November 2004 Catalog

MNG-AJM Games and Collectibles

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?

[There was also a long listing of new games bought from Spiel 2004 which I was selling, but since most of these have gone, and did not come with descriptions I am not including them in this on-line catalog. Any items which did not sell will appear in future catalogs].

15-Up, published by Berwick. ca.1965. Box. Box whole but worn. £4

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2 or 4. Country: Unknown, Duration: 10 mins, Desc. by Andy.

The game is subtitled 'The Exciting Table Badminton Game'. There are no rules supplied, but it may well never have had any. Players use miniature badminton rackets to flip miniature shuttlecocks onto the other side of the board. There are coloured holes all over the board and which one the shuttlecock lands in I guess indicates who must play next.

2300 A.D., published by GDW. 1988. Box. Good. £4. Desc. by Andy.

Roleplaying game set in the year 2300 A.D. when man has made it to the stars but now has to fight to stay there. Adventures suggested include fighting a hostile alien race, police fighting smugglers, pirates and terrorists plaguing human colonies, exploring uncharted systems etc. The set includes: Adventurer's Guide, Director's Guide, Near Star Map, Play Aids.

All The King's Men, published by Parker. 1979. Box. Good. £4

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

Good abstract game, with chess-like pieces, but a novel movement system - each space indicates a number of different directions the piece on it can move in. Large attractive playing peices moulded in the shape of soldiers and the king. Made in Britain as Take The Brain.

Bonanza, published by Waddingtons. 1965. Box. 1 Box Corner Split. £7

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

TV related, but nothing to do with the TV Western show other than it features members of the Cartwright family playing the game on the lid. A nice version of Michigan Rummy, with a large plastic tray, playing cards and poker chips. The game itself is closely related to popular British card games like St Joan or Newmarket.

British Battles Playing Cards, published by Waddingtons. 1992. Display Stand. Good. £1

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

On one side this is a normal (large symbol) set of playing cards with 2 jokers and one blank. However the backs are not all the same as is usual with playing cards. Instead each gives details of a different battle from British History. The backs also show a one week segment of the 1992 calendar, thus making up the whole year over the deck. Clearly the cards are marked in terms of card play, but still an interesting item.

Buck Rogers Battle For The 25th Century Game, published by TSR. 1988. Box. Good. £24

Special notes: The box is slightly indented due to stacking

Huge sci-fi multiplayer wargame with hundreds of plastic spaceships, influenced by the style of the MB Gamesmaster Series. Players are factions fighting for control of the Solar System.

The large board shows the Solar System's 4 inner planets and 9 large asteroids and various satelites, as well as various territorial displays. Each player has a variety of forces to build using factories and in order to get to other planets efficiently you need to plan ahead to use their conjunctions effectively.

Cannes, published by Splotter Spellen. 2002. Box. Good. £13

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

The theme is producing films and this is done with people, computer chips and beer, converting these to computers, actors, special effects and scripts and then into various types of film. The way the resources and conversion are done however is unusual - a network of connections on a board of hex tiles is built up as the game goes on and this shows what each player has access to.

Christopher Columbus, published by BMI. 1992. Box. Good. £1

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

Promotional game to celebrate the 500th Anniversary of Columbus’s most famous voyage. Very basic game, throw dice, avoid chance cards, that sort of thing.

City Of Sorcerers, published by Standard. ca.1985. Box. Good, but mark where label was removed. £12

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

Very unusual fantasy game where the players are apprentice wizards learning their arcane skills. In the first part of the game you attend various colleges gaining skills, and in the second section you take part in arena duels to decide the best wizard. The game includes cards for artifacts and knowledge gained, college cards, fate cards, 4 arena maps, and a large playing area including charts etc.

Contraband, published by Pepys. ca.1960. Box. Good but 2 corners taped. £8

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

Special notes: Yellow and red box edition

One of the best card games by Pepys. Players all start with lots of money but each round all players but one pass through customs. As they do they draw 4 cards which may contain normal items as well as items on which there is duty to pay, a diplomatic bag, or even the Ruritanian Crown Jewels! The player then chooses what to claim they have in their luggage, and if the Customs Officer accepts this then duty is paid and the luggage passed to the next player who must discard one card and draw a new one and make a new claim. At any point the player being passed cards can choose to refuse them and become an informer. As you would expect there are severe penalties for being caught lying about your luggage's contents.

Cosmic Eidex, published by Abacus Spiele. 1998. Box. Good. £3

A card game which is loosely based on the Swiss card game Jass, with some similarities to the German game Skat. Essentially it is a trick taking game, but with the twist that each player will have a special power they can use once per hand.

Cuckoo's Nest, published by Ravensburger. 1982. Box. Good. £7

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2-4. Country: British, Duration: 15 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Children's game (ages 4-8). Players try to be the first cuckoo to deposit an egg in each of 6 nests around the board. Movement is by dice roll, but this only indicates either an event card for the turn (with symbols, no words) or which colour line the player can follow that turn to a different nest (not every route has all the coloured lines).

Dama, published by Polymertex Plastics. ca.1970. Box. Good. £2

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).

Dark Blades, published by Standard. 1986. Box. Good. £10

Stand-alone fantasy war game, but also compatible with the Cry Havoc series. You can now add magic to the more usual medieval battle strategies. Colourful counters as always with this company. This set includes over 200 colour counters, 2 colour maps (The Arena and The Watermill), campaign map of the Isle of Labyrinthia, 4 starter scenarios and details of the towns in Labyrinthia, spell cards and reference sheets.

Das Malefiz Spiel, published by Ravensburger. 1971. Box. Good. £5

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

Also known as Barricade. Playes race to get their men to the far side of the board, however, while there are 4 pathways through the first section, there are only 3 to the next, then two, and then just one pathway, before a choice of directions again to the finish. Movement is by dice roll, but there are generally several choices, and the skill is in the use of the barricades which get placed on various choke spaces. The choke spaces can then only moved past by an exact roll. Very popular family game in Germany.

Delta, published by I.Q.Company Ltd. 1987. Box. Box poor, contents good. £6

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

A novel abstract game in which the players have triangular shaped pieces which move around the board trying to eliminate the opponent's pieces and capture their home spaces. The movement and capture mechanism is novel - either flipping over on an edge or moving along the line of the longest side. Well worth a look for abstract games players.

Der Zerstreute Pharao, published by Ravensburger. 1997. Box. Excellent. £9

Very attractive memory game with 47 plastic pyramids under which are hidden the Pharoah's treasures. Players try to help retrieve as many of the treasures as possible. The main mechanism is that treasures and blank tiles are mixed up and hidden underneath an array of pyramids. The current player turns over a search card and must try to find this treasure. This is done by sliding pyramids into the one gap, rather like an elaborate sliding block puzzle, but if a different treasure gets revealed before the desired treasure then the player fails. As the game goes on it is possible to use your memory to navigate around large sections of the board safely. The game was later re-released as Ramses II.

Deutschlandreise, published by Ravensburger. 1977. Box. Two copies available:

1) Good. £4 2) Box base edges damaged and taped up. £3

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

Popular German family game. Players race round Germany to visit 6 different places as dictated by the six cards dealt out at the start. Cards and rules in multi-language style, including English. Essentially a route planning game - movement along roads is by rolling the dice and moving, but it is also possible to travel by plane between major cities. Event cards can also be used to add variety to the game.

Devil’s Triangle, published by Peter Pan. 1986. Box. Good. £4

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

Special notes: Box lid slightly warped, and a small tear has been taped.

Part of this publisher's Think series of games. Nice, solid plastic triangular pieces and board. Each player has 9 triangles with numbers underneath which are placed on the board or moved around in order to surround and thus capture opposing pieces. The first player to capture 3 opposing pieces will be the winner unless one of those triangles was nominated as the Devil's Triangle by his opponent before the game began, in which case the player who captured the Devil's Triangle loses.

Die Erbraffer, published by Ravensburger. 1994. Box. Good. £16

Designed by Nik Sewell and Jeremy Shaw. No. players: 2-6. Country: German, Duration: 90 mins, Desc. by Andy. Special notes: This set has a home-made set of laminated cards all in English to improve game play for non German speakers.

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. Good fun game.

Die Schlangen Von Delhi, published by Blatz. 1995. Box. Excellent. £12

Very attractive tile laying game in which players compete to become the best snake-charmer in Delhi. The board shows a number of differently coloured snake tails, and the tiles show coloured snake segments. Each player has a hand of tiles and may play as many as desired to extend one of the snakes. Points are scored according to the new length of that snake. Snakes can be completed by playing a head tile or by leading them into one of the snake charmers' baskets. There are also some 'underground' tunnels which snakes can go through for extra points.

Dinosaurs The Game, published by BMI. 1992. Box. Box good, contents unpunched. £3

The players take on the roles of Dinosaurs and race across the board to be the first to get to the top of the volcano. It is essentially a roll the dice and move game, though it has a popular theme and stand up dinosaur counters, as well as a variety of stand up tree counters to use as obstacles.

Don’t Miss The Boat, published by Waddingtons. 1966. Box. Box corners taped and lid is grubby. £4

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

Each player has 8 men and a boat. The board shows 4 docks, in a sort of cross shape with a no go area in the middle. Players move their pieces around the board trying to get to a dock where their own colour of boat is waiting. Movement is either one space at a time or jumping over another man or men in a similar way to draughts. However, each time a man makes it into a boat all the boats move around to the next dock, so you have to work out which dock your boat will be at by the time your men arrive. First to get 5 men on their boat wins.

Doublethink, published by Cambridge Silent Artists. 1978. Box. Excellent. £12

Unusual and very nicely produced abstract game. 3rd Edition. The box has a deerskin-like finish, the board is made of some kind of fine chipboard as is the scoreboard. The game itself involves playing letter pieces onto verticies of the board. The placement and scoring rules look interesting. It is not however a word game. Intriguing item.

Dragonslayer, published by SPI. 1981. Box. Box corners taped. £10. Desc. by Andy.

Designed by Brad Hessel & Redmond Simonsen. No. players: 2-4. Country: American, Duration: 2 hrs. Film related fantasy board game, based on the fantasy Disney film. Your quest is to rid the world of the last dragon, Vermithrax Pejorative. To do this your magician will need to travel the kingdom of Urland and gather companions, magic items, spells and weapons ready for the big fight. There will be various hazards and events hindering you along with the King's Men who are out to stop you.

Droids, published by Euro Games. 1991. Box. Excellent. £18

Entertaining game of robotic warfare. Delightful plastic robots move around a changing arena, chasing or avoiding their enemies. Players lay tiles on the floor of the arena, forcing robots to make certain moves. High quality production, with lots of interaction.

Drueke's Solitaire, published by W.M. Drueke & Sons. Box. Good. £4

A very nice wooden solitaire board with pegs which are kept in a compartment in the back of the board. As well as the standard well known centre-hole solitaire problem this set also sets 6 other challenges which it says can be done.

Dungeon Magazine, published by TSR. Country: American. Desc by Andy.

Excellent magazine containing adventures for TSR role-playing games, mainly AD&D, but sometimes others too. Fantastic resource for GMs looking for an adventure to run. This batch includes some of the earlier issues too.

I will give a 25% discount on these magazines if you buy all of the issues listed here. Main adventures in each issue listed below:

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

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

Vol 2 Issue 6 (#12), 1988. Good. £5: Light Of Lost Souls (Lvl 2-4), Sceptre Of The Underworld (Solo Adventure Lvl 12), At The Spottle Parlour (Lvl 1-3), Intrigue In The Depths (Lvl 4-7), Huddle Farm (Lvl 1-4), Dungeon 1-12 Index.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Vol 11 Issue 2 (#62), 1994. Spine worn. £0.50: Dragon's Delve (Lvl 3-6), Blood On The Plow (Lvl 4-6), Grimjaws (Lvl 5-7), The Rat Trap (Lvl 6-10), Wild In The Streets (Lvl 1-3), Esmeralda's Bodyguard (Lvl 6-9), The Ghost At Widder Smither's (Lvl 1-3).

Dungeons Of Demus, published by Triotoys. 1990. Box. Good. £9

Fantasy board game. One player is Demus, an evil Necromancer who seeks the Throne of Laithnur. The others are Heroes, who must attack the castle and defeat Demus' guardian. There are several different guardians, each of which will require a different special item to neutralise its special power (eg. a protection spell against the Enchantress). Includes standup adventurers and monsters as well as cards for traps etc, and an attractively designed jig-board for the castle. Combat, both physical and magical is resolved using a special spinner with different rings to read from for different monsters / characters to reflect their different strengths.

Ecology, published by Urban Systems. 1970. Box. Good. £16. Desc. by Andy.

Each player starts with a small population in the Hunting Age, and aims to grow this population and make it prosperous and ecologically well balanced. This can be achieved by staying in the Hunting Age, but may also involve moving into the Agricultural Age, the Industrial Age or even the most highly developed 'Environmental' Age. Game play is driven by movement from space to space on a grid, giving choices of how to develop, with cards being drawn for improved technology, work and fortune. The players may also need to fight for land space as their growing populations expand on a central area of the board and may have to overpopulate, bargain for land or even fight for land. As usual with this company ecological factors are emphasised.

Europe Aflame, published by TSR. 1989. Box. Good. £12

WWII wargame involving land, sea, and air combat fought in Europe and the Middle East. Each player commands one of the major alliances of the war, and builds forces, deploys their units. Rules included for various special units, maintaining supplies, and keeping industry going as well as combat. Units stand up in plastic stands. There are three short scenarios and a complete Campaign game.

Exxtra, published by Amigo Spiele. ca.1997. Box. Good. £7

Dice game with special dice in which players have to push their luck to try to get high rolls which can then be placed on a scoring ladder, and possibly kick other players' dice off the ladder. If your dice stay on the ladder until your next go then you score points. First to 21 points wins.

Fair Play, published by EG Spiele. ca.1995. Box. Good. £13

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

Race game, with very nice metal car playing pieces. The board is built up from 48 tiles and so is different each game. Card play determines movement, but in an usual way as the players offer cards to opponents, which can be accepted or refused, thus requiring an element of bluff. The road tiles also provide various hazards and such as roadworks and service stations and petrol stations which can be stopped at to get rid of various bad cards which the car might have acquired.

Feudal, published by 3M. 1976. Box. Good. £18

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

Excellent variation on chess, with its own special board, its own special pieces (that ‘plug’ into the board), and very clever rules. For instance, you set up secretly behind a screen, and your pieces include a castle that you must site, and then defend. The board even has terrain features so that, for instance, archers on a hill have increased range. Missing one of two pegs that hold the shield up at the start but this is easily remedied and all six armies are complete which is the important thing.

Firepower, published by Avalon Hill. 1984. Box. Good. £7

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.

Fishy, published by White Wind. 1991. Box. Good. £22

Special notes: Limited edition, game no. 162 / 1200. Box and back of board show slight discolouration.

3 games in one box. The games all have in common that the players try to avoid the rotten fish whereas fresh fish are good. The 3 games are: Rotten Fish (players are fishmongers trying to sell their fish in the market), Fresh Fish (players are chefs trying to buy the best fish), and Fish In The Barrel (players are fishermen selling fish to fishmongers). Includes 120 wooden fish, cards and a colourful board. Part of the highly collectable limited edition '1200' range of games by White Wind.

Flat Top, published by Avalon Hill. 1981. Box. Two copies available:

1) £8 Good. 2) Box shows wear. £7

Complex board wargame which covers the battles around the Solomon Islands between the US and Japan in 1942. It covers just about all aspects of naval and air combat, eg. weather, air searches, air combat, surface combat, carrier operations, submarines, air bases, supplies, and much more. The game requires intense planning and search operations as movement is covert and the map is huge. Units are individual ships and submarines and an air unit being 3 aircraft. Hexes are twenty miles across, and turns represent an hour. The game includes ~1300 counters, a 44" x 28" map board, 4 operations cards, play aids and log pads.

Flower Power, published by Glucksritter Spiele. 1998. Box. Good. £10

This game comes in a very nice wooden box (as do most of this company's games). The game is about collecting flowers. This is done by landing on flower spaces while moving around a board. However movement is not by dice, instead pairs of people play a card each in turn and these cards determine movement in such a way that you need to know what the other person wants to happen as well as what you want and act appropriately.

Genius, published by Games Team Ltd. 1988. Box. Excellent. £7

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

Although this is a general knowledge game based on the Guinness Book Of Records, it has some interesting features, such as a quite thick book containing about 100 full colour pictures all of which are quite stunning in their own way. As well as normal questions from a card sometimes questions are asked about these amazing pictures.

Ginny-O, published by Peter Pan. 1981. Box. Good. £4

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

Special notes: Photocopied rules

Tile variation of Gin Rummy, with 108 tiles representing two packs of cards plus their jokers. Players place their tiles, forming runs and sequences, and joining them crossword fashion to existing sequences on the board.

Grand Prix, published by Ravensburger. 1975. Box. 2 Box corners taped. £14

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

Clever motor racing game. Each player controls 3 cars, and each turn one will move 4 spaces, another 5 and the third 6 spaces. Once past the initial bend any car which fails to use its full movement gets pushed to the side of the track on to a special hard shoulder, where getting back on is urgent as any further infringement will disqualify that car. On the straights there are spaces which can be used to slipstream a car in front and gain extra movement. There is no overtaking on corners and going around the outside takes longer. Three laps are normally run, and by then the field will generally be quite spread out. Simple mechanism, but gives a very good feel for the subject.

Hacker, published by FanFor Verlag. 1990. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Mint. £16 2) Good. £14

Entertaining game set in a computer company and the players are different departments within the company trying to discover the other department’s secrets. Each department is continually pushing to get terminal time and it becomes a battle just to get time at the computer. Wooden pieces.

Hedgehog, published by Spears. 1983. Box. 1 box corner taped. £4

Special notes: Missing 1 spine. The game is still playable though.

Children's memory game (age 4+). The board shows different coloured areas of a garden in which a large 3D hedgehog lives. He has holes for 20 spines which are inserted at the start of the game. This hides coloured ends of the spines. The hegdehog moves around the board and players take a spine from the big hedgehog and if its colour matches the hedgehog's current space the spine is kept, otherwise it is replaced. Each player also has a small hedgehog into which spines which are won are placed. Very attractive game.

Hi-De-Hi, published by Waddingtons. 1984. Box. 1 Box corner split. £3

TV tie in for the British comedy program of the same name. The players take part in each of the camp's contests and try to gain points. Most points at the end is the Maplin's Champion. The game is basically roll the dice and move, though one or two of the contests provide some choices in how you move.

Hollywood, published by Waddingtons. 1990. Box. Good. £9

Special notes: Box slightly indented due to stacking

Be a film mogul and win the Academy Award. Beautifully presented, with three dimensional parts to put on the board, forming places such as a cinema, a studio and the Awards Ceremony location. Players must finance, cast and produce one of six films. A finished film requires a writer, director, star actress, star actor, sufficient money from backers, a location, studio, and good editing and production, and finally a good review. All these are gathered on various 'loops' on the board, which the players' pieces move around.

Jitters, published by Milton Bradley Games. 1987. Box. Good. £7

Designer Unknown. No. players: 1+. Country: British, Duration: 20 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Word game played with letter dice. On your turn a noisy timer (which adds to the tension) counts down while you roll the dice and make words on a score card. Once this is done you can either bank the points and end your turn or attempt another score card and reroll the dice. If you end up with the timer going off rather than banking your score then you score nothing at all. The tension level certainly increases as the timer ticks down! Recommended.

Jockey, published by Ravensburger. 1977. Box. Good. £16

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

Special notes: This edition has plastic horses. Box lid has a 2cm cut, and one edge of the base is taped.

Classic horse racing games. 4 horses are moved by card play. Players predict the finishing order, but this is not easy to do. Your hand of cards helps you calculate which horses you can influence during the race. Some cards are colour coded, affecting a particular horse but others move the horse in a particular position a certain amount, possibly with a limitation, eg. move the horse in 3rd place up to 18 spaces, but not more than once space ahead of the leader. Thus many cards have to be played at just the right time to be properly effective. Betting is done before the race and both win and place bets may be made. Most money after 3 races wins.

Jotto, published by Selchow & Richter. 1973. Box. Good. £8

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.

Kan-U-Go,. Box. Several versions available:

1) Published by Jarvis Porter. 1938. Good. £2.

2) Published by Jarvis Porter. 1934. Good. £2.

3) Published by Waddingtons. 1985. Good £1. This edition is for 2+ players.

Designer Unknown. No. players: 1-7. Country: British, Desc. by Eamon.

Card game, 60 letter cards. Players form a crossword using the letters on cards in their hands. Includes rules to the multi-player game as well as 3 solitaire games and a Kan-U-Go race game.

Keyword, published by Parker Brothers Inc.. 1953. Box. Good. £4

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

Special notes: Board and plastic tiles look well used.

The first British competitor to the (then) newly released Scrabble. A good word game. Very much in the same vein as Scrabble. Wooden racks. Keyword's main differentiating feature is that there are some short target words on cards and if a player manages to put down one of these then a good bonus is awarded.

King's Court, published by Western Publishing. 1989. Box. Good. £10

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

Strategy game with attractive and chunky counters. An involved variation of Draughts, played on an unusual board with two distinct areas of play. The idea is that the main 'combat' between pieces takes place in the central area of 16 squares, and once the game is underway the objective is to eliminate all of your opponent's pieces from the central area, and this wins the game even if they have lots of pieces left in the outer area. Supposedly based on a traditional tournament battle between medieval knights which was run on much the same basis (except with swords, shields and violence!)

La Citta, published by Rio Grande Games. 2000. Box. 1 box corner damaged. £16

A very attractive and fascinating big board city development game in which players vie for resources and also attract city occupants from neighbouring cities. While having people is good they have to be fed and kept healthy, happy and educated or they will head to a better city. I also have some house rules from Derek Carver which I will include a copy of.

Last Chance, published by Milton Bradley. 1995. Box. Mint. £14

Clever and fun, what more could you want from a dice game? Includes cards, play-money and gambling chips. Aim is to make the most cash as you bid to roll certain combinations of dice. A very good game, made in the same style as Sharp Shooters. Originally made by Ravensburger in Germany, but not with such style as this edition. Highly recommended.

Lord Of The Rings: The Duel, published by Rio Grande Games. 2001. Box. Excellent. £11

Gandalf and the Balrog battle it out on the bridge in Moria. Each player has a slightly different deck of 27 cards, each having 0-4 defence icons and 0-4 attack icons, and a few a special power. 4 duels are played out, and in each of the first 3, three cards are set aside by each player for the final duel. During a duel cards are played so the icons line up and these cause Gandalf and the Balrog to lose their magical energy. When a duel is finished the player with the most energy remaining wins the duel and progresses onto the bridge. The bridge itself is a large cardboard construction which dominates the game board.

Lords Of Creation - The Yeti Sanction, published by Avalon Hill. 1984. Box. Mint. £3

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

A Lords Of Creation Roleplaying Supplement. This is the 2nd Lords of Creation adventure module. The adventure involves political intrigue, international terrorism and an expedition to climb Mount Everest.

Lost Valley Of The Dinosaurs, published by Waddingtons. 1985. Box. Good but box corners taped. £8

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

Manitou, published by Gold Sieber. 1997. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Mint. £6 2) Excellent. £5

Card game, 110 cards featuring Red Indians in four tribes. Each player hopes to trap the most Buffalo cards in each of three rounds of play. In each round you play with a number of your tribe members, some chosen, some drawn randomly. These cards interact as you vie for control of the Happy Hunting Grounds. Essentially a majorities game with some twists.

Market Day, published by Ravensburger. 1984. Box. Box show wear. £7

Special notes: 1 box corner taped, and a discreet brithday message written on a corner of the lid, photocopied rules.

Good children's game (age 5-10). Beautifully made, as you would expect from this company. Players must collect animals for their farm, by driving their tractor round the outside of the board collecting vouchers towards the purchase of the animals they need at the market. You can stop short at a market in order to buy an animal once you have enough vouchers. The animal pieces are made of shaped card, and slot into the board when purchased.

Match And Move, published by Spears. 1972. Box. Good. £4

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

Players attempt to get their four pieces from one side of the board to the other. Pieces are coloured shapes, and the board a grid showing a mix of different coloured shapes. A piece can either be moved to an adjacent space which is the same colour or shape as that piece, or a piece can make a jump (or even several jumps) over other pieces as long as each space landed on is the same shape or colour as the jumping piece. I suppose it is a variation on Halma really, but different enough to have different strategies etc.

Maureen Hiron's Quizwrangle, published by Maureen Hiron. Box. 2 Box edges split. £4

A trivia quiz game with over 4000 questions. The few cards I looked at had pretty hard questions on, but then I'm not much good at trivia games...

Mhing, published by Spears. 1984. Box. Excellent. £9

This is a conversion of Mah-Jong into cards. Essentially a rummy style game but with some special cards and special combinations of cards. Comes with clear rules and summary sheets.

Minden Playing Card Cricket, published by Minden. 1988. Packet. Excellent. £12

One of the best cricket games ever, here presented with the rarer Advanced Expansion Set (featuring individual grounds like Lords!). Statistical sports game.

Mole Hill, published by Blatz. 1996. Box. Excellent. £7

Unusual game in which the players take the role of a farmer protecting his field and a mole digging it up. The farmer must try to block the mole's moves and fence him in quickly, while the mole must dig as many holes as possible before being caught.

Mole In The Hole, published by Ravensburger. 1995. Box. Mint. £14

Very nice game with an unusual mode of play. Players try to get to certain locations on the board, because at the round's end, the board is literally lifted off the playing area. It has holes in it and this is where you want your playing pieces to be because the board will be lifted over them, leaving them on a new board. If you are not in the special places, the board is lifted together with your piece, out of the game. The bottom board has only one hole, and the mole who gets into it is the winner.

Musketiere, published by Hexagames. 1991. Box. Two copies available:

1) Excellent. £8 2) Good. £7

Card game, 70 cards featuring the Musketeers and the Cardinal's Guard. A cardinal's guard card is displayed each round and players secretly play a musketeer card (values 0-10). If the total of the players' cards is at least as great as that on the cardinal's guard then the musketeers win and the strongest musketeer card played earns a precious gem. Should the musketeers lose then the weakest musketeer gets a jail token. Once all cards in hand have been played out in this manner points are scored up with bonuses for gems and penalties for jail tokens.

New York, published by Piatnik. 1995. Box. Excellent. £28. Desc. by Andy.

Designed by Sid Sackson & Sven M Kubler. No. players: 2-5. Country: Austrian, Duration: 75 mins.
Lesser known Sid Sackson game, heavily based on a game called 'Property' in his book A Gamut of Games. Thus it is surprising that there is a second designer listed as well. The game is card driven, and the cards use an ingenious mechanism to provide the players choices of where they may build on a 7x7 grid. The objective is to build as large a clump of properties as possible. However, there are other considerations, as it is possible (but potentially expensive) to knock down opponents' buildings and replace them with your own, so defensive moves to make it more expensive for opponents to get at your more critical properties can be useful too. Recommended.

Nile, published by Spears. 1968. Box. Good. £12

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

Special notes: Two of the wooden tile racks replaced by similar but not identical racks.

Tile-laying game in which the players add tiles to the river Nile directing it where they wish across the board. Points are scored for the tiles placed, but there are also bonus and penalty areas on the board, so ideally you will be able to lead the Nile through a bonus area and leave it about to enter a penalty area ready for the next player to play. There are quite an assortment of tiles, with the river entering and leaving either in the centre of a side or through a corner. The box shows an ancient Egyptian Nile scene.

Olympigs, published by Paul Lamond Games. 1991. Box. Good. £3

There are two parts to this game - firstly a simple set collecting very basic rummy style card game. However there are also 4 plastic pigs and three action events to do with them using little action models: high jump, long jump and the pig put! When a set is collected you must successfully perform the related event for your set to stand. Other players can play a joker on you to force you to attempt the hard version of that event. Very silly, though my daughter (aged 4) quite likes it!

Onslaught, published by TSR / SPI. 1987. Box. Good. £8

Divisional scale campaign game of the last months of WWII, from D-Day to the crossing of the Rhine. Some interesting and unusual mechanics (unpredictable turn order and the use of limited supply points to activate stacks of counters) mean you always have to focus on the area you consider the highest priority. As well as movement and attacks extra supply points can be spent to force a 'breakthrough' with movement and attack. Supply locations are ciritical and fought over hard as they give the owner more supply points to use on their turn.

Orgy. Country: British, Desc. by Andy. Two versions available:

1) Published by Comissatio Ltd. 1986. Box. Good. £5. Designed by Julie Prior. No. players: 4-8.

2) Published by Paul Lamond. 1989. Box worn, contents mint. £4. Designed by Penbourne Limited. 2-6 players

Light hearted game for teenagers and adults. Essesntially a standard business game in which you move around the board buying and selling villas, slaves and chariots trying to get enough wealth etc to become Consul. However you can optionally play that the Orgy spaces add a forfeit. Choices during the game appear fairly limited, though on your turn you may trade money / chariots / slaves / villas etc.

Outpoint, published by Spears. 1985. Box. Good. £4

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

Somewhat abstract game with dice and letter tiles played on an 11x11 grid. The playing pieces consist of letter tiles spelling *OUT*POINT*, and points are scored for getting them on top of other player's tiles of the same type, and the stars can be used to eliminate opposing pieces or double the score of other tiles.

Paranoia, published by West End Games. Box. Two versions available:

1) 1984. Good. £8. First edition. 2) 1987. Mint. £7. Second edition.

Classic roleplaying game set in a future in which everything is controlled by an all powerful computer and the characters find it hard to do anything right according to the computer's contradictorary rules. Great fun game which will have you both laughing and crying. Needs to be experienced.

Parcheesi, published by Selchow & Richter Co.. 1959. Box. Good. £7

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

Special notes: Box lid slightly split

This is the American equivalent of Ludo, described as a backgammon game of India. This is a rather nice edition.

Par-Golf, published by Ariel. ca.1960. Box. Box show wear. £12

Designer Unknown. No. players: 1-4. Country: British, Desc. by Eamon.

Special notes: Photocopied rules.

Rare golf game with a very attractive board featuring an 18 hole golf course. Players choose their clubs and cards determine the distance achieved. Nice period art-work on the box as well.

Penalty, published by Pepys. ca.1950. Box. 2 box corners taped. £12

Special notes: The cards show use, but are still entirely useable.

Card based football game, but played with a wooden ball on a gridded football pitch. Cards are played by each team in turn to move the ball in a variety of ways, according to directional arrows on the cards. The rules cover throw ins, corners, spectacular saves, free kicks and penalties, all in an intuitive way. The game can be played with odd numbers of players as well as even numbers. A good football game which gives realistic results (so 0-0 is quite a common result).

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.

Piraten Insel, published by Schmidt. 1983. Box. Excellent. £11

A game of adventure with pirates and a treasure island. Originally made privately by David (designer of Railway Rivals), the English rules were sent to me by him and are not a direct translation of the German rules (which may have been amended by the company to suit a professional publication). Wooden boats and other components.

Powers & Perils - Book Of Tables, published by Avalon Hill. 1984. Box. Mint. £3

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 games. Also included are Adventure Record Sheets and 3 Reference Screens.

Push, published by Spears. 1975. Box. 1 box corner taped. £4

Each player has 13 plastic balls which are placed in indents in the board. An extra ball is 'pushed' into the grid, the balls already there roll into the next indent and the one at the other end drops out and becomes the next ball to push in. The object is to get a square of 9 balls in your colour. Includes solitaire rules for a variety of puzzle-like variations of the main game.

Quasimodo, published by Burnett Distribution Ltd. 1995. Box. Good. £3

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+).

Rail, published by Quantum. ca.1986. Box. Good. £12

British edition of this French train game. Over 250 track tiles are used to build a rail network, whilst placing obstacles and terrain difficulties in front of your opponents. A locomotive board gives players the choice of what they do in their turn - though it is not always possible to do exactly what they want. Such moves include adding track to your network, adding a hazard to an opponent's, protecting one's own network, rearranging tiles etc. The objective is to have the largest network when one player's network is completed.

Red Storm Rising, published by TSR. 1989. Box. Good. £9

World War Three is about to begin, the Soviets must have oil, so they decide to crush NATO on the way to getting it. The Tom Clancy novel comes to life in this excellent, introductory war game. Well over 100 stand-up counters make it look terrific during play. The map shows irregularly shaped areas from the Soviet Union to France. The units have critical information hidden on the back so that the opponent can't see it. Advanced rules cover air units, air combat, and even chemical weapons.

Romer, published by Hexagames. 1990. Box. Twocopuies available:

1) Excellent. £6 2) Good. £5

A trick taking type game in which players try to build up a high value team of horses to pull their chariots. Each player has a personal trump colour, and up to six cards can be added to this to make up the team of horses. All cards added will add to the score but much more so if they are also of the trump colour. Each turn a player will either play to a trick or place a card down as one of his horses, but will be penalised for not being able to follow suit if his trump colour is led.

Rubik's Line Up, published by Ideal. ca.1985. Box. Good. £7

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

Abstract game in which the players roll cubes over on the board trying to form a line of three cubes of the same colour (the cubes have different colours on each face). The cubes are all about an inch on each side which makes the game quite attractive.

Rummikub, published by Spears. 1983. Box. Box shows wear. £5

Special notes: Tiles show lots of use, but are still perfectly OK for play

A classic game, based on the middle eastern game of Okey. Tiles effectively represent the cards from 2 decks of playing cards + 2 jokers. Players try to be the first to get rid of all their tiles. Tiles are placed on the table by forming runs or sets, but as well as just playing new sets to the table players can also add to those on the table already and even change them all around when adding tiles, as long as everything remains in a run or set at the end of the turn. Turns are strictly limited to 2 minutes maximum. One of the best rummy variations in my opinion.

Rummikub 500, published by Pressman. 1992. Box. Good. £9

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

Card game, based on Rummy (and, maybe, the Australian game 500 although I have never played that game). The sets and sequences that you 'lay' are placed on a special board which is marked in such a way that you have a 'territory' which is yours, but you can add to sets and sequences of your opponents if they overlap from their territory into yours.

Scorpion, published by Spears. 1983. Box. Good. £4

Nice dice game. Players move along a track and back again, all the time attempting to intercept and move opponents' pieces when possible. Good up-market production.

Scotland Yard, published by Ravensburger. 1983. Box. Good but some damage. £5

Designed by The Design Team No. 3. No. players: 3-6. Country: British, Duration: 45 mins, Desc. by Andy. Special notes: The picture on one end of the lid is somewhat damaged and taped up, as is that side of the box.

Clever tactical game of deduction set on a map of London. One player is Mr. X, who is hiding and the others are detectives hunting him down. All players move around by either bus, taxis, underground or boat. The detectives get to see the type of transport Mr. X uses at all points, but his precise location is only revealed occasionally. The detectives need to work together to increase the chance that one of them will catch Mr. X before the game ends and he escapes. Either Mr. X wins or all the detectives win as a team.

Scrabble Original, published by Spears. 1988. Box. Good. £6

Special notes: The original tile racks have gone missing but I will provide replacements.

The classic word game - a nice edition as the box isn't too big,

Scramble, published by Chad Valley. ca.1950. Box and Board. Good. £20

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.

Scramble!, published by Vic-Toy. ca.1960. Box. Good. £5

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

Quaint little game, with both sides having a fleet of 9 aeroplanes, of three different sizes and designed to peg into the board. Once all 18 planes are in place, players take turns in moving a peg (by die roll) trying to land on enemy planes to take them out of play. As the peg can be moved in any direction, there are choices to be made each turn. An unusual item.

Shing Shang, published by Wiggins Teape. 1970. Box. Box slightly indented. £8

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

Abstract game with 12 pieces each (very attractive and upto 8cm tall), being 2 Dragons, 4 Lions and 6 Dogs. Players try to occupy one of their opponent's gate spaces with a Dragon, or capture both of the opposing Dragons. Each type of piece has its own way to move, and / or jump over other pieces. A multiple jump and capture move (a 'Shing Shang') also allows an extra move.

Six Games Compendium, published by Fim. ca.1965. Box. Good. £5

Designer Unknown. No. players: 1-4. Country: German, Desc. by Eamon.

Compendium of games made for the English market (rules and box only use English for example), and marked as 'Made in the G.D.R. Item No. 124'. The box includes six games: Ludo, Snakes & Ladders, 9 Men's Morris, Draughts, Steeplechase and Halma. However, the manufacturers have named one game incorrectly. The Halma they mention is actually Chinese Chequers.

Solar Trader, published by Solar Games. 1990. Box. Good. £13

Space trading game with masses of components. The board shows a stylised representation of the solar system with various orbits and trade routes the players will travel in order to take goods from one place to another for profit. The objective is to build up enough cash and goods and then head out of the solar system to the planet Zastra where the aliens there will trade an energy crystal, which when brought safely back to Earth will win you the game. Various ship upgrades are available and players may trade between each other as well.

Stardate Magazine, published by FASA. Excellent. £0.25 per issue. Country: American, Desc. by Eamon.

FASA house magazine. Most issues carry reviews, fiction and smaller items on FASA games. Major articles on games listed below:

No. 2: Star Trek RPG

No. 3/4: Star Trek RPG

No. 5/6: Combots, Star Trek RPG, Battledroids, Star Trek III Starship Combat

Statis Pro Baseball, published by Avalon Hill. 1982. Box. Good. £6

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

Special notes: Second Edition

Possibly the best statistical baseball game. Full set of cards for every Major League player in the 1988 season. Uses the Fast Action card system.

Statis Pro Baseball Scoresheets, published by Avalon Hill. 1988. Mint. £0.50

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

Extra scoresheets - worth having if you own the game already. If you order the base game from me I will throw these in if they haven't already sold (but please remind me!)

Statis Pro Basketball - 1980 Season, published by Avalon Hill. 1980. Envelope. Good. £3

Statistical NBA Basketball supplement featuring the 1980 season team rating card and player cards.

Statis Pro Football, published by Avalon Hill. 1981. Box. Box shows wear. £3

Several different editions of this complex American Football statistical simulation available – ask me for details. Adored by fans but incomprehensible to outsiders. All in bookcase boxes. Each edition covers a different season.

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

Supplemental teams for this complex American Football statistical simulation, which is adored by its fans.

Statis Pro Football 1998 Teams, published by Avalon Hill. 1998. Packet. Excellent. £2

Supplemental teams for this complex American Football statistical simulation, which is adored by its fans.

Stop Thief!, published by Spears. 1985. Box. Good. £7

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

Cops and robbers game in which each player has a policeman who moves around on the board which shows an irregular network of paths joining a grid of spaces. Each player's robber moves along behind that player's policeman, like a sort of shadow. The idea is to land on an opponent's robber. That player's policeman then has to move away to a distant corner of the board, and gets a new shadow-robber. Players win by catching 5 robbers first or lose by having all 5 of their robbers caught. The game is dressed up as a children's game, but has rather more to it than the box would suggest.

Super 3, published by Milton Bradley Games. 1978. Box. Good. £5

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

An interesting mix between a majorities game and a three in a row game. Dice are rolled and the result indicates that a peg may be placed in any hole marked with that number. The board has a 3x3 array of 3x3 grids, and the objective is to win any 5 of the large grids or 3 of them in a row. The same rules apply to winning the grids within the grid. Neat idea and provides plenty of options and decisions.

Super Star T.V. Sports, published by A.R.C.. 1980. Box. Box poor. £4

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

A set of 12 different sports games all popular on American TV: Soccer, Basketball, Track, Skiing, Baseball, Hockey, Football, Boxing, Golf, Auto Racing, Bowling, Tennis. The set includes 3 game boards with areas for each of the games. The games are all fairly simple, with 1-3 pages of rules per game, but not entirely trivial, having some card play decisions or for the motor racing game acceleration decsions etc. The bowling game is table skittles.

Survival, published by Galt. ca.1970. Box. Good. £3

Set collecting educational game with tile-like cards of animals. that fit into different food chains. Object is to complete your chain and place threat cards on to opponent's chains.

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

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 That - The Game, published by MMG Ltd. 1994. Box. Mint. £4

Item for fans of the pop group Take That. Ask your daughter if this means nothing! Anyway I can't say much about it as it is still shrinkwrapped. It does have a board, card stands, counters and 150 cards though.

Test Of Arms, published by GDW. 1988. Box. Good. £9

Special notes: 1 Box corner taped, and box slightly indented due to stacking.

Modern war game with 29 scenarios from Korea to Nicaragua, via Iran-Iraq and the Falklands. Rules also allow for you to design your own scenarios. Part of their First Battle Series. Geomorphic map boards are used to allow many different setups. The basic rules are only 4 pages long, with 6 more pages of special and optional rules. Includes a counter tray and several hundred counters to cover all the different scenarios.

The Battle Of Borodino, published by SPI. 1972. Plastic Box. Good. £7

Covers Napoleon's move towards Moscow in Sept 1812, which encountered considerable resistance at Borodino. A tactical simulation of this great battle. Includes 4 scenarios, one for each day plus a grand campaign game. The game includes a counter tray, and comes in a plastic box. This was first published in Strategy & Tactics No. 32.

The Game Of Geog, published by Unknown. Map Board + Box. Board back discoloured. £3

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

Unusual item. This is more of a geography test than a game. The board shows a map of England with many circles where there are towns. Players take it in turns to ask each other what town is in a particular circle. A master map shows the answers. I don't know how old this is, but I would guess 1930s. I could well be wrong though.

The Great Pyramid Game, published by Waddingtons. 1981. Box. Good. £10

Special notes: Box slightly indented due to stacking

Perhaps the most unusual Waddingtons game, being played on a three-dimensional plastic board in the shape of a pyramid. This is flat packed, but assembled before play. Each player has a set of triangular pieces and the games are all based on spotting matching patterns as you proceed. There are three different 2 player games and one solitaire puzzle for you to try. Unusual and attractive item.

The Hercules & Xena Roleplaying Game, published by West End Games. ca.1998. Box. Good. £6

Role playing games based on the two TV series (Xena - Warrior Princes, and Hercules - The Legendary Journeys). This set includes: The Hero's Guide - for character creation and play; Secrets of the Ancient World covering skill use, combat, monsters, treasures, gods etc; GM Screen; 3 16 page adventures including a solo adventure. 6 custom engraved dice.

The London Game, published by Seven Towns. 1972. Box. Box Poor. £5

Good race game, played on a genuine map of the London Underground. Players compete to reach six sites of interest, as on the hand of cards dealt to them. Interaction provided by closing stations down. Good route planning, with a minimum of changing trains, is very important. Full of historical information about London as well.

The Mad Game, published by Parker. ca.1979. Box. Good. £3

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

This is a game inspired by Mad Magazine, but is not the card game from the magazine. It is a game in which the players try to lose all their money, and do so by going round the outside of the board and alternate tracks.

There are lots of daft actions on the spaces and on the cards as well. Not to be taken seriously (in case you hadn't guessed!)

The Met. Office Weather Game, published by Spears. 1985. Box. Good. £7

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

A game that seems to have been made to promote the good works done by the Metereological Office, maybe to explain why they are important to modern life. In the game weather is made up from three major conditions - wind speed, air pressure and temperature. The object of this game is to be the first to achieve the correct three conditions that allow you to complete a pre-ordained activity in a given location. Includes wooden pieces and a display with dials for wind speed, air pressure and a thermometer. Game play involves a roll and move mechanic but spaces give you the opportunity to change the various gauges to make them more suitable to your activity as well as take event cards etc.

The Midas Touch, published by Spears. 1991. Box. Box shows wear. £7

Dice game, where players stake cards on making the best dice rolls. Chances can be increased by keeping dice and re-rolling others, but stakes are increased accordingly. However, what makes this interesting is that all the cards start off on their 'plain' side and are valueless. However, if at any time a player has three dice the same in front of them they get The Midas Touch, and any cards they stake or win get turned to the gold side, and these are what score points at the end of the game. One or two other twists add to the game as well giving additional choices. 8 dice provided, 4 of which are gold coloured. Neat idea and plays well.

The Past Of Pastimes, published by Chatto & Windus. 1969. Book. Good. £11

A superb hardback book, which tells the story of so many leisurely pastimes, including boardgames, and makes use of illustrations from many of the great museums. Here are some of the chapter headings: The Delights of Dice, From Pall Mall to the Cricket Pitch, Child's Play, Game and Playe of Chesse, From Cock-Fighting to Football, Card Games and Origins, Mainly Bowls and Billiards, Games in English Pubs and The Antiquity of Board Games. A nice reference work.

The Treasure Of The Incas, published by Ravensburger. 1988. Box. 2 box corners taped. £13

Little-seen British version of this game about exploring South American jungles, looking for lost treasure. The movement system is quite original, using dice to give a variety of options but also direction tokens which have to be given up for each direction moved in, special spaces to get back more of these tokens and Inca spaces where you have to take an even card. Nice plastic temples in which the treasure and various bonus tiles are hidden at the start of the game. The objective is to find the treasure in one of the temples and leg it back to camp before the other players can take it off you.

The Weather Game, published by Waddingtons. 1986. Box. Base and lid corners taped. £3

Devised by one of the best known TV weather presenters of the mid-80's. A variation of Pelmanism, the card matching memory game, but with two different sets. Includes a 'Swirler', a nice random number generator (1-24) - a sort of sealed unit routette wheel.

Thrice, published by Spears Games. 1985. Box. Good. £5

Players move dice (which are used as playing pieces) around a rectangular track trying to get all three of their dice next to each other. However, a dice can only be moved the number of spaces on its top space in either direction and may not land on top of another dice. Interesting little tactical challenge for 2 players.

Tit-Bits Teaser No.2, published by George Newnes. ca.1930. Box. Good. £5

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

A wooden puzzle, made as a promotion for Tit-Bits magazine. If you could not do the puzzle, you could buy the magazine at some time in the future to get the answer. The puzzle consists of 14 wooden pieces (one has been replaced with a lookalike) and you must shuffle them round in the tray to get the Plane from the top left corner to the bottom right corner. The pieces are irregular in shape, which is one of the reasons why the puzzle is devilishly difficult.

Top Secret, published by Blatz. 1996. Box. Good. £6

Card game, nearly 100 cards in full colour. Players start with identical sets of cards and simultaneously play cards from their hand. The objective is to collect as many secret documents as possible. The cards are: secret documents, assassins, moles and secret agents. They interact in various ways, and to win you will need to outguess your opponents and play the right card at the right time to end up with lots of secret documents.

Top Secret/S.I. - High Stakes Gamble, published by TSR. 1988. Box. Good. £3

Top Secret / S.I. Espionage Roleplaying Supplement. Describes Monaco and Monte Carlo, inc. Grand Prix racing, and rules for special vehicles. Take your secret agents to these glamourous locations!

Tor, published by Amigo. 1995. Box. Mint. £5

Card game, a soccer match played with a deck of 26 cards, a ball and a board. The cards are played simultaneously (both players start with the same mixture of cards) and the game mechanics are of the Paper-Scissors-Rock type mechanism. Quick to play, a good lunch-break game.

Triomph, published by Anderson. 1987. Box. Good. £10

Abstract game played on a hex board with wooden pieces. Players move to obtain supremacy in the centre of the board, using colours and cards in their hand to combat the other pieces. Privately made.

Trippples, published by Aladdin. Box. Two editions available:

1) 1973. Box shows wear. £5. First edition by this company.

2) 1974. Good. £5. Second edition by this company.

Strategy game in which the players must get their pieces to traverse the board to the far corner. However, the board is different each game and is made up of tiles each showing three arrows pointing in one of the 8 compass points. The neat idea is that you can only move in one of the directions under your opponent's piece, and vice versa. The playing pieces are transparent so you can see the arrows underneath easily. Plastic tiles.

Triumph, published by Creative Crusade Ltd. 1986. Box. Good. £7

Strategy game, with a chequered board of black and white triangles and 4 sets of 10 conical plastic pieces. It is essentially a multi-player draughts variant. Because triangles are used rather than squares each piece has 4 legal directions in which to move, adding considerably to the possibilities. The winner is the player with men left standing but in cases of a stalemate the player who has taken the most enemy pieces wins. Includes rules for promotion of a piece to king. The board is double-sided as a different initial layout is required for the 4-player game.

Trivial Pursuit, published by Horn Abbot. 1983. Box. Good. £6

Early edition, made before the game went global. Amazingly, the box did not change once the big companies got hold of it.

Trivial Pursuit Subsidiary Card Set, published by Horn Abbot International Ltd. 1986. Box. Good. £4

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2-36. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

This is an extra 1000 question and answer cards (6 questions per card, so 6000 total) for those who have overused the standard Trivial Pursuit questions. It says it is the Genus II Edition for age 15 to Adult.

Tycoon, published by Publisher Unknown. 1987. Box. Good. £3

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

Promotional game. Business game in a similar vein to Monopoly. Squares on the board represent many different companies in and around Reading!

Tycoon, published by RAM Innovations Inc. 1986. Box. Mint. £4

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

Business game which from the outside only appears to be in a similar vein to Monopoly. The box says: Try to become a Tycoon using your connections with organised crime, political figures and labour leaders. Pay off a judge or subpoena an opponent to court. Own a law firm or a construction company etc. Nice guys finish last!

Um Kopf Und Kragen, published by Berliner Spielkarten. 1996. Box. Good. £4

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.

Undersea Adventure, published by Spears. ca.1968. Box. Good, but 1 edge of the box taped. £7

TV related, the inventors were well known naturalists and ecologists on British TV. Players must dive for treasure or rare wildlife and earn the highest value - stealing from other players is also possible and there is a bonus for collecting complete sets. The circular board shows an area of sea to dive in with various depths. A revolving layer underneath the board reveals different colour dots, which change as the game goes on. These indicate what will be found in that area, which can include dangers for which event cards are drawn. However, in order to dive suitable equipment must be collected. Nice cards with photographs of marine life.

Uno Dominos, published by Gibsons Games. 1986. Box. Good. £6

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.

Up The Ladder, published by Action GT. ca.1975. Box. Box Poor. £6

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

Race game with a difference. The 'board' is a three foot long plastic step ladder, with hinged rungs. The object is to get your men to the top of the ladder but the snag is that, if you put too many pieces on one rung it will rotate catapulting the pieces down the ladder, and probably taking those below them with them. Nice idea.

Vagabondo, published by Invicta. 1979. Box. Two copies available:

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

A nicely produced abstract game. The pieces are shaped somewhat like 'Tetris' blocks, but with from 1-6 squares involved. The pieces are blue (in 3 shades) and pink (3 shades), and pieces are placed on the board scoring for themselves and any pieces they touch. However there are placement restrictions (beyond that imposed by shape) to make it more interesting.

Viking Raiders, published by Standard. ca.1985. Box. Good. £10

Standalone war game, but compatible with Cry Havoc. This set depicts the savage raids launched by the Vikings on the Anglo Saxon settlements of dark age England. The rules cover man to man land and sea warfare. Includes two large colour maps, large card boats, plans and lots of counters. There are 4 standalone scenarios as well as 2 further scenarios which are designed for use with the 'Siege' game in the same range.

Watch It!, published by Milton Bradley. 1978. Box. Good. £3

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.

Watch Your Step, published by Spears. 1984. Box. Good. £3

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

Special notes: One stair piece missing - a home made replacement supplied. 2 other pieces creased but entirely usable. None of this affects play.

The board shows 6 stairways. The players spin a spinner and place a stair shaped playing piece on to the board, but it must fit with the other pieces already there and also support the feet of 2 people shown on the board. If this is not possible then as a penalty that player must take all the stair pieces on that stairway. The goal is to be the first player to get rid of their stair pieces.

Watchamacallit, published by Berwick. 1972. Box. Good. £5

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

This is a game of categories - a category is chosen and players have to name things in that category. There is a spinner which selects the start letter for an appropriate word, eg. category Birds, Spinner says E so Eagle would be appropriate. There is also a ball for each player and a special bowl with a hole. When you say a suitable word you drop your ball in the bowl, so if two people call out simultaneously this breaks the tie.

Weigh It Up, published by Spear's Games. 1975. Box. Good. £4

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2-6. Country: British, Duration: 10 mins, Desc. by Andy.

The board shows a grid of triangles each with a number in - some positive, some negative. Each vertex has a hole for a peg. Players take it in turns to add a peg to the board, and if a peg is the last one around a triangle that players scores the number in the triangle, be that good or bad. Highest scorer when all the pegs are in wins.

What Am I Bid, published by Tri-Ang. ca.1964. Box. 1 box corner taped. £7

Designer Unknown. No. players: 3-11. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Auction game which includes a large wooden gavel. Players buy antiques which are put up for auction. Each type of antique has 3 specimens which will ultimately come up, one good, one poor, and one fake. Thus if you know that the ming vase that has sold already is a fake then you know it is worth bidding higher on the next one. In addition, when a player has a set, they can choose to end the game and score a bonus, or let the game continue in the hope of an even higher bonus, but with some risk.

Wicketz, Box. Two versions available:

1) Published by Paul Lamond Games. 1994. Good. £16

2) Published by R.D.A. Marketing. 1988. Excellent. £20

A very attractive cricket game. It includes plastic cricketers, umpires, stumps etc. A spinner determines the type of bowl, and the batsman decides what stroke to play. A card is then drawn which determines what happens. The fielding player also has to position his team around the board as not everywhere can be well covered. Rules include advanced options too. A must for the cricket fan.

Wings Over France, published by Lambourne. 1999. Packet. Good. £13

Wonderful solitaire game, with highly original concepts and design. You join the Royal Flying Corps in the Great War, and must survive three weeks at the Front. In the Campaign Game you might get promoted, decorated, injured or cremated! Second edition, with much better printing quality, including colour, a real rarity in a Lambourne game.

Word Games, published by Merit. Box. 2 Box corners split. £6

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

A set of 8 word games played with tiles on a table. The games are called: Crossword, Anagrams, Word Rummy, Word Dominoes, Word Ghost, Snatch Words, Word Solitaire & Passwords. A nice collection for word game fans.

Wortersee, published by Kosmos. 1998. Box. Excellent. £8

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.

Yahtzee - 40th Anniversary Set, published by Milton Bradley. 1996. Box. Mint. £6

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

Well known dice game in which players have to score as much as possible in various categories. This set is a special 40th Anniversary edition of the game with a well made dice rolling tray.

Yellowstone Park, published by Amigo. 2003. Box. Excellent. £13

Card game played on a board. The cards come in 4 colours with numbers 1-7 and all show slightly humourous animals from Yellowstone Park. The board has 7 columns, and each column may only have one colour of card in it at a time. Each row may only have one number of card played in it. Players play cards trying to keep within a 3x3 area. If a player is unable to do this then that player collects any cards not in the new 3x3 area as penalty points. However, there are also a couple of ways to get rid of penalty points - getting rid of all your cards or filling the 8th or 9th space in the current 3x3 grid.

Zed, published by Smurfit Group. 1976. Box. Good. £7

Abstract game which takes some ideas from chess (piece capture, win by capturing the 'King', different pieces have different moves), but also some from the Stratego family (all except 'King ' initially set up secretly, pieces reveal their true nature during the game).

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