions cards and a bit of luck. You will also need a strong crew to make sure no other pirates come and take the booty from you. The cards you get determine what options are available to you, but the roll of the dice may yet foil your plans. Plenty of interaction as players can compete for valuable galleys. Also published as Corsairs in America.

Stratego Legends, published by Avalon Hill. 1999. Box. 3 copies available:

1) Box good, contents unused. £18. This set includes the contents of 4 expansion sets (making 60 extra pieces, 30 for each side).
2) Good. £10 3) Excellent £11

Game inspired by the classic, Stratego, with 60 plastic pieces, multi-terrain battle boards, and 6 reference charts. Each army is made up of fantasy characters, such as the Gorgons, the Valorians (Knights, Wizards and Clerics), the Ancients (Elves and Dwarves), the Celestian faeries, the undead Manes and the Qu'ans (the spawn of evil). Each player hand picks their army for each game, and expansion sets were also produced. Game play is related to Stratego, with pieces starting hidden, but being revealed as powers are used and combats ensue. However, every piece as well as having a combat strength also has a special ability. Entirely playable without any expansions.

Stratego Legends - Kralc's Horde, published by Avalon Hill. 1999. Box. Excellent. £3.50

Expansion set for Stratego Legends, with 15 random Gray playing pieces to add to your army.

Stratego Legends - Landor's Legion, published by Avalon Hill. 1999. Box. Excellent. £3.50

Expansion set for Stratego Legends, with 15 random Beige playing pieces to add to your army.

Sum-Times, published by Spear's Games. 1992. Box. Good. £6

Maths based game. The board shows a grid of the numbers 1-100, and number cards are used in a simple calculation (A*B +/- C) to indicate a square on the board which a playing piece can be played on. Replacing opponents' pieces is also allowed in some circumstances, and provides the tactics. The objective is to get all your playing pieces on the board.

The Administrative Waltz, published by Ariel. 1976. Box. Good. £6. Desc. by Andy.

Designed by George Singer & Jeanette Armstrong. No. players: 2-8. Country: British, Duration: 90 mins. Bizarre game based on a book of the same name. The object is to gain promotion and achieve the top job within your career (each player having a different career). Game play involves several different mechanics, including collecting and trading letter tiles with which words must be made up, collecting reference cards which let you get promotion, playing manipulation cards on other people to hinder them and sacrificing future victory points to get promotion now. In addition there are several alternative ways to win and a simplified version of the game as well as the standard game. Unusual item.

The Amazing Magic Robot, published by Merit. ca.1960. Box. Good. £5

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2+. Country: British, Desc. by Andy. Special notes: The robot originally had a pointer, but this has been lost. However it is still possible to see which question / answer the robot is facing.

A nostalgic item. The Magic Robot piece is rotated to point at a question and then when players have answered the robot is moved onto a 'magic mirror' and it then points 'magically' at the right answer. Its done with magnets of course, but is still quite novel. The game comes with 8 sheets of 16 questions. The questions are really intended for primary school children.

The Bridges Of Shangri La, published by Uberplay. Box. In shrink. £17

Unusual game in which players place tiles representing disciples of seven monastic disciplines into villages which are connected by bridges through the mountains. Initially a few masters are placed, and then students are placed, and when a village is full enough its students can be sent to a neighbouring village where if their knowledge is superior they will take over from existing masters, but behind them the bridge collapses. When the bridges are gone the player with most masters and students on the board wins. Interestingly different mechanics with lots of tactical options and plenty of scope for vicious play.

The Game Of Maze, published by Oxford Games. 1990. Box. Good. £4.50

The board shows a hedge-maze of the type found in the gardens of some stately homes. Players start with a playing piece in the centre and at the entrance. Players roll dice and move their pieces accordingly, with the objective of having their pieces meet up somewhere in the maze. A few spaces have special rules and landing on an opposing piece banishes that piece to a corner. The rules also include a list of British mazes open to the public and a short history of mazes.

The Settlers Of Catan Card Game, published by Mayfair. ca.1999. Box. Excellent. £12.50

An excellent 2 player card game based on the ideas in the Settlers board game. Each player must develop their settlements by adding a variety of different buildings which give various benefits and have different costs. Also settlements can be developed into cities, and the players vie for trading supremacy and military supremacy as these are worth VPs and give benefits. A dice determines which type of resource each player gets each turn, but unlike the board game you won't get multiple resources in a single turn. The building cards are drawn from various stacks, and so remembering which pile certain cards are in can be useful. Highly recommended.

ThinkBlot, published by Mattel. 2001. Box. Good. £7

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2-6. Country: British, Duration: 45 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Family game based around a book of complex ink blot patterns. Players study the ink blot and try to see as many different objects as possible, sometimes the objects must also fit a category. Points are awarded for each appropriate object seen as long as other people can also be persuaded that it is there.

Thinking Man's Golf, published by 3M. 1966. Box. Good. £5

Very innovative golf game when it was published - one of the first games to use chinagraph pencils and laminated boards. The 18 hole course is laid out on the wrap-around box, and it features 18 famous holes from various American golf courses. To play, you first determine wind speed and direction, then pick your club and place the range-finder on the board. Dice are rolled for your shot to determine distance and direction, and the location marked on the board. This is repeated until the putting table can be used instead.

Time Pirates, 2 copies available:

1) Published by Piatnik. 2000. Country: Austrian, Box. Excellent - unpunched. £12
2) Published by Rio Grande Games. 2000. Country: American. Box. Excellent. £12

Players move through time stealing valuable artifacts as they go, attempting to form valuable sets to sell in the far distant future. However the time police and other time pirates all get in the way. At the end of the game the player with the most valuable collection wins. The board shows the different time periods the players can move between, and from each time zone there are only a few others which can be reached, so care is required in planning your route between them to ensure you get the artifacts you need.

Tom Jolly's Cargo, published by Wingnut Games. 2004. Box. Good. £12

Each player controls a team of dockhands, which include regular workers, a burly worker, a mule and an elephant. Each player also has a selection of tea crates. The objective is to load your tea crates onto your ship while pushing other players' tea crates into the sea. It is also possible to squash other players' regular workers between two crates, and this is worth doing too. Each turn you have three movement points to split amongst your dockhands as you see fit, and each type has its own abilities. eg. An elephant can push up to 2 crates and move up to 2 spaces, while a regular worker can push only one crate and move only one space.

Too Many Cooks, published by Andy Merritt. 2001. Box. Mint. £10

My own self produced game. Each player takes the role of a restaurant owner and cook, and will buy ingredients at auction, and these can then be put together to form a variety of different recipes, which when completed get you money back (hopefully significantly more than you spent on the ingredients!) Some 'generic' ingredients (eg. tinned veg) allow extra flexibility. At the end of the game the restaurant which most successfully specialised in each of 5 types of cuisine gets a bonus and any restaurant which offers nothing for vegetarians is penalised. These copies are some of the second batch of the 300 produced, and so come in a pizza box - which is more practical than the lasagne tin the first 100 came in.

Torg - The Cassandra Files, published by West End Games. 1990. Book. Mint. £2

Supplement for the Torg: Roleplaying The Possibility Wars. This contains secret details of rampaging sea beasts, deadly curses, missing scientists and murderous cults, leaked at great risk by renegade members of the Council. Lots of new possibilities to add into your campaign.

Tot-Ten, published by Spears. 1970. Box. 2 box corners taped. £1.50

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2-6. Country: British, Duration: 15 mins, Desc. by Eamon.

Simple, but entertaining, abstract game. Each player has a hand of 3 tiles with numbers on. The board has 16 squares and each turn you must add a tile to the board. If you make a row, in any direction, add up to 10, then you win those tiles and remove them from the board. The winner is the one with the most tiles at the end of the game.

Travel The World, published by Early Learning Centre. ca.1995. Box.

Good, but quite large label removal mark. £4

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2-4. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Special notes: Photocopied rules.

Children’s game. The set includes rules for four different games, the idea being to use the set as a way to introduce children of age 5-8 to the geography of the world and differences between countries. The main game involves movement around a map of the world, travelling overland, by sea and by air to a series of destinations before returning to your home country. The other games make use of the destination cards and 'postcards' which correspond to the countries named on the destination cards, ie. matching them up in a variety of ways.

Treasure Island, published by Burley Games Ltd. 2003. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Excellent. £24 2) In shrink. £26

Pirate themed game from the designer of Take It Easy. The board shows an island with numbered spaces, some of which hold treasures, and some around the edge are landing points. Players roll dice to give a choice of which spaces may be played on, and can then play a token either on any landing space or any space adjacent to one of their tokens showing one of the numbers rolled. This gives tactical options as you can cut opponents off from sections of the island. When treasure spaces are captured treasure cards are obtained which will score at the end of the game. The board is reversible, one side being best for 2-4 players in 45 mins and the reverse for 2-6 players in 90 mins.

Triple Match, published by Spears. ca.1980. Box. Good. £1.50

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2. Country: British., Duration: 10 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Players shake a novel 'pattern indicator' essentially a 3x3 grid into which 3 balls will fall at random, and then place 3 marbles onto their 5x5 grid in the pattern shown. If they are unable to place all 3 because of previous placements then the turn is missed. This continues until one player has placed all 24 of their marbles or it is clear that neither player will be able to play any more. Whoever managed to place the most wins. Nice game.

Trump, published by Milton Bradley. 1989. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Good. £11 2) Box corners taped. £6

A highly regarded original business game, sanctioned by the multi-millionaire Donald Trump. Very nice components. Players invest in businesses with the money paid being placed inside special plastic boxes. The game is played in two phases. In the first phase players move around a track and the values of the businesses increase, businesses are auctioned and action cards are gained. In the second phase players play their action cards to make profits and negotiate deals which will allow them to use their cards most effectively to make more profits. Eamon has some house rules which I can supply if you remind me.

Twixt, published by Kosmos. 1998. Box. Excellent. £15

A new version of this excellent abstract game, with a well made plastic board and plastic pegs that slot into the board during play. It comes with three booklets-one is the rules (in 5 languages including English), the second two are only in German but they are invaluable to a Twixt fan. One is a strategy guide, and the other is a set of 40 Twixt puzzles to solve (there is a website which shows these puzzles and which is in English). The idea of the game is to make a connection from one side of the board to the other - one player trying to do this E-W and the other N-S. When a player has two pegs a chess-knight's move apart he can then place a connector between them.

Two Furlongs From Home, published by Lambourne. 2000. Packet. Good. £15

A statistical horse-racing management game based on the premise that most of the action in a horse race takes place in the last two furlongs of a race and so that is all that is replayed. Each player (the game controls all the other players if you are playing solitaire) is a racing stud owner or manager and must decide which races, and where, his string of horses should be entered. Includes a large plastic board to represent the race-course.

Tycoon, published by Jumbo. 1998. Box. Good. £14

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2-4. Country: Dutch, Duration: 90 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Excellent business game in which players fly around the world from city to city and build hotels and factories. However there are lots of interesting systems, such as there being a peak score in a city when there is a middling number of hotels, so late in the game values drop again. Also tickets must be purchased to get from city to city, and so you find it hard (or expensive) to get to exactly the city you would like. Money is tight and loans need to be taken out and judged just right so your options stay open but you don't pay too much interest. Shortlisted for German Game of the Year 1998. Highly recommended.

Uno, published by Waddingtons. 1985. Box. Box worn. £1

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2-10. Country: British, Duration: 30 mins, Desc. by Eamon.

Card game, 108 colourful cards, used in a variation of Crazy Eights, the playing card game. One of the most well known family card games in the world.

VI Sup, published by Dolumont. ca.1979. Box. Good. £9

Designer Unknown. No. players: 1-6. Country: French, Duration: 2 hrs, Desc. by Andy.

Mountaineering game featuring a map of the Mont Blanc Massif and the main climbs possible there. The components include a miniature ice pick for each player. The game is driven by several types of cards, and players start on easier climbs and as they get experience advance on to the more difficult climbs, and finally attempt Mont Blanc via the Grand Pilier d'Angle to win.

Where In The Wild?, published by Living And Learning. 1992. Box. Good. £7

The main feature of the game is four very colourfully illustrated and very attractive game boards showing many many different creatures of all shapes and sizes in various habitats - there are at least 150 animals on each board! In addition, each board is entirely different, with a different selection of animals. Cards ask the players to find creatures with different attributes (eg. a creature with more than 6 legs). The players have a board each and race to find such a creature. There are easier and harder questions, depending on whether it is being played by young children, and I have some house rules to make it a more interesting game for playing with adults too - essentially somewhat like the excellent Kaleidos.

Where There's A Will, published by Ragnar Brothers. 2002. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Mint. £13 2) Excellent. £12

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2-6. Country: British, Duration: 1 hr, Desc. by Andy.

Card game in which the players all try to claim as much of value as possible of the now sadly departed rich Duke's estate. This is done by putting forward various relatives and associates, from a son through mistresses to the chauffeur or maid. However, cards are also played to alter the comparative values of the various claimants and even change their allegiance or make them ineligible. Light but good fun.

Wild Life Card Game, published by Pepys. ca.1960. Box. Excellent. £3

Card game with attractive cards showing photos of 11 different animals, but 4 different pictures of each. Rules are included for 2 different games. The first is a version of Pelmanism, and the second a version of Snap. Both are made slightly more interesting by not having identical pictures on the cards of that quartet.

Word Battles, published by Jumbo. 1981. Box. Good. £6

Word game for 2 players. Each player has the same set of letters, and a 5x5 grid. Each player in turn announces a letter and both players add it to their grid. The players try to make as many words as possible on their grid, with bonuses for 5 letter words. The letters can be moved around during the game as additional possibilities become apparent.

World Traveller, published by Intelligames. 1980. Box. Good. £5

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2-6. Country: American, Desc. by Andy.

Players race their playing pieces across the board which shows a map of the world divided up into squares. Landing on some spaces results in being asked a question from one of the cards, and answering correctly will earn extra movement points. There are easy and difficult questions so the game can be played by adults and children together. There are also some adventure spaces which will send the player to a random location as determined by the adventure card drawn. The first player to get to the far side of the board wins the game.

Yucata, published by Hans Im Gluck. 1996. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Mint. £10 2) Excellent. £9

Intriguing race game, with players using cards to advance their token around the Mayan Temple. As the amulets progress, players pick up stones that line the path, and it is these stones that decide the winner, rather than being the fastest necessarily. The clever thing is that most of the stones are mildly good to pick up but there are also a few bad stones, and getting these gets scarily worse the more you get, so deciding how to time your big moves and the 'special' cards is critical.

Zargos, published by Euro Games. ca.1990. Box. In shrink. £19

Board game with loads of counters which is of the same style as Risk, but with lots of extra ideas added in. These include: random distribution of initial territories followed by a negotiation and swapping period; boats and sea attacks; magic cards can be obtained as well as reinforcements; each country has a capital which while held gives extra resources, and each player has a special ability their forces can use. Finally, the objective of the game is to sail to, and attack the Forbidden City and hold it along with the three surrounding territories.

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