Nov 2005 Catalog

MNG-AJM Games and Collectibles

Nov 2005 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?

2300 Star Cruiser, published by GDW. 1987. Box. Box good, counters unpunched. £5

Game of starship construction and combat in the year 2300. It is thematically linked with GDW's Traveller 2300, but is a standalone game played on a hex grid with counters. Includes 18 page rules book, two maps, counters, starship construction book, a book of ship data sheets, and combat charts. Half of the rules book is actually full of a variety of different scenarios for you to try.

5 Star, published by Spears. 1984. Box. Box shows wear. £10

This game was a huge success in France in the early 1980’s, and this is the only English language version. Players are entrepreneurs with different objectives. They must achieve their individual goals, as well as accumulate a set amount of wealth, and finally, they cannot claim a victory until they have played out all of the Chance Cards in their possession. Players move around a track which gives a variety of options which allow players to help themselves or hinder other players. Wooden components.

Adult Drinking Games Compendium, published by Lagoon Games. 1997. Box. Good. £4.50

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

Before you pass over this item, I will point out that this does actually contain some good games for the pub or even after dinner with non-gamers. Most of the games work fine if rather than having to drink or do a forfeit you simply lose a point. The set includes a pack of playing cards and 5 dice as well as larger cards with the games rules; some additional cards used in some of the games, and score pads for one of the games. The games are: Liar Dice, Drop Dead, Blind Ignorance, Wink Death, Pub Golf, Spooks, Chain Reaction, Slap-Clap, The Name Game, Sgt Major General, Zoo-Time, Timber!, Sticky Toffee Pudding, Spoof, Slam, Drink While You Think, Captain Bluff, Bunnies, Adverb Game, Mouth & Bottle, Menagerie + more.

Alexandros, published by Winning Moves. 2003. Box. Excellent. £13.50

Unusual board game in which players use cards to move Alexander the Great around a triangular gridded map of the Middle East. Wherever Alexander goes 'fences' are laid along his route, and these fences will divide up the board into various provinces which the players then use cards to control. Ownership of these provinces is rewarded with points when scoring occurs, but it is quite possible to take over control of other players' provinces. Lots of tactical play, and cunning moves are definitely rewarded.

Alice In Wonderland, published by Spears. 1973. Box. 1 Box corner split. £2

Children’s game (age 6+) using very traditional ‘Alice’ graphics. Includes a short synopsis of the Alice adventures to ‘set the scene’. The game itself is a roll the dice and move the dobber affair but with the twist that each character (player) can be big or small. While big the player moves forwards, and when small moves backwards. A 1 makes you small and a 6 makes you big again. There are also some special spaces which have a variety of effects.

All American Football Game, published by Standard Oil. ca.1970. Packet. Mint. £2.50

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

Promotional game, made by the oil firm, to tie in with their sponsorship of the NFL TV coverage that season. Still sealed so I cannot comment on the rules. The packet is about 55cm long, and contains a board made of card which will fold out to be pretty large. There are two dice included too, as is a black and white photograph of Tom Mason, Fran Tarkenton and Rip Hawkins, complete with facsimile signatures. Unusual item.

All Star Replay - Vol.4 No.5, published by Avalon Hill. ca.1983. Magazine. Excellent - nothing cut out. £4

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

This fine magazine was an idea by Bruce Milligan to meet the needs of Avalon Hill sports gamers who, previously, had to accept that the only article of interest for them in the past was squeezed into the odd issue of The General. It ran for 19 issues. Fantastic collection of articles, variants and expansions. This issue includes: Vintage Baseball 1908 Season (full season stats), Win Place & Show - Harness Racing (inc new horse stats), Pro Golf Decision Making, Speed Circuit (analysis of various tracks), Statis Pro Football Fine Tuning, Basketball Strategy, Pro Golf (mini game).

Ares Magazine, published by SPI.

Country: American, Desc. by Andy. Year: 1980-81.

Fantasy / S.F. wargaming magazine, which originally came with a game in every issue. Main articles and the feature game listed below:

Issue 3, Good. £0.50. The Barbarian Kings central section has been removed. Game which originally came with it is no longer included. Articles: Barbarian Kings (this issue's game), Fiction - The Whispering Mirror, Fiction - Final Notes, War In Space, Directory of SF & Fantasy Game Publishers & Manufacturers, Reviews of games, films, books and TV programmes, Games rating chart.

Issue 4, 2 copies available:

1) Good. £0.75. Includes the Arena of Death central rules section, but no counters or map for it.

2) Good. £0.50. The Arena of Death entire section has been removed.
Articles: Arena of Death (this issue's game), Fiction - Hillsong, Fiction - Eye of the Goblin, Science for Science Fiction, Facts for Fantasy, Reviews of games, films, books and TV programmes, Games rating chart.

Issue 7, 2 copies available:
1) Good. £0.50. The Rescue From The Hive central section has been removed.
2) Good. £0.75. The Rescue From The Hive central section is still there, but no map or counters.
Articles: Rescue From The Hive (this issue's game), Fiction - Rescue From The Hive, Dragonquest: The House of Kurin, Science for Science Fiction, Facts for Fantasy, Dragonquest Notes, Reviews of games, films, books and TV programmes, Games rating chart.

Issue 8, Excellent. £3.50. The game which came with this magazine IS included. Articles: Ragnarok (this issue's game, depicting the struggle of the Norse gods with the traitorous god Loki and followers), Ragnarok background, Padora's Link, S.F. Game Sampler, Facts for Fantasy, Science for Science Fiction, Dragonquest Notes, Reviews of Films, TV, Books and Games.

Issue 9, Excellent - Game Unpunched. £3.50. The game which came with this magazine IS included. Articles: DeltaVee (this issue's game, a tactical space combat system), Dragonslayer Interview, The Sword & The Stars Design Notes, Lasers In Space, Fiction - The Embracing, Facts for Fantasy, Science for Science Fiction, Reviews of Films, TV, Books and Games, Dragonquest notes.

Issue 10, 2 copies available:
1) Good. £0.50. Game which originally came with it is no longer included.
2) Good. £5. Game which originally came with this IS included.
Articles: Fiction - The Return Of The Stainless Steel Rat (this issue's game too, but was a completely separate insert), Dragonquest - The Camp of Alla-Akabar, Enhanced DeltaVee, Dragonquest Notes, There's Only One Universe Design Notes, Facts for Fantasy, Science for Science Fiction, Reviews of games, films, books and TV programmes, Games rating chart.

Aristo, published by Dragon Radieux. ca.1989. Box. Excellent. £25

High quality product from France. A game of love, rivalry and favouritism in the Court of Versailles. The game is driven by cards which players use to make money, and gain favour with royalty. Each player represents a family of courtiers. During the game, wars will be declared, marriages take place, kings and queens will be courted, bastard children will be born, and many other events will take place. Game play involves requesting favours and negotiation. The objective is to obtain a monetary target, but generally riches only come with position and power. Nice item.

Arnhem, published by SPI. 1976. Box. Box shows wear. £6

Bookcase box. Operational level simulation of combat between the Allies and German forces during Operation Market Garden in Sept 1944 in which 3 Allied airborne divisions were dropped up to 60 miles behind enemy lines to try to establish a bridgehead at Arnhem. This was originally published as part of the Westwall Quad, and so the rules come in two parts - firstly the Westwall base rules and then the Arnhem specific rules.

Asterix The Card Game, published by Spears. 1990. Box. Good but mark where label was removed. £7

Card game, using all the wonderful Asterix graphics and characters. Players compete to fight off a variety of Roman soldiers. Each player has a hand of ten cards representing Asterix, Obelix, Cacofonix etc, with different values. Players play cards simultaneously, but only the winner has to discard their card. The Romans are worth different amounts and there are bonuses for getting a set of the same type.

Atmosfear - The Video Board Game, published by Spears Games. 1991. Box. Good. £6

Well known horror themed board game which uses a video to interact with. The game is essentially a race against the clock to collect all six of your special keys by moving around the board and actioning spaces you land on, and then racing to the centre of the board. However, from time to time The Gatekeeper character on the video will interrupt proceedings, insult a player or two (!) and give people instructions. If noone has won after 60 minutes then the Gatekeeper wins instead.

Atmosfear II, published by Spears. 1992. Box. Good. £9

Sequel to the popular Video Board game Atmosfear, which you will need to be able to play this. This expansion plays fairly similarly to the original but has its own sets of Time and Fate cards. This time the game is hosted by the zombie Baron Samedi, and is a little faster paced than the original. Contains a VHS cassette which is played while the game is played.

Avalanche, published by Parker. . Box. 2 box corners split. £6.50

Designer Unknown. No. players: 1-6. Country: Germany, Duration: 15 mins, Desc. by Andy.

An interesting mix of games types - this is both an abstract game and also a falling marble action game! There are a series of slots down which marbles can roll and either get halted or diverted by clever rotating diverters. The object depends on which game variant you play, but essentially you are trying to get some colours of marble to fall out of the mechanism while hoping others don't. With some experience much of what happens when a marble is entered can be calculated in advance, but it is easy to get it wrong!

Beim Zeus, published by Kosmos. 1997. Box. Good. £10

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.

Big Bucks, published by Gestion Group-Or. 1987. Box. Good. £10

Designed by Andre Bilodeau. No. players: 2-6. Country: Canadian, Duration: 90 mins, Desc. by Andy. Special notes: Box lid shows considerable wear marks on one side and the edges, but is still sturdy. Contents fine.

Business game which uses some of the ideas from Monopoly. Players can put their money in high, medium and low risk investments, and there are benefits to collecting 'sets'. Insurance can be bought to help protect against the misfortunes which can occur. Play is by moving around a track according to a dice roll and actioning the space (or deciding to wait for a better opportunity). The objective is to buy out the other players, but there is a long and a short game available.

Bose Buben, published by Schmidt Spiele. 2000. Box. Good. £7

Tactical card game with the age range noted as 12+. The cards depict pig-riding kobolds who enter slightly odd races for money. After four races the player whose kobolds earned the most money wins the game. The race consists of five lanes, and players take turns playing cards into these lanes. Once there are four cards in a lane then the kobolds fight and one is removed. When four kobolds have been evicted from the race the race ends, and the lanes are scored individually.

British Square, published by Gabriel. 1978. Box. 2 Box corners split. £3

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

Players take it in turns to place pieces on a 5x5 grid. However, no piece can be placed so that it is orthogonally adjacent to an opposing piece, so this quickly limits what moves are possible. Several rounds are played and the score for a round is the difference in the number of pieces the players managed to place. The game is named after the defensive infantry formation used by the British against Napoleon, though this has precious little to do with the game! Chunky tactile pieces and board.

By Jove, published by Aristoplay. ca.1980. Box. Good. £4.50

Family game very much influenced by Monopoly (track on outside of board around which players travel, pay gold to a player who owns a Hero space, various ways to Go To Hades, etc), but with a number of different ideas thrown in as well, such as god spaces offering protection on your next roll, but objecting to doubles. Very attractive board. The game also includes a book giving a brief account of various classic myths written by Zibby Oneal.

Campaign, published by Waddingtons. 1974. Box. Good. £5

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

Board game reproducing the Napoleonic wars at a strategic level, but in a rather abstract way - the sides are all equal. Victory is either by outright defeat of your opponents or by capturing towns which control large areas of territory. The board is large and attractive and represents Europe from Spain to Western Russia and includes various terrain features. Introductory and standard rules included. Movement allowance is determined by dice roll and different pieces move in different ways (cavalry, infantry and the general). Defeating enemy pieces is by overwhelming their forces on or next to a space. Reinforcements arrive in your capital city, and alliances are permitted (and have rules).

Carnage, published by Holistic Design. 1998. Box. Excellent - miniatures still on sprews. £11

Designed by Thomas Ziems, Shaun Ziems, Matthew Ziems, Daniel Ziems & Wuenten Dudeck. No. players: 2. Country: American, Duration: 1 hr, Desc. by Andy.

Light wargame featuring 96 impressive 25mm miniatures and ten 10 sided dice. The battle is between the Herptars (Alligator Infantry, Chameleon Archers and Doom Geckos) and the Human Brigands (Infantry, Archers and Bull-mounted Cavalry). Both sides have access to infantry, cavalry, archers and mages. While the battle goes on, a strange and powerful orb of power moves around the battlefield and causes odd things to happen, such as teleporting troops close to it elsewhere, or increasing the level of carnage in its area. Definitely intended to be played for fun rather than as a serious wargame.

Cartino, published by Ravensburger. 2 copies available:

1) 1969. Box. Good. £6.50

2) 1974. Box. Good. £7.50. Comes in a hard wearing linen covered box.

Delightful game using wooden tiles to representing some of the cards from two decks of playing cards. Players play their cards on to an attractive board, which looks like a tableau of playing cards laid out for a game. Each space on the board can accommodate two identical tiles. Players have a hand of 5 tiles and may play any number in their turn, but only from one suit. Tiles played score for any adjacent occupied spaces, so holding back for tactical advantage would seem to be an important part of gameplay. Nice item.

Cavendish, published by Hiron. 1986. Box. Excellent. £4

Game in which players try to make a line of 5 or more pieces. Play is on a large hexagonal board, with pieces placed on the vertices. Instead of placing a piece on the board it is also possible to capture a pair of opposing pieces by jumping over them to a free space. Includes a rule to offset the advantage of going first.

Challenge Bridge, published by 3M. 1972. Box. Box shows wear. £18

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

Special notes: Cards are very well used - still usable though

The best-ever simulation of Duplicate Bridge, letting you play Duplicate in your own home, yet score against 13 other pairs who have played the same hand. 100 deals, all analysed by Oswald Jacoby. Bookcase edition.

Chase Your Neighbour, published by Piatnik. 1990. Box. Good. £6.50

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.

Chessington, published by Rostherne. 1990. Box. Good. £3

Chessington consists of two race games which use chess pieces and their standard chess moves. Players attempt to be the first to get their chess pieces around the race track. Both games use the same board. Chessington North is a game of skill for the more serious and thoughtful player, while Chessington South involves both luck and skill, and is more suited to family play.

Corner, published by Ravensburger. 1980. Box. Good. £14

One of Sid Sackson's less well known games. The board is a grid of 6 x 6 holes into which marbles are placed at random. Players each have an arrow which they can slide along the side of the board, and the intersection of the two arrows after a move indicates the marble the current player must take. The more marbles you have of a colour the higher your score will be when the round ends. There is also a partnership version for 4 players which uses an arrow on each side of the board.

Crazy Derby, published by Ravensburger. 2004. Box. Excellent. £6

Card game in which the cards represent different racing animals. In turn players play a card and draw a replacement, until a critical number of cards has been played for one of the animals. All cards played for that suit then score, but all other cards are discarded. A new segment of the race then starts. There are also some special cards which either count as two cards or which discard all cards of a particular animal. Neat idea as you would expect from this designer. Actually a retheme and reprint of the earlier game Trendy.

Der Untergang Von Pompeji, published by Amigo. 2004. Box. In shrink. £26

Light but tactical board game in which the players first place their family's members in buildings around Pompeji bearing in mind the proximity to ways out, bonus placements and what their cards permit. In the second half of the game Vesuvius starts to erupt, portions of the city are engulfed and the players try to escape as many of their family members as possible while placing lava so as to block off opposing families as best as possible. Naturally any family members caught by the lava are eliminated.

Detour, published by Parker. 1994. Box. Box shows wear. £6

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

Beautifully presented game in which players try to be the first to claim 6 coins. The game is a little like Downfall, but with a greater variety of options at any point. The playing area is a clear plastic vertical circular enclosure into which a number of pegs are initially placed. Players may then either add a coin into one of the slots at the top, or add / remove a peg, or rotate the circle one step or move deflectors below the playing area to ensure that falling coins fall their way. A player cannot undo the move just made by the opponent. Very stylish design.

Diamond Hunt, published by Waddingtons. 1983. Box. Good. £5

Players search Africa looking for the famous diamond 'The African Star'. Movement is by land, sea or plane, and in each location a tile is placed face down at the start of the game. Fares have to be paid and tiles flipped. Once the Star of Africa is found that player must try to return to Cairo or Tangiers with it. Includes a Flip-A-Dice unit to shake the dice in.

Die Fugger, published by Adlung Spiele. 2003. Box. Excellent. £3.50

Card game set in medieval Augsburg in which players collect trade goods and try to influence the prices of these goods. The player who earns the most money becomes Jakob Fugger's trading partner and wins the game. Game play involves playing cards to the table, and as soon as there are 5 of a type on the table the 3 commodities with the most cards showing go up and the others go down. However, going up too far causes a crash. In addition some cards count double if only a few of that type are in play, and merchant cards allow more cards to be drawn prior to the next round.

Draughtboard Puzzle, published by TSL. ca.1950. Box. Good. £1.25

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

1950s puzzle comprising of 12 pieces in different shapes, but each piece featuring a number of squares to a draughts board. The object is to form them into a regular draughts board.

Entenralleye, published by Walter Muller. 1991. Box. Good. £14

Another fine game from this designer/manufacturer. A re-working of an earlier game, now presented with the famous Muller graphics. Players race Citroen 2CV’s (called ‘Ducks’ in Germany), but the race game is quite unique. As you proceed, you enter mini-rallies, must ‘buy’ spare body parts, and can decide to take shortcuts (or not). All this against a game ‘clock’ that ticks by as you play.

Ergo, published by Invicta. 1977. Box. Good, but 2 corners taped. £5

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

Strategy game in which the players try to get five pieces in a row. However, there is more to it than normal in such games as the board has an inner area and an outer area, and pieces can be played into either area, but once played they can also be moved, but in different ways according to which area they were placed in. Nicely made moulded board with storage compartments for the playing pieces.

Exploration, published by Waddingtons. 1970. Box. Good. £10

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

Players mount an exploration to one of four places: a lost city, a mountain summit, a distant island and a sunken galleon. The objective is to make the most profit on your trip. In the first phase players move their pieces around a track on the outside of the board and collect personnel, equipment, and information from the Exploration Club. Once a player has decided they are ready to set off they move onto the main area of the board, a map showing the target locations and various hazards etc. A unique dice with strange symbols is used to move (called the Diradice). The hazard spaces can only be crossed if you have the right equipment or personnel. The sooner you complete your mission and get back the more prize money you get.

Face The Music, published by Merit. 1977. Box. Good, but 2 box corners taped. £2

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2-5. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

TV related, based on the musical quiz show hosted by Joseph Cooper. Rather nicely presented. This is a quiz game with over 1000 music related questions. As well as answering questions and moving along the track on the board, players must also collect musical instrument cards, and to win they must have 7 out of the 10 categories represented. Should a player manage to collect all 10 categories they win instantly.

Fief 2, published by Euro Games. 1989. Box. Box shows wear, board a bit grubby. £15

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.

Forum Romanum, published by Franckh Kosmos. 1994. Box. Good. £20

Clever placement game in which players take turns to put their coloured pieces in different rooms on the board. Whenever a row, column, diagonal or room is full, it is then scored, with the player with the majority of pieces getting victory points, and other players represented losing victory points. All lines and rooms are scored only once, but when players run out of pieces they must remove a piece, so care is required in ensuring you have pieces you can safely remove.

Frogger, published by Milton Bradley. 1982. Box. Good, but one box corner faded. £5

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

Board game version of the arcade game of the same name from the early 1980's. Each player tries to be the first player to get their 3 frogs safely across the river. Each turn a dice is rolled to give a number of movement points to use that turn. Movement points can be spent either moving obstacles (logs on the river or cars on the road) or your own frogs. Thus a balance between hindering your opponent and helping yourself needs to be achieved.

Game Of Trivia, published by Avalon Hill. ca.1981. Box. Box shows wear - edges & corners taped. £7

Trivia game which is quite uncommon in the UK as Avalon Hill refused to export it outside America. The game includes 1100 cards each with one question in each of 6 categories, making a whopping 6600 questions in all. If you want a great source of reasonably tricky trivia questions this is it! The game itself sets the players as students trying to get a degree in Trivia! As each player makes progress, more movement options around the board become available, making it easier to land on the spaces for subjects you have chosen to specialise in.

Gargon, published by Amigo. 2001. Box. In shrink. £6.50

Card game with 102 cards depicting various fantasy creatures (fairies, dragons, pegasi etc). The cards are also numbered, and show amulet symbols - more on those with lower numbers. The game is a sort of trick taking game, but with several cards playable at once, and passing is also possible. Each suit of cards played is won separately, and at the end of the game amulets on cards won make points and there are bonuses for the most in each suit. The backs of the cards also show the suits, so these can be seen by everyone.

Girl Talk, published by Milton Bradley. 1995. Box. Good. £1

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

Game designed for younger teenage girls. Players get to dare each other, reveal secrets, that sort of thing. The winner is the first player to collect a fortune card in each of these areas: career, children, marriage, and special moments, but really the game is about sharing secrets and dares with other girls of the same age!

Glass Chess Set, published by Unknown. . Box. Good. £5

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.

Golfwinks, published by Waddingtons. 1973. Box. Good. £6.50

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2-4. Country: British, Duration: Up to 45 mins, Desc. by Eamon.

Rather nice action golf game, with various pieces of equipment that allow you to build 18 holes of golf. The 'ball' is moved Tiddlywinks-fashion but that adds to the fun approach to the game. Playing cards illustrate the layout of the holes for you to set up, though you can of course make up your own as well.

Hamster Rolle, published by Zoch Zum Spielen. 2000. Box. Excellent. £23

Excellent dexterity game which is played on a wooden 'hamster wheel'. Actually it is a wooden playing area bent into a circle, with wooden ridges onto which the wooden shapes which each player has are placed. The object is to get rid of all your pieces which come in various shapes and sizes. However the rules for placement are neat and mean it gets progressively harder to place extra pieces without making the wheel roll enough to spill some of its contents. Any pieces which do come off are added to your pile to get rid of. Great fun and great looking game. Recommended.

Hats Off, published by Peter Pan. ca.1968. Box. Good. £8

Players flip cone shaped pieces into a grid, and score points for getting their cones into their section of the grid. The cones are plastic, with metal weights to make them fly a bit like shuttlecocks. The flippers are lovely items, made with metal springs, and really sturdy, with a scoring dial on the base of each one (called Slide-O-Matic scorekeepers!). Silly but fun and an amazing item.

Heads And Tails, published by Ideal. 1981. Box. Good, but shows some wear. £5

Nicely produced strategy game in which the two players alternate placing a coin of their colour onto the board, but first flipping over one of their opponent's coins on to an adjacent space. The objective is to make a line of three of your coins showing all heads or all tails which your opponent cannot break up on their next turn. Nice chunky coins and an unusual box with a fold out rules flap.

Hollywood For Sale, published by Ravensburger. 1994. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Mint. £7 2) Excellent. £6

Auction card game with neat mechanics. Each player is both an auctioneer and a buyer, and there are nice rules to encourage one to sell both good and terrible cards. The cards themselves reflect various artefacts and icons from famous films.

Hornochsen!, published by Amigo. 1998. Box. Mint. £5.50

An update of 6 Nimmt (Take 6) to make it into a more strategic game. The deck is numbered from 1 to 98, with some of the cards having green bullheads and others having red bullheads. In this game greens are positive points and reds are negative points. Players play onto sets of cards, with the fifth card in a set taking the whole thing, but unlike 6 Nimmt players take their turns sequentially and can play one to three cards from their hands.

Hotel, published by Milton Bradley. 1986. Box. Good. £5

Special notes: Box base damaged but whole - contents fine

Players get to build hotels and collect rent if someone lands on (‘stays at’) your hotel. Game play involves moving according to dice rolls, and deciding what to buy and when to extend your hotel and when you need to keep cash in hand. Players compete for vital entrances to their hotels. The bits are amazing as all the hotels have large 3D representations to place on the board once purchased. Good family game.

I Think You Think I Think, published by TSR. 1984. Box. Good but edges show wear. £5

This party game tests the players' insights into the others' real-life views. Points are won by predicting an opponent's answers to questions of ethics, behavior, preference, etc, or by betting on which of your opponents will correctly predict your answers.

Indoor Games, published by Hodder & Stoughton. 1977. Book. Good. £2.50

Paperback reference book of indoor games, published as part of a range called Teach Yourself which covered many sports and hobbies. The book covers board games, domino games, dice games, Matchstick games, paper & pencil games, word games and parlour games. 128 pages.

Inns & Taverns, published by Oxford Games. 1995. Box. Good, but mark where label removed. £5

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

The board shows a track of 25 British pub signs, and players advance along these, claiming a mini beer mat for each space they reach first. The game can be played by 2 players or four as a partnership. Two players at a time play a token numbered 1-6 simultaneously and the current player moves the difference between the numbers played. These numbered tokens are then out of play until all have been used. The first player to get to the end of the track claims all unclaimed beer mats. The player or team with the most beer mats then wins.

Isolation, published by Action GT. 1978. Box. Good but shows a some wear. £5

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

Strategy game played on a 6x8 grid of spaces each with a flexible plastic tile. Players alternate moving their pawn and pushing out a tile in an awkward position for their opponent. The last player with a legal move wins. Simple but clever.

ITN News At Ten, The Game, published by Paul Lamond. 1988. Box. Box dented. £2.50

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

TV related, and not a trivia game as you might have thought. Players travel the board in search of combinations of cards, a Headline, a Story, and a Picture, and then must convince the other players that they fit together into a cohesive item for the News that night. Some persuasion and imagination will be needed in some cases, but that is part of the fun of the game. The first player to complete a set of items, wins.

James Watt, published by HABA. ca.1990. Box. Excellent. £8

A very simple children's game, but with wonderful wooden components. The players race their large wooden locomotives from one side of the table or floor to the other. This is done by rolling a colour dice and moving their locomotive until a marker of that colour on the front wheel is next to the ground. Thus it is essentially just a roll and move game, but the bits are wonderful, and make an excellent toy for a young child.

Jungle Thrills, published by Pepys. ca.1955. Box. Box shows wear. £7.50

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

Card game, with stunning illustrations of wild life by Racey Helps. Unusually the illustrations take up the entire cards, and there are no numbers or symbols - the number and type of animal in the pictures are all that matters. The game is a memory game in which players try to match a face up card with pairs of the same animal which are face down on the table. There are basic and advanced rules (which alter the amount of memory work required to play). Extremely attractive item.

Junk Yard, published by Hangman Games. 2002. Cloth bag. New. £17.50

Special notes: Numbered 575/1000.

Tile laying trick taking game set. Limited edition of 1000. There are rules to two games. The main components are a set of numbered wooden tiles in various suits, as well as a linen bag which has a board printed on one side for the first game, and a scoring table and track for the second game printed on the other side. The first game is a trick taking game in which the winner of the trick gets to place a tile onto the board, with the objective of claiming areas of the board in order to score points. The second game is a set collecting game where the sets are poker style hands. Scoring sets can be turned in for points as the game goes on.

Jurassic Park, published by Parker. 1992. Box. Good. £12

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.

Kimbo, published by Waddingtons. 1961. Box. Box lid has been taped. £12

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2-4. Country: British, Duration: 45 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Rare. Unusual race game. Players each have a piece at each corner of a 15 x 15 grid, and the objective is to get those pieces to the centre. Movement is by dice roll, but what makes this game interesting and clever is that each player has fences which slot into the sides of the spaces. These obstruct movement, but are also essential as movement is in straight lines but when hitting a fence the direction can be changed and movement continues. Thus a carefully placed fence can help you but hinder your opponents. Sometimes known as The Game of Fences. Amazingly substantial board, at least twice as thick as modern boards.

Koordina, published by Ottensten. ca.1980. Box. Good. £2

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

This is a travel version of Connect Four, the two player strategy game in which players alternate dropping a coloured chip into one of seven columns. The chip drops to the lowest unoccupied space, and the objective is to make a row of four chips horizontally, vertically or diagonally. The box measures 16cm x 15cm x 2cm.

Krieg Und Frieden, published by TM Games. 1999. Box. Good. £16

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.

Law Courts, published by Oliron Games. 1989. Box. 1 Box corner taped. £5

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

A look at the legal system in Britain. Players take court actions against each other, ultimately trying to win a case in the House of Lords, and to double their money. Game play involves moving around a track on the board and actioning the various spaces. However players also get the chance to challenge various actions in court, though this costs money it can hamper the opponent. Players will have to decide which actions to defend and which to let go. The game uses lots of different types of cards to resolve challenges etc. The box is styled to look like a black briefcase.

Let's Go To The Races, published by Parker. 1987. Box. Good. £4.50

Designer Unknown. No. players: 4-16. Country: American, Desc. by Andy.

Horse racing game. Players buy horses and bet on them in a variety of races. The game is driven by a video (note that this is a US game, and so a US video - check this will work on your system). The horses have different odds for each race and there are special forms which allow the game to continue to be played once you have played through the races on the tape. The video shows real horse racing. The rulebook includes ideas on planning a race-night, with recipes and even a racehorse owner's manual.

Mage Stones, published by TSR. 1990. Box. Good. £7

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.

Master Golf, published by Master Golf Ltd. 1982. Box. Good. £5

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

Golf game with a huge board, neat little plastic 'clubs' and scoring sheets. Dice are used, but you get the choice of which club, and you know how this will affect the 'shot' before you roll. There are rules to cover bunkers, water, trees, and trying to get back into a central lie after a poor initial shot.

MBT, published by Avalon Hill. 1989. Box. Good. £8

Modern tank based warfare, with major units from all round the world. The title stands for 'Main Battle Tank'. Each turn is 1-5 minutes, each hex 100m. Units are single vehicles or infantry squads. Includes rules for infantry, personnel carriers, tanks, helicopter gunships, barbed wire, land mines etc, as well as weapons suitable for dealing with all of these. The mapboards are geomorphic and a variety of scenarios included, as well as basic, advanced and optional rules sets.

Mickey's Magic Quiz, published by Cowan de Groot. ca.1995. Box. Good. £1.25

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

Special notes: Mickey's pointing wand has broken off, but he still points with his hand.

Disney related item that is based on the famous Magic Robot game. Point Mickey at a question then reposition him on the other playing surface and he will point at the answer. Comes with 10 sheets each of 10 questions. Neat mechanism, which works with magnets.

Modern Naval Battles, published by 3W. 1989. Box. Good. £9. Desc. by Andy.

Designed by Dan Verssen & Alan Emrich. No. players: 2-6. Country: American, Duration: 90 mins. Card game. An interactive combat game with no board, but cards depict different types of ships in your fleet, and other cards represent threats to them. The game is played in rounds and players manoeuver their ships, attack enemy ships, and defend against enemy attacks all with cards. Points are accrued for enemy vessels sunk, with a point total target to achieve victory.

Mysteries Of Old Peking, published by Milton Bradley. 1987. Box. Good. £7

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

Special notes: 2 of the stand-up character cards used as playing pieces are missing, but replaced by photocopies on card.

Very nicely designed light detective game. 50 different cases to solve. Players move around the board visiting witnesses to gather information and may have to decode information using a mirror or a special red plastic sheet, or the Spy's decoder. Once a player has enough information they head to the appropriate Chinese dragon parading the streets and reveal the culprit. Very attractive and a fun light game too.

Nautilus, published by Mayfair. 2002. Box. Excellent. £19. Desc. by Andy.

Designed by Brigitte & Wolfgang Ditt. No. players: 2-4. Country: American, Duration: 1 hr 45 mins. Big box Kosmos game, with a big board and loads of chunky underwater research station tiles and plastic figures. Players spend money to build parts of a sea-floor research station and bring in their researchers. These researchers then improve various technologies for game advantages and victory points and can also man submarines which explore the sea floor looking for treasures and signs of the lost city of Atlantis. At the end of the game your score is your research points times your discovery points so you have to maintain a balance.

Neolithibum, published by Fun Connection. 1992. Box. In shrink. £14. Desc. by Andy.

Designed by Harald Bilz & Peter Gutbrod. No. players: 2-6. Country: German, Duration: 40 mins. Balancing + strategy game in which the building pieces are assorted stones and pebbles! As with the other games in this series there is a reasonable amount of silliness, but some good game mechanics as well.

Players are cavemen, trying to build an altar in honour of their God Bottiburp. This is done by playing cards and collecting / stealing food tokens and constructing the altar with stones. However when a stone is about to be placed other players may play a card which imposes a handicap (eg. add the stone to the altar while touching your nose to the table). Other games in the series are Pfusch and Burp.

New World, published by Avalon Hill. 1990. Box. Good. £11

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. Excellent. £9

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.

Okolopoly, published by Ravensburger. 1984. Box. 1 Box corner split. £15

Ecological game with an incredible board that would never be made today (it would be deemed too expensive). It is extra thick so that dials could be placed 'inside' the board. Each player is a member of the ruling party, and there are two scenarios to try - an industrial nation or a developing nation. Players change the numbers on the various dials, but this can have knock on effects, eg. upping Production increases Waste which in turn decreases Standard Of Living, which then reduces the number of action points available next round. The game can also be played with event cards if you wish. Sometimes the game ends in an environmental disaster.

Olympic Yachting, published by Pro Games (UK) Ltd. 1976. Box. Fair. £8

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

Special notes: Box base and lid corners taped, box shows some indentation due to stacking

Yacht racing game tied into the 1976 Olympics in Canada. The box is large and the board huge, showing the area of water near Kingston, Ontario where the yachting events were held. There are 3 courses shown. Movement is dice based, but each number gives a different set of choices of what you may do as well as just move, and right of way rules are also included. Hazard cards and advantage cards are also drawn on certain dice rolls.

Option, published by Parker. 1982. Box. Good. £4.50

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

Word game with triangular prisms for the tiles, each having two sides with different letters and colours on (and the third side blank). Players enter words into the grid Scrabble style, but there are more possibilities for longer words as either letter on each prism can be used. There is a bonus for making a word out of one colour of letter, and also when making a word you may change a prism already on the board to its other side as long as this still makes a word.

Othello, published by Peter Pan. 1977. Box. Good, but 1 corner split. £4

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

Classic strategy game that is also known as Reversi. Very nicely produced with a green baize covered playing area, classic black and white reversable pieces, and useful storage compartments for the pieces.

Ox Blocks, published by Invicta. 1970. Box. Good. £0.75

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

Noughts and crosses with a novel twist. Uses plastic blocks which are thrown like dice, and placed on the board. Each piece has two X's, 2 O's and 2 open sides. You have to place a piece if you roll either your or your opponent's symbol, but the open side lets you remove one of your opponent's pieces.

Paranoia, published by West End Games. 1984. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Good. £7. First Edition 2) Mint. £6. 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 contradictory rules. Great fun game which will have you both laughing and crying. Needs to be experienced.

Paranoia - Gamemaster Screen, published by West End Games. 1985. GM Screen. Mint. £0.30

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

GM's screen for the humorous science fiction RPG, Paranoia.

Permission, published by Oscar Games. 1985. Box. Good. £8

Business game in which players take the roles of property developers. The board shows a town split up into various property sites, around and through which run various roads. Players drive their attractive car playing pieces around the board getting the chance to buy properties, especially vital access properties. Players also need to acquire adjacent properties and get planning permission for their proposed development. Players can trade properties amongst each other. Unusual item, produced by a small English company.

Pharo-Myd, published by Pirouette. 1992. Box. Good. £11

Attractively presented game of movement and capture. The game has an attractive solid wooden triangular board showing a triangular grid and the playing pieces are 16 wooden pyramids with Egyptian hieroglyphs on the sides - one symbol for each player. Players move pyramids by tipping them over to an adjacent space, but if your symbol is face down, you cannot move that piece. Pieces are captured by getting 2 or 3 pyramids suitably aligned, and players are eliminated when they have no legal move available to them. Unusual item, beautifully presented.

Picture Bingo, published by Arrow. 1982. Box. Good. £1.50

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

Children’s card game, 36 cards featuring colour pictures of assorted items. The deck is divided into two, with one deck used by the 'caller' and the other deck by the players, who must match their hand of cards with the other cards as they are displayed.

Pig Pile, published by R&R Games. 2001. Box. Good. £4

Family card game in which the cards show pigs eating, and a few show a 'hog-wash' or a pig 'hog-tied'. The game plays rather like Uno / Crazy Eights, with players trying to get rid of their cards by playing a legal card onto the discard pile when it is their turn. Special cards add a bit of variety, and failing to play a legal card means you have to pick up cards. The game uses 40 rather nice miniature plastic pigs to score with.

Pilgrimage, published by Whitehall. 1971. Box. Good. £7

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

Attractively designed family game, designed to educate about the route Crusaders took from England to Jerusalem. Essentially you roll the dice, move, and draw cards for events along the way. Developed by the New School of Utica for their Humanities Course.

Pinhigh, published by Canmos. ca.1990. Box. Excellent. £6.50

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.

Pitagoras, published by EG Spiele. 1996. Box. Good. £8

Card and dice game in which the players vie to be the first to make a circuit of the board. Each round a special dice is rolled to indicate how many spaces the winner will advance. Players then each openly roll a special dice (values 0-4) and play a card face down from their identical sets of cards. These cards either add, subtract or multiply the dice roll by 2-4. The highest scorer advances around the track, though there are a few special spaces which players will want to either aim for or avoid due to penalties or bonuses granted when landing on them. Contains 7 special dice.

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.

Popeln, published by Sphinx Spielverlag. 2004. Box. Excellent. £6

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. £2

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

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

Priceless, published by Winning Moves. 1996. Box. Good. £13

Business game set in the world of collectibles, and based on the classic game Cartel from Gamut of Games. Players purchase collectibles and gain prize points for each item purchased, with large bonuses available for buying items adjacent to others of your own on the board or for getting more items in each set of four. The clever idea is that you start with 9 cheques and very little money. You can cash the cheques whenever you like, but the more prize points you have acquired the more your cheques are worth! Most money + value of remaining cheques when someone buys their 10th item wins. The game has been considerably modified from Cartel, but uses some of the same basic ideas.

Pro Golf, published by Avalon Hill. Box. 2 copies available:

1) 1982. Excellent. £10. This copy has course books for both Pebble Beach and Augusta National courses. 2) 1984. Good. £7. Second edition. Pebble Beach course.

Maybe the best statistical golf game ever. So clever, you get to play every shot, yet there is no board. This is the first edition which has Augusta National as the course. Avalon Hill planned to release more course books but they only got as far as making a second edition of the game with Pebble Beach as the course.

Quandary, published by Spears. 1970. Box. Good but 1 corner taped. £4

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

Special notes: The cards numbered 1-12 have been replaced with larger laminated ones (nicer than the originals!)

Simple but clever race game. Each player has 4 men but they can only move forward or diagonally forward on to a space which matches one of the colours in front of one of their opponent's men. Simple, but surprisingly interesting.

Quantum, published by Lazy Days. 1975. Box. Good but corners taped. £6

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

Special notes: Original board missing - however a good replacement board has been constructed to replace it! The box lid shows marks where labels / tape have been removed.

Strategy game in which each player gets 16 interlocking pieces shaped as circles, squares and crosses. Players alternate moves, and circles can move one space diagonally, squares one space horizontally and vertically and crosses can move to any of the 8 adjacent spaces. Landing on top of an opposing piece creates a tower which can move up to its height in the directions allowed by the piece on top. A tower of size 6 or more is safe and cannot be moved. The first player to create 3 such towers wins the game.

Quicksand, published by Peter Pan. 1981. Box. Good, but 1 box corner taped. £7

The standard game is for 2 players. Each player has 4 sand timers which are used as playing pieces. The game is also played on a sand timer shaped board, and the objective is to get all four of your sand timers to the far end of the board. Each turn a dice is rolled and this indicates the number of spaces a running sand timer can be moved, or an S, which means a sand timer can be flipped. If a sand-timer runs out of sand it is returned to the starting place. Five variants are also described including games for 4 and 8 players.

Quickword, published by US Games Systems. 1991. Box. Excellent. £3

The winner of numerous awards, this is a word game with cards of varying difficulties. Players must list words that fit the criteria of the card (eg. a legal term; Olympic sportsperson etc), and in some cases start with a particular letter. Once the time is up players score for unique words. The game comes in a small book sized travel case, and includes a sand timer, special letter spinner, dice, score track and lots of miniature cards. Very nice package.

Restaurant, published by Flying Turtle. 1987. Box. Good. £7

Nicely made game in which 60 cards are laid out face-down in the restaurant, and players take turns revealing connected cards and using or keeping them, and placing their order markers - this is the order taking section of the game. In the second section of the game the food is played to the tables, hopefully so that the best, highest scoring meals get placed on the spaces with your order markers.

Reversi, published by Spears. 1973. Box. Good. £1.50

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

Classic strategy game that later became better known as Othello. Foldout board and colourful plastic men.

Scats, published by UPL. ca.1935. Box. Good. £3

Designer Unknown. No. players: 4-100. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Described as "Beetle's Big Brother", this is a game like Beetle Drive, where players roll dice to complete their animals in the fastest time. The game is primarily designed for large groups, where it will be played on multiple tables, and each table plays as fast as possible to increase the chance that someone at that table will win. After someone completes a whole row of 'Scats' (actually cats!) players score for completed scats only and then winners at each table swap tables. The rules-sheet shows the following wartime message: 'Entertainment is Vital to the Spirit of the Nation'. Nice period item.

Scuttle: Britain & Eire, published by Phoenix Games. 1990. Box. Good. £6

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

Players are each given a card showing 10 counties they must visit in order to win the game. The map shows Britain and Eire. Movement is by rolling 2 dice and moving to an adjacent county showing one of these numbers (though you can choose not to move if that is advantageous). On arriving in a county for which another player holds the card (a hand of county cards is dealt out at the start) then they may 'scuttle' you (move you somewhere unhelpful), but then the card becomes generally available. Useful travel cards can be collected too, which allow greater freedom of movement. The county cards have interesting information about that county on them. Nicely presented game.

Sea Hawks, published by Orca. ca.1985. Box. Box lid taped. £11

Treasure hunt game played on a copy of an 18th century map of the Caribbean. Players are trying to find the chest with treasure in it. This is done by sailing around the map and either visiting ports where information about the whereabouts of the treasure can be gathered, or sailing to the various islands and looking for it more directly. Rules also allow battling opponents' ships.

SHOC, published by Chad Valley. 1944. Box. Good for age (2 corners taped). £5.50

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

Special notes: Copyright is 1944, but also appointed to HM. the Queen, so must be 1953 or after. Includes 2 (modern) packs of cards.

Stocks and shares game. Playing cards decide the rise and fall of share prices. Rules assume you have two packs of cards in the house (ie. not supplied with the game). One pack represents shares in the 4 suits and the other is used to change the share prices, which are recorded on dials. Players take turns to act as the broker, buying and selling shares to the other players, until the dials indicate the market closes, and then the next player gets a chance as broker. Name comes from S (Spades), H (Hearts), ◊ (Diamonds, vaguely O shaped) and C (Clubs).

Skudo, published by Waddingtons. 1970. Box & Board. 1 Box corner damaged, another taped up. £3

Ludo variant, but an interesting twist as the board contains 4 turntables each of which can change the path pieces must take and also only allows one colour of piece to pass over it at a time. The board must have been expensive to make with the 4 turntables built in.

Small Soldiers Karate Fighters, published by Kenner. 1998. Box. Box good, contents unused. £8

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

Film related, based on the characters in the film Small Soldiers. Action game in which the players control 15cm moving high figures of Chip Hazard and Archer, which can kick and punch. They are controlled using buttons and a knob to twist at the far end of a handle / base. A well placed kick and punch combination and the opponent's action figure will fly off its base, defeated. Great fun.

Solarquest, published by Golden Games. 1986. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Good. £7.50 2) 1 box corner taped. £7

Space game which takes some of the ideas of Monopoly (ownership of spaces and paying a fee to the owner when landing on those spaces), but adds more ideas such as using fuel and refuelling at appropriate places, laser battles between ships etc. The board is attractive and shows various routes around the solar system, playing pieces are plastic spaceships and fuel is indicated by special metal threadless screws.

Space Faces, published by Spears Games. 1983. Box. Box shows wear. £8

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

Unusual item. The board shows the faces of 120 different species of alien. Each has a different combination of coloured face, eyes, nose and mouth. A chunky device containing 5 circular coloured blocks is shaken and then shows the face, nose, mouth and eye colour combination of the alien to be found. Players then peer at the board and the first to find it wins! This is harder than it might at first seem, and makes for an intense game. The board comes with 4 places to put your point chips, but other than that it could be played with any number of players.

Space Hulk, published by Games Workshop. 1989. Box. Box lid has a repaired tear. £50

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 Invaders 30th Century, published by Mabuhay Educational Center Inc. 1981. Box.

Box shows wear. £11. Designer Unknown. No. players: 2. Country: Philippines, Desc. by Andy.

Space battle game played on a 17 x 17 grid marked with stars, two starting areas and two asteroid belts. Players can either manoeuver or attack each turn. There are two types of ships, one moves a space at a time, the other type uses a special dice which indicates the movement pattern which can be used that turn. Attacking is card driven with cards indicating the effective range of the attack. The objective is to take out your opponent's mothership or to destroy all their other ships. Unusual item, and the box also sports an old MB logo, but nothing anywhere says anything about Milton Bradley!

Space: 1999, published by Omnia. 1974. Box. 1 box corner taped. £9

This is not the same as the MB game of the same name. One player gets to play the Guardian of Meta who has to stop the other players getting at the Meta Energy supplies, while the other players all compete to be the first to obtain a supply of Meta Energy and return to their bases, surviving attacks from the Meta player. The board is circular with a circular 'grid' and various special bands of space. Players have a movement point allowance each turn to split between their spaceships. The non Meta ships require special equipment to get through the special bands of space, and have no weaponry which can touch the Meta ships. On the other hand the Meta ships have no such restrictions.

Spectrangle, published by Greystone Games Ltd. 1989. Triangular Box. Box shows wear. £7.50

Designed by Alain Fraser-Dackers, Maxwell Gordon, Lester Jordan. No. players: 1-8. Country: British, Duration: 45 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Essentially a triominoes variant. The board is nicely made and solid with a raised edge and centre to help keep the triominoes in place on the board. The triominoes themselves come in a variety of colours, are made of nicely made thick plastic and show a value too. Scoring is by multiplying the tile's value with number of adjacent sides and the bonus number on the space (if there is one). Very well produced game.

Spiel Der Turme, published by Schmidt. 1993. Box. 1 Corner of box split. £7.50

Tower capturing and moving game. There are 80 wooden tiles each showing a symbol in one of 4 different colours (one colour per player). These are set out randomly on the board and players take it in turns to move one of their tiles. There are a number of restrictions, but players will capture opposing pieces making towers and try to get their pieces onto special symbol spaces. Certain moves reward the player with an extra move, and so it is possible for a player to win seemingly out of nowhere with a carefully planned sequence of moves, so players need to watch what other players are up to quite carefully.

Spitting Image, published by Parker. 1984. Box. Good. £12

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

TV related, based on the satirical show of the same name from that time. The game uses 6 large spitting image models of world leaders (eg. Reagan, Thatcher, Gorbachev), which the players control during the game. Players each have 3 secrets they don't want exposed, and if all 3 are exposed they are out of the game. Play involves choosing how far to move around a track, and actioning the space landed on. However, a journalist piece is also moved the same amount and if this lands on an opponent's playing piece one of their secrets has been discovered. However, it may not be exposed, as dirty tricks campaigns and blackmail may result in it staying secret. Money needs to be saved up for protecting yourself and attacking opponents.

Star Fighter, published by Gametime. 1978. Box. Good. £8.50

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

Science fiction battle game in which each player has a Star Transport which they must get to the other side of the galaxy, and other lesser ships. Players must navigate through space trying to be the first to get their Star Transport to its destination while also hassling their opponents' Star Transports. There are also a number of other features in space which can get in the way, and rules for Hyperdrive (fast but imprecise movement), permitted movement patterns, combat and even a Tentacle Ray weapon.

Star Wars Adventures Of R2-D2, published by Parker. 1977. Box. Good, but 1 corner taped. £4

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

Children’s game (ages 4-8) based on R2-D2 who in this game is portrayed as the true hero of the Rebellion in the original Star Wars films. Game play involves spinning a spinner and moving to the next space showing that colour, with some spaces providing short cuts and others delays. A nice item for the Star Wars collector.

Stocks And Shares, published by Pepys. ca.1960. Box. Good, but 1 box corner taped. £8

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

Card game, but with more than just cards - price board, money and share certificates. Players are dealt cards, and can buy a second, with a view to buying and selling using this 'private' knowledge. The other guide is to take note of what other players are buying, selling, or keeping. The cards indicate one of the four types of stocks and how much it will rise or fall that turn. All cards will be actioned. There is also a limited number of shares which can be bought which adds to the tactics available.

Sufferin' Spirits, published by 3 Wishes. 1986. Box. Good. £12

Great fun as you romp amongst the burial plots laying to rest the Spirits of Grimstone Graveyard. No dice but a mixture of cards and strategic movement wins the game. The Spirit moves independently and activates Imps and Lesser Spirits to confront the players. Players try to earn the most Good Deed points by finding the objects each of the Spirits has had stolen by the mischievous Imp and returning them to their owner, thus letting them rest in peace.

Switch It, published by Peter Pan. 1988. Box. Box poor. £3

Special notes: The box is whole, but shows indentation due to stacking and has had gaffer tape put all around the sides and some on the base.

Players try to get 4, 5 or 6 pieces in a row on a 6x6 grid (depending on the difficulty level chosen), placing pieces one at a time in turns. The twist, however, is that the board is also made up of 9 2x2 sections each of which can be rotated. Thus instead of playing a piece you can rotate a board segment.

Taxi!, published by Gibsons. 1983. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Box corners taped. £6.50 2) Good. £7.50

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

Newer version of a game first made by Ariel in the 1950's. Uses a unique movement system, doing away with dice or cards. The map of London's roads is dotted with white lines. You can move as far as you like in one move as long as you don't cross more than one white line. By using back streets, considerable mileage can be chalked up in a single turn. The objective is to pick up and deliver passengers and collect their fares. There is scope for undercutting rivals and buying a second taxi for greater flexibility.

Tell Me, published by Spears. ca.1960. Box. Good. £1.50

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

Party game in which a card is drawn with a subject on it, and then the spinner is spun to generate a letter. Answers must begin with that letter. Player or team with the most cards wins.

The Cheers Game, published by TSR. 1987. Box. Good. £3

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

TV related trivia game, based on one of the great comedy shows. Play your favourite character (Sam, Diane, Woody, Carla, Cliff, Frasier or Norm). Special feature is 'Norm's Olympics', where you get to use your dexterity to stop Norm from dropping his beer. Cast pictured on the lid.

The Famous Five Adventures, published by Pepys. ca.1970. Box. Box taped, a few cards creased. £3

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

Card game, 44 cards with colourful pictures of the Famous Five in action. For those of you who have never heard of the Famous Five, they were a group of older schoolchildren who found adventures to solve on every holiday they took. They were created by Enid Blyton, Britain's premier author of children’s fiction. The cards in this set are based on an animated television series of the time. Cards are played in sequence onto 4 adventures, and the player who first manages to complete an adventure wins the game.

The James Hunt Grand Prix Racing Game, published by Denys Fisher. 1976. Box. Good. £9.50

Special notes: 2 original plastic cars missing - replaced by non matching cars

Rare race game, linked to the 1976 World Champion. Card driven game in which players play 'tricks' using speed cards, with the highest played speed moving further each trick. Tied speeds are broken according to the rev. counter, and it is possible to drop out of a trick if the cards are too high and exchange a card instead. Also while in the corners of the track there are restrictions as to what cards you may play. Additional rules make planning ahead for pit stops important too. Nice Item.

The Mag With No Name Issue 17, published by Ian Willey. ca.1996. Magazine. Good. £0.50

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 Manager, published by Glenhope. 1990. Box. Good. £7.50

Mammoth soccer management game, genuinely co-written by Terry Venables, the only English player to have played soccer at every level possible for his country, starting with English schoolboys and right the way up to a full international. Players budget to buy players, etc. and enter competitions like the FA Cup. The winner is the richest player at the end, not necessarily the most successful on the pitch. Terry Venables, Gary Lineker and Paul Gascoigne are pictured on the lid.

The News From The BBC, published by Great Games. 1987. Box. Good. £2.50

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

TV related, a trivia game based on news stories. Very attractive board and neat scoring mechanism.

The Tufty Club Road Safety Game, published by Spears. 1989. Box. Good. £1.50

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

Children's game (age 4+) which teaches road safety. Play is roll the dice and move, actioning the square landed on. The board is attractively designed and the good spaces have a picture of one of the characters doing something sensible (eg. crossing the road when a green man shows) while bad spaces show foolish things (eg. playing with a ball in the road).

Thoughtwave, published by Intellect. 1974. Box. Good but 2 corners taped. £18

Tile laying strategy game, one of the rarest Intellect games and one of their best (in what was an outstanding series of games). Each player has 24 tiles with which to build a line, either from North to South or East to West. Naturally, these must cross at some stage. A surprisingly small board (10x10) and the very limited number of tiles makes this as strategic a game of this type as you will find.

Top Secret, published by TSR. 1980. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Good. £5 2) Mint. £6

Role-playing espionage game. Original boxed set which includes rules booklet, introductory module and percentile dice.

Top Secret/S.I. - High Stakes Gamble, published by TSR. 1988. Box. Good. £2.25

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 glamorous locations!

Topple, published by Waddingtons. 1989. Box. Good. £6.50

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

Balancing game, following the success of items like Jenga, but this is completely original. The plastic board is precariously balanced on a point, so that it wobbles easily, and then players take turns to add their colour discs to the board, but avoiding tipping it. Splendid fun for all.

Trek, published by Spears. ca.1960. Box. Box lid battered and taped up but whole. £12

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

Very unusual item for this company. A game about exploring. The board shows the various stages on your group's way, but in a fairly abstract fashion. Nice plastic pieces include jeeps, mules, and boxes of supplies.

Not dated, but must be quite old as it says some parts are 'Empire Made'. Players must get from their base to camp, and buy sufficient stores, mules or jeeps to complete the journey. Card play determines most actions during the game, but there is also a mechanism which makes goods get more expensive the further you are through the game. A game of balancing resources needed with the money you have to buy them.

Tutankhamen's Revenge, published by Jumbo. 1992. Box. Good. £10. 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.

Tyranno Ex, published by Moskito. 1992. Box. Excellent. £17

First edition of this game about the evolution of the dinosaur. Players attempt to ensure that their species will be dominant by placing climate change markers which will hopefully ensure the climate favours their dinosaurs rather than those of their rivals. However, as well as surviving the climate it is necessary to weather attacks from other species. Clever systems as you would expect from this designer.

Valley Of The Four Winds, published by Games Workshop. 1980. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Box shows wear. £24 2) Good. £27

Games Workshop's first-ever board game, a fantasy war game set in the World of Farrondil. Inspired by a range of fantasy figures made at the time by Minifigs Ltd. Includes a background story setting the scene. The game sets the good (humans, elves and dwarves) against a legion of undead. The rules cover movement, combat, magic, exploration, and different terrain.

Vampir Connection, published by Sphinx Spieleverlag. 2001. Box. Excellent. £6

Card game in which the players take the roles of vampires inhabiting castles near a village. The vampires make frequent raids on the village to kidnap villagers who are then either consumed immediately or kept captive and bled dry slowly. However, other vampires may attempt to steal your choice victims, and the villagers employ garlic and vampire hunters to try to keep themselves safe. The vampires employ a hunchback assistant to aid them in a variety of ways. Game play involves hand management and making the best use of the cards you have at all times, as well as keeping a wary eye on your fellow vampires.

Victory Circle, published by Western Publishing. 1981. Box. Good. £2

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

Family game of race and chase. Players move their pieces and capture opponent's pieces and have to 'drag' them back home along circular pathways, avoiding being captured themselves. Points are scored for pieces which are captured and a further bonus if they have been brought back to your base when one player has lost all their pieces.

Victory In The Pacific, published by Avalon Hill. 1981. Box. Good but 1 corner taped. £15

Special notes: Box dated 1977, but rules state 2nd edition on them

Introductory naval war game covering the Pacific Theater of WWII. The Pacific is divided into 13 areas. Players move their ships and the battle may be either at daytime (air power is crucial) or nighttime (naval gunnery is crucial). Combat then takes place and the winner gains 'Points of Control'. Typically the Japanese take a large lead to start with, but as the game goes on the US fights back more and more effectively. Winner of the Charles Robert Award in 1977 for Best Strategic Game of the Year. 2nd Edition.

Vive La Difference!, published by Ravensburger. 1992. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Mint. £13 2) Good. £11

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

Promotional game for Remy Martin, the champagne people. As you would expect, a really beautifully produced product. Players race to make a tour around Europe using a special dice. On the city spaces a trivia question is asked and a correct answer gives the chance to jump ahead. The cards show gourmet meals, the dice are black and gold and the box is inlaid with black velvet. Also includes 20 metal coins in a leather pouch. If you are going to use a game to advertise yourself, this is certainly a classy way to do it.

Web Of Gold, published by 3 Wishes. 1987. Box. Box edges show wear. £7

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.

Wild Life, several copies available:

1) Published by Ravensburger. 1970. Box. Box good, contents unused. £4. This version is probably only useful for German speakers. I have rules from the English edition, but cannot easily provide card translations.

2) Published by Spears. 1965. Box. Box shows wear. £3.

3) Published by Spears. 1965. Box. Good. £4

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

Sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund as it educated about animals and their conservation, as well as providing entertainment. Contains money, counters, animal catcher figures, and lots of cards with colour photographs of the animals along with cost to capture and the value once captured. Each player runs a zoo which requires a specific set of animals, which are caught by landing on their spaces on a track around the board. Alternatively landing on a trading space lets you buy animals you need from other players but this time you have to pay the full value. More money is gained either by selling animals or from zoo income.

Win, Place & Show, published by Avalon Hill. 1977. Box. Good. £15

Bookcase box. Horse racing game. One of Eamon's favourite games of all time, and definitely a classic. Players make money by owning winning horses and by gambling on their own or other's runners. The race system is very clever, with a combination of fixed form for the horses on an individual basis, small occasional bonuses according to dice rolls and a random base speed for all horses each round. This means that a horse which starts fast but runs out of pace at the end really needs high 'base' rolls to do well, whereas a fast finisher wants the reverse. There is also a lot of positional play and different quality jockeys, as well as the possibility that a player may not actually want his horse to do that well! Stats for 6 sets of horses included.

World Game Review Magazine, published by Michael Keller. 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. Major articles listed by issue.

Issue 4, 1985. Excellent. £2: Dice games, Advanced Cubology, Avalanche Chess, Collective Hangman, Yahtzee Technical Analysis.

Issue 5, 1985. Excellent. £2: Advanced Cubology, Polyhexes, Hexominoes, Ultima, Realm, Risk, Soiltaire Lap, Traffic Lights, Tenpenny

Issue 7, 1987. Excellent. £2: Domino puzzles, Hexominoes, Free Choice Chess, Ultima

Issue 8, 1988. Excellent. £2: Ultima, Lachaino, New problems in Peg Solitaire

Issue 9, 1989. Excellent. £2: Special Issue devoted to 82 years of Polyomino shape puzzles, Pentominoes.

Issue 10, 1991. Excellent. £4: Specially large issue devoted to chess variations with rules and sample games, games reviews, bibliography and index.

Issue 11, 1992. Excellent. £2: 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. £2: Giza Solitaire, Black Spy, The Game of Y, many more reviews than usual of commercial board games, Chess variants updated

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