May 2007 Catalog

MNG-AJM Games and Collectibles

May 2007 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?

4 Cyte, published by E F G Ltd. 1963. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Good. £4 2) Box shows wear. £1.50

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

Word game in which each player has their own set of tiles and a 6x6 grid in which to place the letters and try to form words of length 3-6 in vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines. Players take it in turn to choose a letter tile and all players take that letter and place it on the board as they wish. There is also a one tile 'holding' slot where a tile can be held until later and then placed. Several sets can be combined to allow the game to be played with more players. A good classic game.

A New Book Of Patience Games, published by Routledge & Kegan Paul. 1953. Book. Good. £4

Hardback with dustcover, 19x13cm, 119 pages. 29 games of patience are described with diagrams to illustrate. Of these 29 games 11 were designed by the author and were published here for the first time. The games are: Tower of Hanoi, Fours, Travellers, Squares, Doubles & Quits, Patch, Puss In The Corner (x2), Belgian Patience, Wedge, Gate, Cribbage Patience, Poker Patience, Golf, Demon, Gaps, Double-Dot, Pendulum, Chinaman, Agnes, Usk, Flower Garden, Three Suit, Cartwheel. Harp, Four Marriages, Intrigue, Corona, Giant.

Air Charter, published by Waddingtons. 1970. Box. Good. £6.50

Special notes: Good condition except for some marks on the lid where tape has been ripped off

Players operate air-freight businesses in the South China Seas. Players pick up goods and either deliver them on routine but not especially profitable routes or if they are suitably placed they can go for one of the urgent contracts which pay quite a bit better. Running your plane involves keeping your fuel level right but the more fuel you have on board the less freight you can carry.

Air Traffic Control, published by Airfix. ca.1975. Box. Good, but box base and lid indented. £12

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2-9. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Unusual, rare game with a 4 foot long board, 8 plastic planes and bases so that the planes can fly at different heights. The board represents an aerial view of two airports and players are 'queuing' to land. At each stage of the takeoff and landing process players use a dice driven script system to determine what happens next. There can either be a dedicated player who takes the role of air traffic controller or the pilot players can take it in turns to take this role on other players' turns.

Avalon, published by Kosmos. 2003. Box. In shrink. £11

Special Notes: I will include colour printed and laminated crib sheets and English supply cards.

Card game in the excellent small square box Kosmos 2-player range. The players vie for supremacy over a row of 11 regions, some of which grant their controller advantages. The cards depict knights and sorceresses in various colours, and these can be placed next to the various terrains to reinforce, or to attack the opposing forces there, and thus if successful gain control of the region. As usual with this designer, the mechanisms are clever and a little unusual - the sorceresses are potentially powerful, but if countered can give your opponent an advantage, whereas knights are needed in order attack a region. Finally, winning a battle is not all good news as there is a potentially a large cost in hand cards to be paid by the victor.

Bang, published by DaVinci Games. 2002. Box. In shrink. £10

Card game which recreates a Wild West shootout. Each player is dealt a character card which gives them special abilities and a secret role card which determines that player's goal for the game: the Sheriff wants to kill all Outlaws, the deputy wants to protect the Sheriff and kill Outlaws, the Outlaws want to kill the Sheriff, and the Renegade just wants to be the last person standing. The cards let you shoot other people (though sometimes a shot will miss), get a better gun, have a beer to revive you etc. The cards are language independent.

Bang: A Fistful of Cards, published by DaVinci Games. 2005. Packet. In shrink. £3.50

Mini expansion for the Wild West card game Bang. This expansion consists of 15 new cards, one of which is read out at the start of each round and changes the rules for that round. A good way to add variety to the game.

Bang: Dodge City, published by DaVinci Games. 2004. Box. In shrink. £10

Expansion for the Wild West card game Bang. This expansion includes 64 new cards - both new character cards and also new action cards. Unknown gunmen stalk the city - keep away from them and wear a metal plate for protection. This expansion also allows the game to be played with 3-8 players (rather than 4-7).

Beim Zeus, published by Kosmos. 1997. Box. Good. £9.50

Intriguing game about building temples. The player who builds the most valuable temples wins, but it is very easy to over-stretch your finances and end up with egg on your face. The twist is that you need to buy land to build on, by auction, but the amount you pay has ramifications later, because this cost must be repeated when you raise the height of your temples. Thus the lower ‘ground’ cost you can pay, the more you save in the long run. As usual with this company, very nicely produced, with wooden pieces, tiles, bidding dials and cards.

Boys' And Girls' Book Of Indoor Games, published by D. Appleton & Co.. 1928. Book. Good. £8

Special notes: There is a message to a previous owner dated 1938 on the first (blank) page.

Hardback, 19x13cm, 213 pages. A comprehensive collection of indoor games divided up as follows: Good Paper Games (6), Fine Board Games (10), Table & Floor Games (11), Card Games (10), Guessing & Memory Games (6), Letter & Writing Games (9), Games When Alone (9), Manual Skill (10), Quiet Parlor Games (10), Noisy Parlor Games (12), Holiday Games (12), Forfeits & Redeeming Them (22). An excellent collection, and there are many sketches and diagrams which add to the atmosphere of the book.

Breaking Away, published by Fiendish Games. 1996. Box. New. £17

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.

Canasta, published by Gibsons. Box. Good. £2

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

2 Canasta decks with a set of rules for Canasta for 2, 3 or 4 players. Canasta is a very popular and highly regarded rummy variant developed in Uruguay in the 1940's and popularised in America in the 1950s.

Card Games For All The Family, published by Hodder & Stoughton. 1977. Book. Good. £2

Softback, 18x11cm, 100 pages. A collection of family card games split up as follows: Games For Two (5), Games For Three (2), Games For Four (5), Games For Five Or More (12), Lively Games.

Chase Your Neighbour, published by Piatnik. 1990. Box. Good. £5.50

Move and capture game, best for 3 or 4 players. Pieces are limited to movement based on the squares they start the turn on. The board is an 8x8 grid with numbers 1-6 on each space and with four dead spaces which cannot be moved through. Unusually, the game continues until one player has lost all his pieces but the winner is the player on the left of the loser regardless of who captured the last piece.

City And Guilds, published by JKLM Games. 2004. Box. In shrink. £21

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. £4

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.

Club Golf, published by Gibsons Games. 1995. Box. Good. £5

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

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).

Dama, published by Polymertex Plastics. ca.1970. Box. Good. £1

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

This is a draughts set, but on a board of dots and lines instead of black and white squares (the two boards are equivalent).

Der Dieb Von Baghdad, published by Queen Games. 2006. Box. In shrink. £16

Each player is in charge of a group of thieves and some guards, and there are 6 palaces with treasures. Cards are played to move around guards and thieves in order to get sufficient of your thieves in position to be able to steal a treasure. To do this efficiently requires good tactical card play. The first player to liberate four treasures wins the game.

Die Erbraffer, published by Ravensburger. 1994. Box. Excellent. £11.50

Country: German, Duration: 90 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Unusual but great theme for a game - the board shows 6 generations of a family tree, with many intermarriages. Play progresses through the generations and players play cards to alter the fortunes of the various family members in the current generation in terms of money and valuable heirlooms. As time passes a generation dies and the wills are found and the goodies pass onto the next generation, though often new wills may be found redistributing the wealth. The objective is to end up with as much of the valuables ending up in the possession of various of your (secretly owned) family members dotted through the ages, or your secret heir in the year 2000. For £4 extra I can print and laminate a set of cards in English to ease gameplay.

Die Schatzinsel, published by Spiel Spass. 2002. Box. In shrink. £15

A neat tactical game in which players build up a treasure island out of tiles. The initial setup determines exactly where every tile must be played, but the order in which the tiles get played determines their scoring values. In addition treasure chests and guards can be played on the board for points - the more that have already been placed the more valuable they will be. There is also a bonus for ending the game, and at that point any valuable tiles, chests or guards still hoarded by other players become worthless. Very interesting game in which getting your timing right is key - it fits a lot of game play into a short period. Recommended.

Die Sieben Weisen, published by Alea. 2002. Box. Good. £12

Interesting game of alliances and power struggles. Each turn the players choose which mystical character they wish to take the role of. Which role to pick depends on the cards you have, and also the relative strengths of the characters at this turn's meeting place. Alliances are then made, with a neat system should noone want to make an alliance up front. Then cards are played one at a time by the two sides, with the players on the winning side gaining VPs and the losers gaining a magic spell card to aid them in a future turn. After several such meetings the player with the most VPs wins. Unusual and rather neat.

Die Sternenfahrer Von Catan - 5-6 Player Expansion, published by Kosmos. 2000. Box.

Excellent - unused. £11. Designed by Klaus Teuber. No. players: 3-6.

Country: German, Duration: 2.5 hrs, Desc. by Andy.

5-6 player expansion for Die Sternenfahrer Von Catan, which you will need to make use of this. The set includes 2 more motherships and extra weapons, boosters, and colony / trade ships etc for the extra players. It also includes add on systems for the players to explore and an extra race of aliens with their own concession cards (which could be used in games with fewer players too).

Doctor Who Puzzle Book, published by Magnet. 1985. Book. Good, cover shows some wear. £5

Softback, 18x11cm, 95 pages. Puzzle book written as a series of mini Doctor Who adventures in which the Doctor and his assistant, Peri come across lots of puzzles which the reader can solve. Answers are included at the back. The cover features Colin Baker. Very nice item for Doctor Who fans, especially those who like word puzzles, codes and logic puzzles etc. The book is intended for older children.

Don, published by Queen Games. 2001. Box. In shrink. £8

Auction based card game with a mafia theme. Later reprinted as Serengeti. Players bid for cards with numbers and colours, with points awarded at the end of the game for large sets of the same colour. The unusual twist is that if you have a '6' card out and someone bids 6, 16 or even 26, then you get the money rather than the bank! Clearly once quite a few cards have been sold (and they are sold in batches) the bidding can get quite interesting.

Drachengold, published by Descartes Editeur. 2000. Box. In shrink. £10

Defeating a dragon is no problem for a well prepared adventuring party. However, deciding how to divide the treasure is far from simple. Players must cooperate enough to defeat the dragons, but then negotiate for

the best share of the treasure making use of magic items and special abilities to get one up on your co-adventurers! This is the German edition - I will provide a set of laminated English magic item cards to ease play.

Dragonriders Of Pern - The Book Game, published by Nova Games. 1984. Slipcase. Good. £12

Each player takes a book and flies a Dragon in the land of Pern, and must try to burn the falling Thread before it hits the ground. A clever adaptation of the Ace of Aces picture book system used in a cooperative game set in Anne McCaffrey's famous fantasy world. The game has several levels of rules: one set to get you going very quickly, as well as rules for a campaign game in which your riders improve with experience, and various optional extra rules for added flavour.

Dungeon Twister, published by Asmodee Editions. 2005. Box. In shrink. £17

Each player has a team of adventurers with various powers, who are trapped in a dungeon. The board is made up of 8 small maze-like boards which can be rotated during the game, changing the layout. Action points are spent to move adventurers, pick up and use items, fight opponents or perform special actions. The objective is to gain victory points by escaping from the dungeon and killing opposing adventurers. The game is card driven - the cards being selected each turn from an open display. Very well received fantasy game.

Elfenland, published by Amigo. 1998. Box. In shrink. £23

Superb game that won the German Game of the Year 1998. Players take the role of Elven Princes who must travel the lands of the elves visiting as many of the 20 cities as possible during the game. Travel is by various unusual methods eg. elfencycle, giant pig, unicorn, or dragon. Each turn transport markers are drafted and then placed on the various roads to indicate what type of transport may be used on that road, and then cards are played to move from city to city along the roads. Simple but extremely effective mechanism. The game works best with more rather than less players (so 5-6 is best). Highly recommended.

Fabrik Der Traume, published by Hasbro. 2000. Box. Excellent. £18

Re-released version of Traumfabrik without the music CD. The game is about completing films as quickly and/or as well as possible. Films require actors, special effects, music, directors, camera, and stars and these are obtained both by participation in auctions and by going along to parties! There are awards presented for the best (and worst!) films at the end of the game and at a couple of points during the game. Essentially it is an auction based game with money circulating between the players.

Familienbande, published by Winning Moves. 2003. Box. In shrink. £9

Amusing light game based on the idea of family descendents inheriting distinguishing features such as large noses, ginger hair, short sightedness etc. The cards are humourously illustrated showing off these features in the various characters. At the start of the game each player is secretly assigned a trait to try to bring to prominence through the generations, and points are scored throughout the game as marriages are formed and new generations fill out.

Farming, published by Edward Fletcher. 1982. Box. Good. £11

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.

Fief 2, published by Euro Games. 1989. Box. Box shows wear, board a bit grubby. £12.50

Medieval political war game set in a mythical French kingdom. Each player is a feudal lord in 12th century France, a time when nobles chose weak kings so that their own privileges would not be challenged. Players have to manage the finances of their realm, while also gaining influence over the royal family and the church to gain power. Cards are used to inflict damage on rival lords. The game includes a colourful 4 part map of the countryside, and a large lidded counter and card tray.

Firepower, published by Avalon Hill. 1984. Box. Good. £5

Highly detailed simulation of man-to-man combat over the 20 years 1965 - 1985. For those of you daunted by a detailed rulebook, it does include introductory, basic rules as well. Includes squad organisations from over 50 different nations, and details of hundreds of different vehicles and weapons. The mapboards can be arranged in numerous ways for added variety and there are some solitaire scenarios included. Bookcase box.

First Principles Of Card Play, published by Faber & Faber. 1990. Book. Good. £6

Softback, 20x13cm, 153 pages. Bridge book intended for players who already know how to play but want to improve their card playing skills. The book covers: Play In No Trumps (Certain Tricks, Promoting Secondary Honours, Long Suits, Finesse, Hold-Up Play, Entries, Which Suit To Establish, The Danger Hand), Play in a Suit Contract (Drawing Trumps, Discarding Losers, Setting Up Side Suits, Entries, Extra Tricks from Trumps), Defence (Opening Lead, Third Hand Play, Second Hand Play, Discards, Mid Game).

Flandern 1302, published by Queen Games. 2004. Box. In shrink. £16

Various guilds struggle for power in Flanders in 1302. City tiles in the players colours are laid onto the cities, with various limitations. Church and neutral quarters can also be placed, and special sectors can expand or shrink the final size of the city. Players play cards to determine the action they will take each turn, but don't get played cards back until a turn is skipped. When a city is completed points are scored for having more quarters than the other players.

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

1) Fair. 1 Battered corner and writing on the side. £4 2) Good. £8

Designed by Frederick A Herschler. No. players: 2-4. Country: American, Duration: 1hr, Desc. by Andy. 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.

Four Dragons, published by Jolly Roger Games. ca.2001. Box. In shrink. £8

Country: American, Duration: 30 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Unusual card game which is primarily for 4 players, played as a partnership game, but which also has rules for 3 players. Three hands are played, and in each hand there are 7 scoring cards which players try to ensure are in the tricks they take. At the end of the game scoring cards are paired off and scored for each partnership. Unusually for a trick taking game many of the lower cards have special abilities such as allowing a card to be exchanged with your partner, asking a player a question about their hand etc. This is a reprint of the privately produced Dia De Los Muertos.

Fredericus, published by Da Vinci Games. 2005. Box. Excellent. £14

Special notes: This set includes the mini expansion which was available at Spiel 06.

The players represent falconers at the court of Emperor Frederick II, and must try to catch as many weird and wonderful creatures as possible, and preferably those for which the Emperor has made a request. Players get to move around cards in order set up the right conditions for their falcons to hunt, and then claim the quarry. Correctly guessing where the other players will next make a catch is also rewarded. It is also possible to interfere with your opponents' falcons, hooding them at the right moment so they will be unable to strike. Unusual game.

Fredericus / Palatinus / Maestro Leonardo Expansion Sheet, published by DaVinci Games. 2006.

Single Sheet. New. £1. Designed by Acchittocca. Country: Italian, Desc. by Andy.

An expansion available at Spiel 06 for various DaVinci Games: Fredericus, Palatinus and Maestro Leonardo. The sheet can be cut out and shows new board elements with rules on the back for how to use them.

Games Worth Playing For School, Playground & Playing Field, published by Longmans. 1967. Book.

Good, but dust cover shows wear. £4. Designed by Donald MacCuaig, Grant S. Clark.

Country: British, Desc. by Andy. Special notes: Ex school copy.

Hardback with dustcover, 19x13cm, 146 pages. Written by two Physical Education school inspectors, this book gives many ideas for games which can be played by large groups of players outdoors - many of them are really fun exercises to improve athletic skills and hand / eye / ball coordination to get children ready to play football, cricket or other popular sports. The book is divided as follows: Misc Games (15), Relay Races (25), Ball Handling (6), Aiming Games (7), Team Games (24), Rounders (10), Introductory Cricket (6). An excellent resource for teachers and youth club leaders.

Gettysburg, published by Avalon Hill. 1988. Box. Good, but box shows slight indentation. £6.50

Special notes: Some counters show wear. 1 Reorganisation counter is missing, but a blank counter has been marked up suitably.

Complete revision of the earlier American Civil War game by the same company. The introductory game is an excellent way to try out war gaming. Historical and hypothetical scenarios. Special 125th Anniversary edition. The game is rated Low in complexity and High in solitaire suitability. The rules cover just two sides, with an additional book detailing 5 scenarios ranging from 40 mins to 4 hrs in length, and also giving lots of historical information, as well as optional rules. A hex represents 700 yards and a unit represents a leader or a brigade.

Glass Chess Set, published by Unknown. Box. Good. £4

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

An entirely glass chess set (board and pieces are all glass). The board measures 17.5cm square, so is quite small, but the set is entirely functional and very attractive.

Greentown, published by Bambus Spieleverlag. 2006. Box. New. £22

Country: German, Duration: 1 hr, Desc. by Andy.

Board game involving building attractions in a city with a limited road network laid out on hex tiles. New hexes are added to expand the city and buildings are added. Playing pieces are moved around the road network to the attractions, and the winner is the player who does all this most profitably. Plenty to think about. Limited edition of 350.

Halma, published by Glevum Games. Board & Box. Shows wear, some discolouration on box. £5.50

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2 or 4. Country: British, Duration: 30 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Special notes: Original rules (if there were any) are missing, but I have supplied a set with basic strategy info as well as extra pawns to play the 19 piece version.

Classic strategy game which was probably invented in the 1880s, and for some years was very popular. The objective is to get your men into the diagonally opposite home area faster than any of your opponents. Pieces are moved either one space at a time or by jumping over other pieces as many times as desired, which is clearly more optimal. This set has attractive period drawings on the board and box.

Herzlos, published by Winning Moves. 2003. Box. In shrink. £5

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2-5. Country: German, Duration: 25 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Card game, and a variant on the traditional card game Hearts. The decks uses modified suits: Hearts, Cups, Flowers and Diamonds, and the penalties etc are different to standard Hearts. The game plays with 2-5 players rather than just the standard four for the traditional game.

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

1) 1 box corner taped. £4 2) Good. £5

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.

Hive, published by Gen:Four.Two. 2001. Box. Mint - still in shrink. £14

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.

Hot Streak!, published by A.R.C.. 1980. Box. Good. £5.50

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

Gambling game for the whole family. Players move around a track along the edge of the board and the space landed on determines which gambling game is played next. These spaces include betting and rolling dice to get certain numbers to win as well as the classic casino games: roulette (with a spinner based roulette 'wheel'), keno, blackjack, fruit machines (spinner based), horse racing (a mini race), 7 Card Stud Poker, Baccarat and more. The game ends when all the lottery tickets have been sold and then a ticket is drawn and the player with the most money wins.

How To Play Bridge, published by Ptarmigan Books. 1945. Book. Good but discreetly stapled. £1.50

Softback, 18x11cm, 128 pages. Intended for beginners this book takes you through the rules of the game and what to consider when bidding and playing. The book uses the 'Approach-Forcing' system of bidding.

Hoyle Abridged: Game Of Whist, published by John Stacy. 1833. Booklet.

Some pages slightly discoloured. £4. Designed by Bob Short. No. players: 4. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Booklet, unstapled, 10x7cm, 33 pages. Pocket booklet detailing the laws of whist, with a dedication of the four kings in a deck of cards to real life kings, and a series of hints and tips for card play, as well as the rules to 4 player whist, and a glossary of terms. Many intriguing period snippets such as 'Printed for the benefit of families to prevent scolding'. Nice period item.

Hunting Party, published by Seaborn Games. 2005. Box. Excellent. £23

]Country: American, Duration: 90 mins, Desc. by Andy.

An unusual fantasy game in which players control a main character who will need to recruit a party of adventurers - the more recruited, the more powerful the group, but the smaller the proportion of treasure found the main character (and thus the player) will get. However, this isn't a dungeon bash game - players have to earn the right to discover the properties of the prophesied big baddy, and what will be required to defeat it. Once this is discovered a group capable of victory needs to be recruited and the evil defeated. However, the winner is the player with the most money, which may not be the player who beat the evil nasty! Very attractive artwork and an intriguing design.

Indonesia, published by Splotter. 2005. Box. New. £40

Country: Dutch, Duration: 3 hrs, Desc. by Andy.

Substantial and very highly regarded business game. The board shows the Indonesian archipelago, and players run a number of companies, which either run factories and produce goods or develop shipping routes and gain money by transporting other companies' goods. Players get to expand and develop these companies and merge similar companies in order to form conglomerates. Ultimately the player who best manages their money and makes the best business decisions will win, though doing so is sure to be far from easy.

Interplay, published by Shoptaugh. 1981. Box. Good. £5

Special notes: This set comes in a sturdy all plastic case, and has wooden components.

Abstract game in which the players place sticks and barrels (some solid, some hollow) onto a 7x7 grid. The objective is to be the first to create one of three 5 piece patterns. Since both a stick and a hollow barrel can share the same space, the thought process involved can be quite tricky. This was later reprinted as Sticks 'N' Barrels by Discovery Toys.

Invers, published by Peri Spiele. 1991. Box. Good. £7.50

Two player strategy game from Kris Burm, a master designer of this type of game. The game consists of a 6x6 grid of tiles which can be pushed around by inserting an extra tile from the edge. One side of each tile is either red or yellow, and the other side shows just a dot of the same colour. When a tile comes out it is re-entered inverted, and you may not push out your opponent's inverted tiles. The first player to invert all their tiles wins.

Jotto, published by Selchow & Richter. 1973. Box. Good. £5

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

Neat word game which has a lot in common with Mastermind. Each player has a secret 5 letter word and players alternately guess a word and are told how many letters are correct. Only real words can be used to guess.

Jurassic Park, published by Parker. 1992. Box. Good. £10

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

Film related, based on the Spielberg film. Players compete in a race to the Visitor’s Centre starting on the far side of the island, avoiding the Raptors, Spitters and the T-Rex on the way. Big box and big board and includes 16 plastic dinosaur figures. Play involves a dice to determine which type of dinosaur you may move and card play to move your people, escape dinosaurs etc. There are some 'safe' areas, such as maintenance huts where you get to replenish your cards. Unlike the film, dinosaurs don't kill, they just pin a player (but this is a race so that hinders quite a bit!). Also there are components for up to 8 players despite the box saying 2-4 players.

Katzenjammer Blues, published by Rio Grande Games. 1998. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Excellent. £5 2) In shrink. £5.50

Card game in which players bid for selections of cards using more cards. Bids consist of melds of 1-4 cards, with larger melds outbidding smaller melds. Jokers are also in the mix, but using them is dangerous as the player who uses the most gets penalised. As well as getting more cards the winner of the cards also claims some mice which are VPs. Plays quickly with some interesting decisions to be made.

Kleopatra Und Die Baumeister, published by Days Of Wonder. 2006. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Excellent. £25 2) In shrink. £28

Country: German, Duration: 75 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Special notes: German version, but I am including English rules and colour printed and laminated English crib sheets, and very few of the cards have German on anyway.

Board game with amazing pieces: 2 large obelisks, 6 sphinxes, a throne with plinth, many columns, and a 3D palace which uses the box lid as a component, as well as a pyramid of corruption for each player. Players draft cards in a unique way and use them to build the various parts of the palace in order to gain VPs. However, timing your building well can bring extra VPs and the more powerful building cards bring corruption points with them, which are then kept hidden. When the palace is complete the most corrupt builder is thrown to the Nile crocodiles and the remaining builder with the most VPs wins.

Knightmare Chess, published by Steve Jackson. 1996. Box. Excellent. £6

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2. Country: American, Duration: 1 hr, Desc. by Eamon.

Cards used in conjunction with a chess set. Based on the original French idea, a hand of cards is dealt to each player, and the cards can be played after making a move. The sheer quantity of cards makes each game different. The card graphics are very nice. The effects are too numerous to list but they might, for instance, create a teleporting square, or a black hole square. Certainly livens up chess!

Knock Out, published by TM Spiele. 1994. Box. Mint. £8

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.

Krieg Und Frieden, published by TM Games. 1999. Box. Good. £15

Players take the roles of land-owners in a feudal society, and run their lands and gain favour from the Bishop by building his Cathedral, or from the King to gain additional resources. Each turn, players use their resources to make a bid to solve that year's problem - with different resources having different values depending on the problem. Then players use their remaining resources to enhance their lands, raid others' lands, etc. Harvest brings new resources for the next turn. After all the pieces of the Cathedral have been built, the game ends, and VPs decide the winner. Originally released as Charlemagne. I have some house rules which I find improve the game substantially, and make this a game I can recommend. Chunky wooden bits.

Labyrinth, published by Yang Chen Enterprise Co. Ltd. Box. Good. £3.50

Designer Unknown. No. players: 1+. Country: Taiwan, Duration: 5 mins, Desc. by Andy.

A wooden ball maze in which you have two controls to adjust the angle of playing surface which will determine where the ball rolls. You try to navigate the maze without the ball falling into a hole. You score more the further you get. While this was made in Taiwan the company looks to be British and it is certainly made for the European (inc British) market.

Round The Bend Labyrinth, published by Vic-Toy. ca.1977. Box. Box battered, contents good. £2

Designer Unknown. No. players: 1+. Country: British, Duration: 5 mins, Desc. by Andy.

A nicely made ball maze in which you have two controls to adjust the angle of playing surface which will determine where the ball rolls. You try to navigate the maze without the ball falling into a hole. You score more the further you get. This version is plastic, but nicely made and with more sensitive controls than many other versions.

Lexicon, published by Waddingtons. 1933. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Good. £4 2) Box edges show wear, 1 edge taped. £2.50

Card game, a classic British word game in this first edition housed in a box that looks like a small hard-back book. The game involves using letter cards to form words using your cards in hand and those words already formed on the table.

Lobo 77, published by Amigo. 1993. Box. New. £5

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2-8. Country: German, Duration: 30 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Family game of the same general type as Uno. Players start with 3 chips and a hand of cards and take turns playing a number card and adding its value to the current count. If the result is a 'double number' eg. 22, 33 etc, then the player loses one token. If the count reaches or exceeds 77 this ends the hand and the player who made this happen loses all their chips, and will be out if they have to lose any more chips, but the hand is restarted at 0. There are also special cards which reduce the count, change the direction of play, force the next player to play two cards etc.

Mage Stones, published by TSR. 1990. Box. Good. £6

Players try to be the first to place all their glass bead playing pieces on the board. The board shows columns labelled 3-9 each with 9 spaces. On a player's turn they roll 3 dice each numbered 1-3, and place a stone where they wish in the indicated column. However a roll of 1-2-3 loses a turn and a triple gets another turn. Capturing is similar to Othello, but captured pieces are removed. Thus there is skill in setting up for captures and defensive play, but the dice may not give you the number you want. Good game, but sold poorly as TSR insisted on making it a DragonLance tie in, when the game would not appeal to most D&D players, and players of this type of game would generally be put off by the DragonLance logo.

Mage The Ascension: Hidden Lore, published by White Wolf. 1996. Book. Excellent. £3

Country: American, Desc. by Andy.

Softback, 28x22cm, 72 pages. Sourcebook for Mage: The Ascension. This book includes: various helpful charts, secrets and reference sheets to make the Storyteller's life easier; A short adventure set in Seattle - Shadows In The Rain; A selection of spells for all sorts of mystics; Famous mages; New rules options.

Mage The Ascension: Loom Of Fate, published by White Wolf. 1996. Book. Excellent. £3

Softback, 28x22cm, 72 pages. Adventure for Mage: The Ascension set in San Francisco. The future of S.F. hangs by a thread - the thread of Cob - weaver of the pattern web. One scared, gifted girl holds the key to the city. The Technocracy wants her alive, and the Maurauders want her dead. The mages who befriend her will determine her destiny. As well as the adventure itself, there are also details of San Francisco of use in further adventures.

Mage The Ascension: Technocracy Iteration X, published by White Wolf. 1996. Book. Excellent. £3

Softback, 28x22cm, 72 pages. Sourcebook for Mage: The Ascension. The central concept is that warriors are enhanced by computerisation, making them controllable, and pretty much entirely machine, though some reawaken and realise they are men. This book includes: The history, world view, goals and tactics of the Convention; details of the Stormtroopers of the Pogrom; details of an Iteration X Production facility for use in adventures.

Mage The Ascension: Technocracy Void Engineers, published by White Wolf. 1996. Book. Excellent. £3

Softback, 28x22cm, 69 pages. This sourcebook details the most extreme section of the Necromancer Conventions, who explore deep seas, deep space, and alternate dimensions. The book details their ships, devices, weapons, and some important mages, as well as the organisation itself.

Mark, published by Franjos. 1997. Box. Excellent. £15

Business game in which players run a recycling company. The components include mini jam jars, bottle tops, etc. Play involves processing the various recyclables and selling them when the price is highest. The games uses dice to give players limited options each turn. Players must also manage their stock levels as there are penalties for keeping too much back rather than selling it. Works well as light business game.

Kevin Keegan's Matchday / Matchday, 2 editions available:

1) Kevin Keegan's Matchday, published by Dubreq. ca.1978. Box. Good. £3

2) Matchday, published by Supergames. 1976. Box. Box corners split. £2

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

A good family game based on a football theme. The game uses some mechanics from Monopoly, but features games, injuries, transfers, gate attendance, and other aspects of being a football manager.

Memoir '44, published by Days Of Wonder. 2004. Box. In shrink. £28

Two player board wargame which can also be played in teams by more players (up to 8 for some scenarios). The game includes 144 plastic figures. The game covers the D-Day landing and was produced as the official game of the 60th Anniversary. Game play uses cards to give the players their options, and is not complex, making it a good introductory wargame, or one for those who don't appreciate 1/2" cardboard counters. However, the selection of scenarios ensures the game won't grow old quickly. Very well regarded and won several wargame awards inc. The International Gamers Awards Best Wargame.

Memoir '44 Eastern Front, published by Days Of Wonder. 2005. Box. In shrink. £16

Expansion for Memoir '44. This set includes: Russian Army set (with 42 infantry, 24 tanks, 6 anti aircraft guns). New rules for use with this set, 44 terrain tiles (ruins, ravines, frozen rivers, marshes, snowy forests etc), various tokens, 14 Special Forces badges, 8 historical scenarios for use with this set.

Memoir '44 Pacific Theatre, published by Days Of Wonder. 2006. Box. In shrink. £16

Expansion for Memoir '44. This set includes: Japanese Army set (with 48 infantry, 12 light tanks, 6 anti aircraft guns). New rules for Japanese special abilities, New Night Attack and War Ships sheets, 44 terrain tiles (jungles, cave networks, rice paddies etc), various tokens, 14 Special Forces badges, 8 historical scenarios for use with this set.

Memoir '44 Terrain Pack, published by Days Of Wonder. 2005. Box. In shrink. £16

Expansion for Memoir '44. This set includes 66 terrain tiles (inc. roads, railways, marshes, waterways, mountains and more), 22 landmark tiles (supply depots, power plants, prisoner camps etc), various tokens, special unit badges, 4 historical scenarios using the new features, and rules for using the new game elements.

Message To The Czar / Kurier Des Zaren. Two versions available:

1) Kurier Des Zaren, published by Winning Moves. 2003. Country: German. Box. In shrink. £12

2) Message To The Czar, published by Rio Grande Games. 2003. Country: American. Box. Excellent. £12

A much simplified and shortened version of Muscat published as Message To The Czar in America. Players compete to deliver a message to the Czar, which is done by moving through a series of levels on the board before getting to the Czar himself. Movement is unusual - tiles are placed in a series of houses and then a clever mechanism determines which will be promoted to the next level. Much lighter than the original (which was very cerebral), but still scope for some clever tactical play.

Mine, 2 versions available:

1) Published by Winsome Games. 1993. Packet. Country: American. Mint. £5. As usual with this company, the components are printed on card which needs to be cut up before you play the first game.

2) Published by Rostherne. 1993. Box. Country: British. Good. £9. Limited edition copy (125/200)

Players invest in and operate, mines, aiming to become the richest player. A clever and much under-rated business game. 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.

Modern Party Games, published by Ward Lock & Co. 1953. Book. Good. £1.50

Hardback with dustcover, 19x13cm, 160 pages. Book of party games intended for adults. The games ranged from 'decidedly brainy' to 'ridiculously funny', and some are very swift while others can occupy a whole evening. The games are split up as follows: Wordy Games, Mixing & Grouping Games, Miming & Performing Games, Team Games, Romping Games, Talking Games, Fireside Games, Showy Games & Contests, Musical Games, Table Games, Garden Party Games, Treasure Hunts, Special Events. Hundreds of games & activities are included.

Molly & Lore!, published by Descartes Editeur. 2002. Box. In shrink. £6

Special notes: For £2 extra I can print and laminate a set of English special ability cards.

Published as War & Sheep for the English speaking market. Neat game in which each player has a small flock of sheep and must use it to eat as much grass as possible. However, not all patches of grass are the same. Some are normal, some are very potent (high scoring) but the sheep must retire for a long rest, while others are of little nutritional value but give their player a special ability card, while other patches of grass hide a waiting wolf! Once discovered a wolf can wreak havoc, but sheep can hide from a wolf. Should a player lose all his sheep then he also loses the game, so playing too aggressively can be dangerous. The special abilities are suitably fun. Nice game - recommended.

Monopoly - France 1998 World Cup Edition, published by Waddingtons. 1998. Box. Excellent. £17

The classic game, released for the 1998 World Cup Football Finals. A beautiful version of the game, with a unique FIFA World Cup metal playing token. Instead of buying properties, you buy international football teams,

but still in the familiar groupings by colour. It includes stadiums and hotels, silver-coloured pewter playing pieces (all related to football of course), and a special box insert to act as a Bank tray during play. All this housed in a special collectable box.

New England, published by Uberplay. 2003. Box. In shrink. £19

Country: American, Duration: 75 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Clever tile placement game in which the players expand out from three initial land holdings each - one each of three types of plantation. Players bid to get the choice of options each turn, but going first will mean that the actions cost more to perform. The actions include taking tiles to lay on the board to expand your areas; claiming action cards which can be used to score VPs by upgrading land tiles; and placing people, ships or barns onto the board for various advantages as well as possible extra VPs at the end of the game. The game gives you a stream of interesting choices. It was selected as Game of the Year for Games magazine in 2004. Highly recommended.

New World, published by Avalon Hill. 1990. Box. Good. £10

Multi-player game based on SPI's Conquistador, but far less like a war game. Players exploit the land, quell the natives and survive the elements. Starts out as a gold rush more or less but subtly changes so that political control of regions earns far more than the gold mines. Game play involves managing your soldiers and colonists on the board, and fighting when necessary or advantageous. Lots of flavour to this game.

Number Ten, published by Linden Products. ca.1990. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Excellent. £5 2) In shrink. £6

Designer Unknown. No. players: 3-7. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Political game in which the players vie for the office of Prime Minister in order to gain a variety of special powers. However, in order to do this it will almost certainly be necessary to make some alliances and give and promise favours. Dice are used to move around the board, and various spaces give players votes, cause event cards to be drawn or make players debate a political topic. This debate can either be resolved by dice rolling or by the players actually giving a brief talk on the topic and the other players voting on whose speech was best! At various times players will need to vote for who should become the new Prime Minister, and here the players' negotiation skills come to the fore.

Numeri, published by Berliner Spiele. ca.1970. Box. Good. £4

Race game. Wooden pieces. Rules in many languages, including English. Movement is by dice roll indicating which of a player's numbered pieces can move, but it is possible to split your roll eg. a 5 can move either piece No. 5 or pieces No 1 & 4! Also getting 3 or more of your pieces in a row gets you another turn.

O' Kudos, published by R&D Games. 2005. Sheet of card. New. £1.75

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.

Panzerschreck Issue 1 Summer 98, published by Minden Games. 1998. Magazine. Excellent. £0.50

Magazine dedicated to variants and solo play of wargames. This issue includes: Solo Origins of World War 2, Russian Civil War quick play variant, Assorted house rules, Retro: ASL, and this issue's game with cards and map: Reichstag: The Fall Of Berlin.

Paparazzo, published by Abacus. 1994. Box. Good. £5.50

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

Card game with a paparazzi theme. Players must collect valuable photographs of celebrities. The more compromising photos of one person in circulation the greater the value for that particular celebrity. A neat twist is that, to finance future investment, you have to sell some pictures as you go along (to Stunk magazine) but you must be careful not to sell future high earners lest you reduce the value of your final portfolio too much.

Pente, published by Parker. 1984. Box. Good. £5

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.

Phantoms Of The Ice Promo Cards, published by White Wind. ca.1995. Packet. Good. £0.50

Two extra cards to use in your Phantoms of the Ice game (the German version of Slapshot). Includes full English rules for the use of each card, which are: The Hydra - a player with variable strengths depending on the opposition. The Chameleon - A player with a different level of ability in every game he plays.

Pinhigh, published by Canmos. ca.1990. Box. Excellent. £5

Designer Unknown. No. players: 1-8. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Attractive golf game with a large colourful board showing an aerial view of a made up golf course. Players choose a club to use for each shot, having a clear chart which indicates the possible outcomes. Each player then spins a specially marked up roulette wheel which determines the outcome, which can be one of poor, fair, good, excellent, miracle or air-shot with differing degrees of likelihood. Very nicely produced.

Pivot, published by Clipper. 1975. Box. Good. £4

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. Also published as Imperator.

Magellan / Pizarro & Co, 2 versions available:

1) Magellen, published by Hans Im Gluck. 2002. Country: German. Box. Good. £8

2) Pizarro & Co, published by Rio Grande. 2002. Country: American. Box. Excellent. £10

An auction game with a theme of backing famous explorers' expeditions. Players bid for the services of different explorers, some of whom reward with riches, some fame, some victory points and some a mixture. Some interesting ideas to make it harder to judge the value of the different explorers, and there are alternate rewards on the reverse of the game boards for a greater variety of games.

Poker Strategy, published by Perigee. 1982. Book. Excellent. £10

Softback, 20x14cm, 189 pages. Poker strategy book aimed at players who are already familiar with the rules, and want to improve their play The book covers the following topics: Introduction (optimal strategy, luck, psychology, 7 playing rules), Draw Poker: Basic First Round Play (rules, ante, probability, opening & calling), Bluffing, Basic Second Round Strategy: Two Players, First Round Raise, Second Round Strategy For 3+ Players, Poker Variations, Advanced Problems.

Polyhedral Dice, Good. £0.15 each

Designer Unknown. Desc. by Andy.

I have lots and lots of 12 and 20 sided dice, and a lesser number of d4s, d6s, d8s and d10s (units and tens). If you want particular colours of dice just let me know and I will see what I can do.

Ponte Vecchio, published by EG Spiele. 1996. Box. In shrink. £16

Beautifully produced auction game. Players purchase shops on the Ponte Vecchio in auctions, with the aim of tempting a rich gentleman to spend his fortune in their shops. Control of the rich gentleman is also auctioned, and players may negotiate with his controller for mutual benefit. Includes attractive cards, and a plastic 'bridge' board with chunky shop pieces.

Popeln, published by Sphinx Spielverlag. 2004. Box. Excellent. £5

Card and dice game on the rather unusual and less than savoury theme of picking your nose! The cards depict especially long and thin fingers, as well as the bogeys which result from successful nosepicking! Players try to accumulate the best bogey collection. Yukk!

Popeye Bingo, published by King Features. 1961. Box. Good. £1

Designer Unknown. No. players: 3+. Country: British, Desc. by Eamon.

Bingo / Lotto / Housey-Housey, whatever you like to call it. Features Popeye, Olive Oyl, Bluto and Wimpy on the lid.

Powers & Perils - Book Of Tables, published by Avalon Hill. 1984. Box. Mint. £1.75

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

Powers & Perils Fantasy Roleplaying Supplement. This includes a book summarising the main tables in the main game, and errata from the main game. Also included are Adventure Record Sheets and 3 Reference Screens.

Professional Texas Hold'em Poker Set, published by Sabine Trend. ca.2005. Tin Box. New. £11

Designer Unknown. No. players: 3-6. Country: German, Desc. by Andy.

This Texas Hold'em Poker Set comes in a metal tin, and includes: 200 12.25g professional suited poker chips (in 5 colours), a well made chip rack, a large felt mat, two decks of playing cards, a dealer chip and rules for Texas Hold'em. A very useful item for players of all business games even if Poker is of no interest, as using good quality poker chips speeds up any game which involves lots of monetary transactions - they are all also very much nicer to hold than paper money too.

Quasimodo, published by Burnett Distribution Ltd. 1995. Box. Good. £1.50

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

The playing board is first built, adding a 3D Notre Dame, bridge and another building. The game is then played and it is a fairly basic roll and move game with a couple of obstacles to get past on the way. Attractive setup for younger children though (The box says age 5+).

Rat Hot, published by Queen Games. 2005. Box. In shrink. £10

Tactical tile laying game in which the players are spice merchants. Tiles are 3 squares long, with each square showing a spice, a rat or nothing. Tiles are played on top of each other horizontally and vertically, but with no gaps formed, and not exactly on top of another tile. Points are scored for forming groups of your spices and you also try to keep your opponent's rats exposed. It is possible to make your opponent lose by having too many of their rats exposed at the end of their turn. Very tactical.

Razzia, published by Ravensburger. 1992. Box. Good. £6.50

Fun game in which players compete for the money found in several gambling dens. Simultaneously players send either a cop or a gambler to one of the dens. If a gambler is on his own he gets the money. If only cops turn up then noone gets the money. If a cop finds one or more gamblers then the cop takes the money, and if two or more cops / gamblers are eligible for the money they negotiate and if that fails they dice for it. A game which involves outguessing your opponents and being able to make deals too. Later republished as Hick Hack Im Gackelwack.

Relationship Tightrope, published by Uberplay. 2004. Box. In shrink. £10

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. This was originally published as Drahtseilakt in Germany.

Risky Business, published by Laycee Games Inc. 1986. Box. Good. £6

Note: 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.

Casino Roulette, published by Bell's. ca.1980. Box. Good. £6.50

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

An attractive and substantial roulette set. The roulette wheel is plastic, 12 inches across and nicely made with a metal spindle so spins very smoothly. The set also includes a betting mat, croupier's rake and 4 colours of betting chips.

Roulette, published by Berwick. ca.1978. Box. Good. £4.50

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

Special notes: The croupier's rake has been repaired with tape, but is entirely functional

A nicely made roulette set. The roulette wheel is plastic and 9 inches across. The set also includes a betting mat, croupier's rake and 4 colours of betting chips (20 each) as well as the rules.

Route 66, published by ASS. 1994. Box. Good. £12

Interesting card driven race game across the United States on Route 66. Players have a speedometer, which governs their speed (amount of movement) each turn, and cards are used to alter your own speed or alter someone else's speedometer. The aim is to collect State cards along the way, as the player who sees the most of the country will win - not necessarily the player who finished first.

Rumis, published by Murmel. 2003. Box. In shrink. £19

Each player has a selection of 3D pieces made from wooden cubes stuck together. Players take it in turn to place one of their pieces onto the board, but with the restriction that each space has a maximum level to which pieces may be played, and each piece must be played touching one of your previous pieces. Points are scored at the end of the game for parts of your playing pieces which are still exposed. Interesting tactical challenge, as you have to ensure you keep future options open while also playing into scoring positions. On the German Spiel des Jahres nominations list for 2003. Recommended.

San Francisco, published by Amigo. 2000. Box. In shrink. £15

Country: German, Duration: 75 mins, Desc. by Andy.

San Francisco needs to be rebuilt after the devastating earthquake of 1906. The players represent various factions who want to be involved in the rebuilding. As buildings are constructed players vie for the right to place them and ownership of the streets using auctions involving money and influence. Ultimately the player who proves the most successful rebuilder will win. The game involves a selection of mechanics from other games, but they blend well to form a good game not like any of the games it derives from.

San Gimignano, published by Piatnik. 2002. Box. In shrink. £14

Players vie to build towers in the town of San Gimignano. The board is laid out using large hexagonal tiles as the game goes on. These tiles each show differently coloured zones, onto which players may place their influence counters. When a player has four different zones connected they may build a tower, which is a step towards victory, but also blocks off that space from further use. The towers are substantial and very tactile being made from Anker building stones. Very nicely produced. On the German Spiel des Jahres nomination list for 2002.

Save The President, published by Games for Pleasure. 1984. Box. Box good, contents unpunched. £8

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.

Scramble, published by Chad Valley. ca.1950. Box and Board. Good. £16

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

Special notes: Believed to be complete, but impossible to check.

Very rare item, played on a map of a busy shopping centre. Players move their cars across the board trying to buy a certain amount of goods. This is quite an advanced game for its time because it doesn't use dice, but uses a deck of 40 cards that allow the players to move, place pedestrians on crossings (blocking others), change traffic lights, and so on. Lots of bits and wooden components. There is no components list in the rules.

Set!, published by Ravensburger. 2001. Box. In shrink. £9

Card game. The cards feature symbols that are used in an original way. 12 of the cards are laid face up on the table and everyone simultaneously looks for a 'set' of three cards, and when they spot one call "SET!" However, this is not as simple as it seems as sets are not always obvious because the symbols on each card have 4 characteristics (shape, colour, number and shading), and 3 cards form a set only if: for all four features, the cards either have all the same feature or none have the same feature. As you can imagine it takes a while to get your mind around it, but it can become addictive. The game has won various awards from all sorts of organisations. Highly recommended.

Shogun, published by Ravensburger. 1979. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Good. £4. This is the full size edition 2) Good. £3, This is the smaller edition.

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

An intriguing strategy game. Each player has eight pieces, which have inside them a numbered dial, only one number of which can you see at a time. Under the plastic board are magnets, which when you move a piece on to a square, cause the dial to turn, revealing a new number. This number limits or enhances the piece's move next time. The objective is to eliminate your opponent's Shogun or to get him down to just two pieces remaining. Each game is different as the board can be shaken to rearrange the magnets between games.

Sixteen Gambling Games In Twenty Minutes, published by Eyre & Spottiswoode. ca.1910. Book. Good. £10

Softback, 17x11cm, 63 pages. This book gives the rules to the following card games which you can play for money: Baccarat, Chemin-de-fer, Banker, Dupe, Fan Tan, Hearts, Jolly Farmer, Nap, Poker (Draw, Whiskey & Stud), Rummy, Schnautz, Slippery Sam, Solo Whist, Vingt-et-un.

Socks In The City, published by Bambus Spieleverlag. 2005. Packet. In shrink. £16

This game comes shrinkwrapped without a box, but one of the components is a large velvety sock into which all the components can be placed when punched out! Triple hexagon tiles are put together to form a city, with some pre-printed communal trail network tracks. Several sock tokens of various colours are placed around the city, and the players then take it in turn to lay track to form networks. The objective is to connect up socks of the same colour to score points - more the further apart they are. Once all socks have been paired up in this way the player with the most points wins. Limited edition of 1000.

Sorcerer's Cave, published by Gibsons. 1982. Box. Good. £17

Special notes: 1 Dragon card was missing, but a replacement was made by scanning and printing using one of the blanks. The other blank cards have been drawn

Very nice concept in this fantasy game that you need to play on the floor. This is because the board is made up of a large number of dungeon cards, which can meander in any direction (and they really do spread out). When you find stairs, you start a new dungeon 'under' the other one, and so on as you go deeper. You will need a large playing area! The solitaire game is very challenging to win.

Space Hulk, published by Games Workshop. 1989. Box. Box lid has a repaired tear. £42

Special notes: The box is 1st Ed English version, but the unpunched contents are from a German set, in which the Space Marine figures are all the same. German rules & scenarios, with English translations supplied.

Sought-after game from GW. Set in the Warhammer 40K universe. One player controls a team of Space Marines who undertake a particular mission in an abandoned starship (the Space Hulk of the title). These missions all involve opposition from the Genestealers who are Alien-esque monsters which are numerous and deadly. The game uses plastic miniatures and 15mm scale room and corridor layouts for the Space Marines to explore. The game looks great and the rules are pretty simple and certainly playable.

Space Quests, published by WH Smith. 1985. Booklet. Good. £7.50

Special notes: Countersheet unpunched, except for 2 missing counters. Entirely playable despite this.

A set of 5 space themed board games. Unusually the boards are printed on thick card and folded into a booklet. The booklet can be folded open so that it shows one of the boards at a time. A separate sheet of cardboard counters to play the games is provided as well as a rule book for the games. The games are: Race For The Planets (2) Players move their counters to claim 4 planets first, challenges can take place; Graveyard In Space (2/4) Explore a space wreck encountering hazards to find valuable equipment; Asteroid Miners (2-4) Race to stake your claim while avoiding orbiting asteroids; Cyborg Pursuit (2) - Will the Cyborgs overrun Earth before Earth forces are alerted to their presence?; Star City (2-4) Explore an abandoned alien city.

Sprint, published by Diset. ca.1990. Box. Good. £8

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.

Star Fighter, published by Lusio Games. 2003. Box. Good. £5

Card game with a Space Combat theme. Players play cards representing various attack systems (mines, missiles, laser cannons etc) to take down the shields of their enemy ships. Defending ships can respond with appropriate countermeasure cards in order to avoid shield damage. The objective is to keep your ship functional for as long as possible.

StarForce, published by SPI. 1974. Box. Excellent. £11.50

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.

Statis Pro Football, published by Avalon Hill. 1981. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Box shows wear. 3rd edition, 1982 teams included - partly unpunched. £3.

2) Good. £5. Includes 1st & 2nd Ed rules and 1980 and 1983 player cards.

Statistical American Football game. Uses the Fast Action Card system, a patented system used in several statistical sports games. Individual players are rated for their ability to throw/catch/run, block, rush the passer, and several other ratings. Several years worth of cards for use with the game were produced. The rules are 8 pages long.

Statis Pro Football 1991 Teams, published by Avalon Hill. 1991. Packet. Mint. £2

Supplemental teams for this complex American Football statistical simulation.

Submarine, published by Winning Moves. 2004. Box. In shrink. £12

Each player controls a surface ship as well as several submersibles. Players compete to salvage various treasures from the bottom of the ocean, at various depths. Cards are used to move the submersibles, raise treasures and interfere with opposing ships. Play is tactical, with some interesting mechanisms limiting when and where you can retrieve treasure and affecting the cost of the retrieval.

Tactic Blue, published by Bambus Spieleverlag. 2006. Box. New. £18. Desc. by Andy.

A collection of six 2-player abstract board games from various authors. The game includes a double sided board: one side with a triangulated hexagon the other showing a chess board. Also included are black and white wooden playing pieces. The games are: Accasta (tactical stacking game), Abande (positional scoring game), Attangle (stack creation game), Attraktion (pattern creation game), Alva (draughts variant), Dame 100 (draughts variant). A very nice collection for abstract game fans.

Take 4, published by Spears. 1979. Box. Good. £2.50

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

The board is a hexagon of 19 indentations into which balls are placed. There are 6 balls in 3 colours - one colour for each player and a neutral colour. Players take it in turn to move one of their balls to an adjacent space or take an opposing or neutral ball. The first player to take 4 of the neutral balls is the winner.

Take It To The Limit, published by Burley Games. 2006. Box. In shrink. £22

This is an expanded version of the excellent Take It Easy. Players play hex tiles with numbered lines onto a hex grid trying to complete lines all of the same number, in all three directions. Everyone uses the same tiles drawn from a pool at random (bingo style). This version uses a larger pool of tiles with numbers up to 12, and provides two alternative games, one shorter than the other. Using the Orchid board three tiles can be set aside during play either not to be used at all or to be placed in extra spaces for more points. The Nexus board is a larger hex grid, and also comes with a mini board you must play some tiles on. There are various new scoring opportunities such as the bonus tiles and sun / moon rows. Highly recommended.

Termination Incorporated, published by Creative Gameplay. 2004. Box. Excellent. £15

Privately produced shootout board game. The players each have a playing piece which they move around the board, which shows a maze. Dice are used to determine movement, but with some interesting choices in how to use them. Players can attempt to shoot opponents' pieces and the closer they get the more damage is likely to be done, but care needs to be taken that one still has sufficient movement to escape around a corner or revenge may be swift. Cards can also be used to shield you from enemy fire, or at least make your enemies believe you are shielded! The components are nicely made in black and white.

The English Defence, published by B.T. Batsford. 1987. Book. Excellent. £10

Softback, 21x14cm, 100 pages. Chess book for tournament players. Part of a series titled: The Tournament Player's Repertoire of Openings. This book introduces the English Defence, and then goes through a selection of possible counter moves, and also discusses the Accelerated Queen's Indian.

The Gardens Of The Alhambra, published by Queen Games. 2005. Box. In shrink. £13

An attractively produced and rethemed version of Carat by the same author, to tie in with his award winning game, Alhambra. This is a tactical tile laying game, initially tiles representing various buildings in the gardens of the Alhambra are laid out. Players place garden tiles which influence the buildings it is laid adjacent to but that influence won't only be for the current player, but for the others too. When a building is completely surrounded it is scored and taken out of play. Play continues until all buildings are surrounded. The nice artwork makes the game much more appealing than its abstract predecessor.

The Mag With No Name Issue 17, published by Ian Willey. ca.1996. Magazine. Good. £0.30

Magazine devoted to wargaming, roleplaying and play by mail. This issue is 88 pages long and includes: Lots of letters, Computer Assisted Naval Engagements Under Sail 1740-1827, The Battle of Borodino, News, The Invasion of France, Short Story: Transcribed from the journal of Alan Hemp, Magic: The Gathering, UK Record Companies, Arkham Gazette (CoC).

The Official Master Mind Handbook, published by New English Library. 1976. Book. Good. £2

Softback, 18x11cm, 136 pages. This book goes into detail on the logical reasoning and psychological factors involved with the code breaking game of Master Mind. The book covers the skills of code breaking, code setting strategies and methods, expanded versions of the game and tournament play. There are lots of Master Mind puzzles for you to solve too.

The World's Best Word Puzzles, published by Daily News Publications. ca.1925. Book.

Good but spine and edges show some wear. £18

Hardback, 19x12cm, 126 pages. A compilation of word puzzles of various forms: Enigmas, Riddles, Acrostics, Charades, Word Squares, Palindromes, Anagrams, Conundrums, Rebusses, Buried Words, Missing Words, Expanding Words, Squares and Stars, Crosswords and more. 1925 is the copyright date - I doubt this is an original printing.

ThinkBlot, published by Mattel. 2001. Box. Good. £5.50

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.

Third World Debt, published by JKLM Games. 2005. Box. In shrink. £24

Economic game in which each player runs their own third world country, and has to manage its economy. This will involve obtaining money from international banks to build factories, and thus get income, but the banks need interest payments, and money can also be siphoned off for military purposes. Getting the balance just right is what will win the game.

Thunderbirds International Rescue Game, published by Peter Pan. 1992. Box. Good. £7.50

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

Special notes: Box base indented, and there are two pegs missing, but there are still more than are ever required in any of the missions.

TV related, with 4 sets of Thunderbird vehicles 1 to 4 and a plastic Tracy Island to assemble in the middle of the board. Released to coincide with a resurgence of interest in the TV show on British television at the time. In order not to upset die-hard fans, the rules apologise for altering some of the missions from the original TV story lines for the benefit of game play! In each mission the players use dice to move their Thunderbird vehicles in order to retrieve people / objects from around the board and take them to the places designated in the mission briefing. The first to do this wins. The game includes 16 different missions.

Tikal, published by Ravensberger. 1999. Box. Good. £16

Country: German, Duration: 2 hrs, Desc. by Andy.

German Game of the Year 1999. Players lead expeditions across the board, which starts out blank but tiles are added, making every game different. The object is to discover the temples, unearth them and find treasure. Nice wooden components and well produced large hexagonal tiles make it very attractive during play. There are always lots of options on your turn, and it is rarely obvious what the best strategy is. As with other games in the series players have a number of action points to use each turn. Recommended.

Time Pirates, 2 editions available:

1) Published by Piatnik. 2000. Box. Country: Austrian. Excellent - unpunched. £10

2) Published by Rio Grande Games. 2000. Box. Country: American. Excellent. £10

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 Cave Troll, published by Fantasy Flight Games. 2002. Box. In shrink. £12.50

Fantasy themed board game which is a cross between a standard fantasy adventure game and a majorities in areas game, and makes a good addition to both genres. Each player has their own set of character and monster chits which are mixed up and drawn throughout the game. Some of the characters are basic fighters while others have special abilities. The monsters range from orcs to the dreaded Cave Troll which entirely blocks off a chamber. As well as introducing their characters and monsters on to the board the players move them around in order to claim the gold in various rooms when a scoring round comes up, defeat monsters and find powerful artifacts. Recommended.

Tombouctou, published by Queen Games. 2006. Box. In shrink. £19

An unusual game in which players start with a caravan of camels loaded with various goods, and these camels move across the board towards Timbuktu. However, along the way there are thieves. Each player has part of the information about what the thieves want and in which part of the board they will appear, and more information is gained as the game goes on. Thus through logical deduction and tactical movement of your camels you aim to have the most valuable goods when the caravans reach Timbuktu. Previously self published by the author.

Tri-It!, published by Spear's Games. 1985. Box. Good. £2.50

Players try to be the first to score 10 points by surrounding triangles on a hexagonal grid of triangles using their three pieces. The lines joining vertices are green, yellow or blue and each turn a die is rolled indicating one of these colours. One piece can then be moved along as many adjacent lines of this colour as is desired. Once a triangle is surrounded points are scored according to the number in the triangle and the pieces are reset and play continues.

Triomph, published by Anderson. 1987. Box. Good. £7.50

Special notes: Box lid slightly discoloured in one area, but contents fine.

Abstract game played on a hex board with hexagonal wooden pieces. Players move to obtain supremacy in the centre of the board, using cards in their hand to best effect and using groups of pieces to strengthen the attack. There are also special spaces which add to the strength of certain pieces. When a player gains control of the centre the opponent gets one last chance to break their supremacy.

Tutankhamen's Revenge, published by Jumbo. 1992. Box. Excellent. £11

Country: Dutch, Duration: 30 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Very attractive board game in which players dig for treasure. The playing area is a 4 x 4 grid into which are placed several layers of treasures, each one with a different earthy background colour so you can keep track of the current level. Players use a special 'spade' to extract the treasure tiles hoping to find valuable items. However, also lurking in the ruins are curses and finding these is bad news - especially Tutankhamen's royal curse, which is found along with some of the most valuable treasures on the bottom layer. I have some house rules I use to increase the skill level and improve the game quite a bit. Fun game.

Two Furlongs From Home, published by Lambourne. 2000. Packet. Good. £12

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.

Tyrus, published by Eurogames. 2004. Box. In shrink. £12

Country: French, Duration: 30 mins, Desc. by Andy.

The players vie for political control of the city of Tyrus. Elections will soon take place in the markets, citadels and temples, to elect the nine city councillors. Players carefully allocate their soldiers, merchants and priests in order to win the majority of the seats during each successive election. Dirty tricks are par for the course. Game play involves a significant element of bluff - hoping to anticipate your opponent's hidden moves.

Ulcers, published by Waddingtons. 1973. Box.

1) Good. £3.50. 2) Good, but box base indented. £2.50

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

Players try to assemble a full set of personnel to run their company. However, there aren't enough available for everyone to do this, so players must compete for the right staff. The first player to have a complete company and end a fiscal year wins. Players move their pieces around a circular track and get the chance to hire staff and headhunt other companies' staff. Money management is also important as paying your staff too little will get them headhunted, but paying them too much will bankrupt your company. One of the better Waddingtons games, and particularly good for 4 players.

Um Kopf Und Kragen, published by Berliner Spielkarten. 1996. Box. Good. £3

Card game, 33 cards, 6 dice and counters. Dice rolling game in which you get the option to reroll poor rolls but only if you are willing to pay for them.

Uno Dominos, published by Gibsons Games. 1986. Box. Good. £4

Essentially UNO, but with dominos rather than cards. ie. players take it in turns to play a domino onto the set of dominos already played, and win when they have no more. However, failure to play means you draw instead, and there are special dominos which reverse the direction of play, cause the next person to draw extra dominos etc.

Visjes, published by Cwali. 1998. Box. Good. £13

Very nice game, with sea shells as playing pieces. Players manage their fleet of trawlers, and must catch fish but also leave enough fish that they can reproduce for later rounds. The game requires good planning, but sometimes things don't go quite to plan.

Watch It!, published by Milton Bradley. 1978. Box. Good. £2

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

Picture memory game. Each player has a picture board and a set of 10 double sided cards each shaped differently and showing part of a different picture on either side. One player constructs a picture with 6 cards and then shows it to the other players for 15 seconds, and then hides it again. The other players race to reconstruct the picture from their own cards and when one player is happy they call stop. Players then score their pictures, getting more the more accurate they were. The picture setter scores more the worse the other players did. Neat idea.

Web Of Gold, published by 3 Wishes. 1987. Box. Good. £9

Each player seeks gold in an abandoned, giant spider inhabited mine. Players have a lantern and must navigate through the mine avoiding webs and the giant spiders in them looking for more equipment and also gold nuggets. As well as controlling the adventurers, players also get to move the spiders to hinder and even attack other players. The board is a large 3D affair into which spider webs can be slotted. I can provide some house rules to make the setup more interesting. Enjoyable game.

Weidespass, published by Novio Consulting & Vertriebs. 2004. Box. Excellent. £11

Nicely produced game all about horses. In the first phase of the game players draw tiles, placing horses in their stables, and laying out bridleways and meadows into a communal layout on the table, ensuring a different setup each time. In the second phase players ride groups of horses around the bridleways and meadows with the objective of getting their horses into meadows and to have the most in the various meadows in order to score points. Points are also scored for horses in stables with sufficient hay. Comes with 80 wooden horse pieces.

Weltenbummler, published by Hexagames. 1989. Box. Good, but corners taped. £14

Country: German, Duration: 1 hr, Desc. by Andy.

Excellent game, originally published in the U.K. by Intellect as Worldbeater. Considerable skill required as you plan your route across the world, picking up job tokens along the way, either one or two such tokens from each continent, eventually getting to New York. On the way back each of these job tokens must be replaced and will score points, but there are also bonuses for getting back to Frankfurt quickly, so one must balance these two ways to score. Very clever movement mechanism.

Wizard's Quest, published by Avalon Hill. 1979. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Good. £6.50 2) Good but edge of the lid and one side show damage where tape was removed. £4.50.

Excellent Risk-type fantasy war game with each player searching for treasure on an island over-inhabited by orcs, orcs who breed (!) and frenzy when they run out of living space. The orcs are 'run' by the game, giving you an extra opponent no matter how many people are playing. All of the designer's AH games (Amoeba Wars and Dragonhunt are the other two) have this 'third party' opponent.

World Game Review, published by Michael Keller. Magazine. Desc. by Eamon.

Published on an irregular basis, and aimed at those with a sophisticated interest in mainly abstract games and puzzles. However it always included many reviews of games in each issue. Lots of info about the mathematics of games. Articles listed by issue:

Issue 4, 1985. Excellent. £1.50: Dice games, Advanced Cubology, Avalanche Chess, Collective Hangman, Yahtzee Technical Analysis.

Issue 5, 1985. Excellent. £1.50: Advanced Cubology, Polyhexes, Hexominoes, Ultima, Realm, Risk, Soiltaire Lap, Traffic Lights, Tenpenny

Issue 7, 1987. Excellent. £1.50: Domino puzzles, Hexominoes, Free Choice Chess, Ultima

Issue 8, 1988. Excellent. £1.50: Ultima, Lachaino, New problems in Peg Solitaire

Issue 9, 1989. Excellent. £1.50: Special Issue devoted to 82 years of Polyomino shape puzzles, Pentominoes.

Issue 10, 1991. Excellent. £3: Specially large issue devoted to chess variations with rules and sample games, games reviews, bibliography and index.

Issue 11, 1992. Excellent. £1.50: Best abstract games to play on boards 3 x 3, 4 x 4 or 5 x 5 squares, Peg Solitaire, Castawords

Issue 13, 1998. Excellent. £1.50: Giza Solitaire, Black Spy, The Game of Y, many more reviews than usual of commercial board games, Chess variants updated

World Of Darkness: The Chaos Factor, published by White Wolf. 1993. Book. Good. £4

Softback, 28x22cm, 136 pages. This is a supplement and an epic adventure set in the World of Darkness and is a cross over for Vampire, Werewolf and Mage. The book details Mexico City and its underworld characters and powers. It also contains a cross-over adventure in which a powerful loose cannon, Samual Haight, is set to completely change the status quo in Mexico City. Some factions want to aid him, while others want him stopped and destroyed.

Wortersee, published by Kosmos. 1998. Box. Excellent. £5

This is a word game in which a sea of letters is randomly set up in what is effectively a hexagonal grid. The letters are revealed and players have until an egg timer's sand runs out to spot words made up with adjacent letters and claim lots of the starting letter pairs with little markers. At the end players score 1 point for each letter in each word they spotted. There are extra letters for use with the English language rather than German too.

Wreckage, published by Fantasy Flight. 2003. Box. In shrink. £10

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

In a twisted wasteland reminiscent of the Mad Max movies, road warriors rule in souped up vehicles equipped with guns armour and whatever else is likely to help. The best of these warriors fight it out in an arena of death, with gasoline and water the valuable prize for the winner. Players add weaponry, and other equipment to their car, and then race by playing cards, also getting the chance to shoot their opponents into oblivion.

Yorkshire Tea & Heartbeat Jigsaw, published by Taylors. 2000. Box. In shrink. £2

Designer Unknown. No. players: 1. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

1 or 2 x 500 piece promotional jigsaw puzzles from Yorkshire TV's Heartbeat and Taylor's Yorkshire Tea. The back of the box shows two pictures, one of a steam train arriving at Aidensfield railway station, and the other of a country farmhouse kitchen with a cream tea spread waiting to be eaten. The description doesn't make it clear whether the box contains both, or just one of these two jigsaws. The cover shows the steam train picture, so if there is just one, it will be that one.

Yspahan, published by Ystari Games. 2006. Box. In shrink. £24

Special notes: German edition, but English rules supplied, components are language independent.

Set in 1598 in the Persian Empire, players are merchants who take the opportunities which present themselves to increase their wealth (gain VPs). This can be done by setting up souks in the market, sending goods to far parts of the empire by caravan, or investing in buildings which will improve their future options. The game uses dice, but these merely present the variety of options available to the players each round. The mechanics result in a very enjoyable mix of luck, strategic and tactical options which makes it very replayable. Highly recommended.

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

1) Mint. £9 2) Excellent. £8

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.

Zoo Sim, published by Cwali. ca.2002. Tube. New. £15

Very good game in which the players each develop a zoo which all compete for customers. Customers go to the most impressive displays of different animals groups and also like circular paths around a zoo, and plenty of trees. It is essentially a bidding game for clever domino-like tiles with lovely illustrations of elements of a zoo. The way the tiles with the paths and exhibits fit together (or don't) really makes the game work wonderfully. Highly recommended.

Book Title	Publisher	Author	Year	Type	Size (cm)	Pages	Condition	Price
Games & Pastimes	Colman’s Mustard	Unknown	~1910	Soft	14x11	18	Good, covers slightly mottled. Additional newspaper clippings of parlour games included.	£8
Board And Table Game Antiques	Shire Publications	R.C.Bell	1990	Soft	21x15	32	Excellent	£3
50 Years Of Monopoly	Waddingtons	Various	1985	Soft	21x15	20	Excellent	£4
The Best Of Board Wargaming	Arthur Barker Ltd	Nicholas Palmer	1980	Hard	22x14	194	Good	£13
A Game Of Draughts Vol 1 No. 1	D.E. Oldbury	D.E. Oldbury	1946	Soft	21x14	28	Good	£2
Napoleonic Wargaming	Airfix / Patrick Stephens Ltd	Bruce Quarrie	1974	Hard	22x14	64	Good	£5
American Civil War Wargaming	Airfix / Patrick Stephens Ltd	Terence Wise	1977	Hard	22x14	64	Good	£5
The Losing Trick Count	Apsbridge Services Ltd	D.C. Griffiths	1984	Soft	20x14	32	Good	£3
The Sicilian Defence: Taimanov System	B. T. Batsford	Mark Taimanov	1989	Soft	22x14	90	Excellent	£5
New Contract Bridge In A Nutshell	W.H. Allen	Charles H. Goren	1960	Hard	22x14	135	Good	£3.50
The Complete Book Of Card Games	H.F.& G. Witherby Ltd	Hubert Phillips, B.C. Westall	1939 1943	Hard	22x15	258	Good. First Printing. Good.	£10 £8
Board & Table Games I	Oxford University Press	R.C.Bell	1969	Soft	20x13	210	The spine is getting brittle with age so the book needs to be read carefully.	£6
Culbertson On Canasta	Faber & Faber	Ely Culbertson	1950	Spiral	21x14	90	Good, but cover shows some wear	£3
Test Your Communications	Victor Gollancz	Hugh Kelsey	1989	Soft	19x13	80	Good	£7
A History And Guide To Card Playing	Thomas De La Rue & Co Ltd	Kenneth Konstam	~1960	Soft	22x16	70	Good	£7
Chess For Fun & Chess For Blood	Hollis & Carter	Edward Lasker	1952	Hard	22x14	202	Good, but dustcover shpws some wear	£7
Surviving On The Edge	Atlas Games	Various	1995	Soft	20x14	288	Excellent	£4
Killing Defence At Bridge	Faber & Fabe	H.W.Kelsey	1986	Soft	20x12	191	Good	£4
Board & Table Games I & II	Dover Publications	R.C. Bell	1979	Soft	21x14	~350	Excellent	£10
Tactical Chess Exchanges	B.T. Batsford	Gennady Nesis	1991	Soft	21x14	121	Excellent	£5
The Complete Home Entertainer	Odhams Press Ltd	Unknown	~1920	Hard	22x14	512	Good	£10
A Simpler Way To Better Bridge	Halstead Press	Douglas Maxwell	1968	Hard	22x14	141	Ex-library copy. Good, but dustcover slightly faded	£2.50
Phunology	Abingdon Cokesbury	E.O. Harbin	1923	Hard	20x14	454	Good, but cover shows some wear. 1st and last pages taped to spine.	£12
How To Beat Your Chess Computer	B.T. Batsford	Raymond Keene, David Levy	1991	Hard	22x14	104	Excellent	£4
The INWO Book	Steve Jackson Games	Steve Jackson	1995	Soft	21x14	152	Excellent	£7

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MNG-AJM Games and Collectibles

Book Title

Publisher

Author

Year

Type

Size (cm)

Pages

Condition

Price

Games & Pastimes

Colman’s Mustard

Unknown

~1910

Soft

14x11

18

Good, covers slightly mottled. Additional newspaper clippings of parlour games included.

£8

Board And Table Game Antiques

Shire Publications

R.C.Bell

1990

Soft

21x15

32

Excellent

£3

50 Years Of Monopoly

Waddingtons

Various

1985

Soft

21x15

20

Excellent

£4

The Best Of Board Wargaming

Arthur Barker Ltd

Nicholas Palmer

1980

Hard

22x14

194

A Game Of Draughts Vol 1 No. 1

D.E. Oldbury

D.E. Oldbury

1946

Soft

21x14

28

Good

£2

Napoleonic Wargaming

Airfix / Patrick Stephens Ltd

Bruce Quarrie

1974

Hard

22x14

64

Good

£5

American Civil War Wargaming

Airfix / Patrick Stephens Ltd

Terence Wise

1977

Hard

22x14

64

Good

£5

The Losing Trick Count

Apsbridge Services Ltd

D.C. Griffiths

1984

Soft

20x14

32

Good

£3

Good. First Printing.
Good.