Nov 2007 Catalog

MNG-AJM Games and Collectibles

Nov 2007 Catalog

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

Note: There was a big table of games fresh from Spiel 07 here, but this has been removed as they have all either sold or been put in a more recent catalog with a full description.

3-A-Side, published by Spears. 1984. Box. Good. £2

Elegant football themed game with wooden pieces. The object is to move your three pieces in such a way that they enable the neutral white piece to be moved towards your opponent's goal area. If you get it in their goal it stays there, and a new white piece is placed in the centre for 'kick-off'. First to score 3 goals wins.

A Question Of Sport - Rugby, published by Games Team. 1992. Box. Good. £2

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

TV related trivia game, with all the questions based on rugby in one form or another. Some cards even include photographs so that you can play the ‘Picture Round’ as on the TV show.

A Treasury Of Games, published by Grosset & Dunlap. 1971. Book. Good but shows wear, 1 page taped. £2

Hardback, 26x20cm, 189 pages. The full name of the book is: A Treasury of Games, Riddles, Mystery Stunts, Tricks, Tongue Twisters, Rhymes, Chanting, Singing. It is a reprint of a 1947 book entitled 'Ready Or Not Here I Come'. The contents are fun for children - some of them are things to do alone, while many give ideas for things to do in groups or with just one or two friends.

Abilene, published by Hexagames. 1983. Box. Good but box slightly discoloured. £8.50. Desc. by Andy.

Cattle ranching game, invented by Roland Siegers but using a pseudonym on this occasion. Players move their cattle towards market, where they can be sold, but also send out their cowboys to rustle cattle from their opponents' herds. Selling rustled cattle is more profitable, but getting caught by opposing cowboys while on their land is not something you want to do very often. There is also a bluffing mechanism which enhances the prices of some cattle when sold. On the 1985 German Spiel des Jahres nomination list. Best with 3 players.

AD&D: Legends & Lore, published by TSR. 1987. Book. Good but cover shows some wear. £4.50

Hardback, 28x22cm, 128 pages. AD&D 1st Edition supplement which describes a selection of pantheons of gods for use in AD&D campaigns, along with major heroes and other mythological beings. The pantheons covered are: American Indian, Arthurian, Babylonian, Celtic, Central American, Chinese, Egyptian, Finnish, Greek, Indian, Japanese, Nehwon, Norse, Sumerian and Nonhuman Deities.

Akiba, published by Fun Connection. ca.1995. Box. Good. £6.50

Attractive game of skill, using large glass marbles as the playing pieces. Players 'push' their marbles across the plastic board, which could move whole lines of pieces if they are in the way in the same way as Abalone. However, in this game the board is square and as well as some marbles of each of the player's colours there are neutral marbles, and you can win either by pushing off all your opponent's marbles or 7 of the neutral marbles.

Alchemist, published by Amigo. 2007. Box. Excellent. £17.50

Unusual game in which players use 5 different potion ingredients (wooden cubes) to create potions, whose recipes once set out can be used to produce different ingredients and to score victory points. When using a recipe another player has set up the player who created the recipe will get one ingredient as payment each time that recipe is used. Thus sequences of recipes need to be planned in order to ensure you can keep brewing potions productively for as long as possible. At the end of the game there is also a bonus for getting your secret ingredient used more than those of the other players. A novel game with a unique feel.

Alibi, published by Mayfair. 1992. Box. Good. £8. Desc. by Andy.

Designed by Jim Musser & Darwin P Bromley. No. players: 3-10. Country: American, Duration: 30 mins. Card game, 78 colourful cards giving information about a murder. Deduction game in which players give and receive information based on cards in their hand. The cards move amongst the players as well, giving you more to consider. One neat idea is that complete sets can be ‘melded’ on to the table, scoring bonus points, but, in effect, telling everyone that the item in the set was not included in the crime. When you have worked out all the details of the crime you can make an accusation to gain bonus points and end the game.

Alpha Animals, published by The Green Board Game Co.. 1991. Box. Good. £2.50

Animal trivia game with the nice feature that the cards have an easy and a hard question on each card, making it easier to play with children and adults at the same time. The playing pieces are hand carved wooden animals, and the box proudly proclaims that everything is recycled or recyclable.

Antike, published by Eggert Spiele. 2005. Box. In shrink. £31

Ancient civilizations build cities, construct temples, sail the seas and make technological advances in the lands around the Mediterranean. Very well received at Spiel 2005 and afterwards, and plays relatively quickly. The game uses an unusual and neat mechanism to limit your choice of actions each turn - and gives players a good selection of ways to gain victory points and while military goals are important they are not the sole focus.

Backwords, published by Random House. 1988. Box. Good. £2

Very good game in the Trivial Pursuit, Pictionary, Guesstures type of line. Instead of trivia, the game is designed around people's ability to understand words as they are read out backwards by the question-master that round. Not nearly as easy as it sounds. Components in very good condition, and includes 800 cards with somewhere near 2000 words to play with.

Battle For The Galaxy, published by Crown & Andrews. ca.1990. Box. Good. £9

Special notes: Box base indented due to stacking

The players become the battle planners of the galaxy of Zylatron. There are 5 main planets in the galaxy - Zull, Amazar, Zarb, Opton, and the central planet of Zylon. Each player tries to gain control of the galaxy by landing a warrior on enemy control headquarters or by eliminating other players' warriors. A tactical game, with a colourful gameboard and interlocking playing pieces in the form of battle stars, star fighters, warriors, and missiles.

Blackmail, published by Kenning Games Ltd. 1975. Box. Good. £6

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

Players take on the roles of various infamous characters, all of whom have a dark and colourful past, which they would rather keep hidden. During the game players uncover their opponents’ secrets and use them to extort money from them. At the end of the game most money wins. The game also includes rules for an optional version of the game in which the players’ clothes can be traded in for play money when required!

Blast!, published by Waddingtons. 1988. Box. Box shows wear. £3

Dice and card game. Players roll two dice (one normal, one special) and whoever has a card that matches the roll plays the card to the table. Should the card already be on the table an action card is drawn and played which gives the current player choices generally involving taking down another player a peg or two. Note this is not the same as 'Blast Off!' by the same company.

Bloody Legacy, published by Surprised Stare Games. 2004. Box. 2 copies available:

1) New. £6 2) Excellent. £5.50

Fun but silly card game in which players try to kill off all their rivals in order to inherit late Great Uncle Hesketh's riches. To do this players play cards showing all means of foul traps and 'accidents' on their opponents, who do their best to dodge, reflect back, or just plain survive them. The artwork is gory but in a comic book type of way.

Blue Line Hockey, published by 3M. 1969. Box. Excellent. £15

Two-player ice hockey game, non-statistical. A good head-to-head game of strategy. In the plastic wrap-around box much favoured by 3M sport games. The game simulates most aspects of ice hockey including player movement, passing, stealing, shots-on-goal, and penalties using a combination of dice, cards, and a lookup table.

Board And Table Game Antiques, published by Shire Publications Ltd. 1990. Book. Excellent. £3

Softback, 21x15cm, 32 pages. This book contains pictures of and descriptions of game related antiques in the following categories: Ivory Bone & Plastics, Souvenir Items, Chess & Draughts, Spinners, Playing Cards, Dice & Dominoes, Commercial Games. The book gives lots of historical background, and is likely to be most useful to the collector of antique games and game related items.

Bonobo Beach, published by Kronberger Spiele. 2003. Box. Excellent. £8

Tile laying game set on a deserted tropical island. The board is divided into triangles in a hexagonal array. The tiles are diamond shaped and fit over two triangles. The tiles show various beach scenes, and at the corners have +ve or -ve modifiers. The tiles when placed leave gaps between triangles where players may place their sunbathers. Each turn a player may either place a sunbather or reveal a tile and play it - good ones next to their own bathers and bad ones adjacent to opposing bathers. In addition any triangles left empty at the end double the scores of adjacent bathers, and any bather adjacent to a fully surrounded toilet must leave. Very attractively produced game, with some of the ideas from the excellent Auf Heller & Pfennig.

Bulge, published by SPI. 1979. Box. Box good, counters unpunched. £7.50

Battle of the Bulge game at the divisional level. In this version of the Battle for the Ardennes 16 Dec 1944 - 2 Jan 1945 the Germans try to blast through the American lines and get as many units as possible off the W and NW edges of the map. Supply rules are a critical part of the system, as is the control of bridges. The rules are short, being only 5 pages long.

Business, published by Edition Spielbox. 1993. Pouch. Good. £3

A colour folded A3 sheet which acts as gameboard as well as having the rules on the back. You will also need 20 chips per player and two other game pieces. The board shows seven different businesses in which the players take it in turn to invest some of their 20 chips. There are 7 rounds and each player can invest in each business only once. At the end points are awarded for the most, 2nd most etc chips in each business. What makes the game interesting is that there is a 'bad' token and a 'good' token which get moved around the board in opposite directions whenever anyone invests in a business they are standing on. These nullify and double the points for the businesses they stand on at the end of the game.

Busy Bees, published by Pavillion. 2000. Box. Good. £3

Special notes: Original rules missing, but a summary of them is provided.

Children's memory game with a difference. There are 16 chunky plastic bee pieces which all look the same from above, but underneath they have different colour bases. The bees are placed onto the circular board and players take it in turn to turn up two of the bees and if they are the same colour underneath they claim them. If they are different colours underneath then they are replaced and the next player has a go. What makes this more interesting is that the board unit has a motor in it which makes the bees vibrate and move around a lot, thus keeping track of which one is where is not so easy!

Campaign Issue 84, published by Don Lowry. 1978. Magazine. Good. £0.75

Wargame magazine, but with articles of more general interest too. The magazine was previously known as Panzerfaust. This issue's articles include: Weserubung: The German Invasion of Norway 1940, Russian Campaign, Designer's Notes on Elric, Grand Army Additions, Dauntless Review, Cosmic Encounter Review, Book Reviews, Short Reviews, Letters.

Candidate, published by Avalon Hill. 1991. Box. Good. £12.50

American presidential election game in which the players are the various party candidates hoping for nomination. The play is card based, and players visit as many states as possible hoping to win as many primaries as possible, playing cards for each. Money cards help your position, Problems can help you or hinder others and Rumors are sure to cause problems for someone! Once through the primaries the climax of the game comes in as the candidates drop out one by one, until one of those remaining is left with a majority.

Cats Mansion, published by Spears. 1984. Box. Good. £11

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

One of the nicest looking games of the 80’s. The 5 cat pieces are quite delightful - all different, moulded and painted. Each player is secretly designated a cat and an object and must engineer the movement of all the pieces so that the two end up together somewhere in the mansion. Clever movement system and quite interactive with lots of bluffing. First made as Cats in Germany.

Ciao Ciao, published by Drei Magier Spiele. 1997. Box. Good. £6

Nicely produced small box game in which the box itself + a cardboard ladder make up the playing surface. The inside of the game board depicts a dangerous jungle, and players try to get their playing pieces across the ladder to safety. Players take it in turn to roll a dice in a special holder, and peek in. They can then move their playing piece as much as they wish, but others can call their bluff, and if they moved a different amount to that rolled the playing piece moved falls from the bridge to its death. If a challenge is made incorrectly then the challenger loses a man instead. Points are scored for men who make it across. Players must bluff sometimes as one face of the dice is an X which can always be challenged.

Congo Line, published by Statamax Games. 2006. Box. Excellent. £23. Desc. by Andy.

Train game in which players buy stocks in various trains, and also invest in the goods the trains are delivering. Whenever a train arrives at a destination the goods it delivers sell for profit and the stocks pay out. Dice are used to determine what actions a player can perform on their turn, but there are always several options to choose from. At the end of the game the player with the most money wins.

Conquest, published by EG Spiele. 1994. Box. Good. £14

Designer Unknown. No. players: 4-6. Country: German, Desc. by Andy.

Huge war game with masses of plastic bits and designed on a board very similar to a Risk board. Each army has 100 plastic units, plus there are 10 special dice and 60 special cards. The objective is to be the first player to occupy 20 territories. Forces consist of armies, planes, submarines and garrisons. The playing cards include cards for secret weapons, ballistic missiles, killer torpedoes, space shields, additional production, and treachery. During play gaining more territories gives more production points and more cards. Movement and combat rules are simple but effective. It appears very much Risk based, but with lots of interesting extras.

Derby, published by db Spiele. 2000. Box. Excellent. £18

Horse racing game, made in small numbers by the designer. Players use cards to advance the horses, and bet on the results. Movement of horses requires two cards to be played, and these can be played from face up or face down piles giving choices to consider. Also during the race you get the chance to draft a better betting slip if the race isn't working out how you had hoped.

Die Pyramiden Des Jaguar, published by Kosmos. 2002. Box. In shrink. £10

Card game in which the players take it in turn to offer their opponent two cards (numbered 1-40), and their opponent takes one and adds it to their pyramid structure and the remaining card is added to the offerer's pyramid. The pyramids are shown on a board and the numerical ordering of the cards in the pyramid is vital. If a player has to place a card onto another card because the ordering provides no gap, then this is permitted but is undesirable. The round ends when a player completes his pyramid and gets a bonus for doing so. A very clever tactical game which is based on the earlier game Pacal.

Dodge City, published by Hans-Im-Glück. 1984. Box. Good. £23. Desc. by Andy.

One of the first Hans-Im-Glück titles with a Wild West theme. Players must gain control of buildings in Dodge City, which is done by laying wooden blocks in certain formations within the buildings. These counters are obtained by the use of cards, but the card play is original and an interesting part of the game.

Dutch Blitz, published by Daystar Company. 1968. Box. Good. £3.50

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

Simultaneous play card game. Players each have a deck of cards with the same contents, but shuffled and players simultaneously play forming sequences of cards numbered 1-10 all at the same time using the top cards of open piles. Whoever manages to use all of their deck first wins. Fast and furious fun. The game has Dutch style graphics and an amusing poem on the box - in English but written with a Dutch accent. I believe this is very similar to Ligretto which was published more recently in Germany.

Elchfest, published by Kosmos. 1999. Box. In shrink. £9

Dexterity game with a cute wooden elk for each player, a wooden base platform on which the elks start and wooden stepping stones which the players flick carrom style. Each player gets two flicks in a row and if a stepping stone is close enough for their elk to step onto it then it may. The objective is to get your elk across to your opponent's base platform before they get their elk to yours. Silly but fun. Part of Kosmos' successful 2 player square box range of games.

Esquire's Book Of Gambling, published by Frederick Muller. 1964. Book.

Good - dust cover shows wear. £15. Designed by David Newman. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Hardback with dustcover, 24x16cm, 333 pages. A compilation of articles from Esquire Magazine all relating to gambling in one way or another, and covering the pitfalls of getting involved in gambling and the reasons why people gamble as well as covering the way casinos work and then moving onto gambling games and sports: Poker, Rummy, Misc Card Games, Horse Racing, Craps, Roulette, Baseball Betting, Dog Races, and even cock fighting and snake fighting are covered.

Fading Suns, published by Holistic Design Inc. 1995. Book. Good. £6

Science Fiction role playing game set in the 6th millennium. The suns themselves are fading. Humanity reached the stars long ago, built an empire, which then fell leaving a new Dark Age in which feudal lords rule the known worlds vying with fanatical cults and scheming guilds. The book is 272 pages, and covers: The Universe, Characters, Traits, Occult, Combat, Technology, GMing, Planets and more. There is lots of striking black and white artwork throughout the book.

Fantasy Chronicles Issue 6, published by Fantasy Publications Ltd. 1986. Magazine. Good. £0.40

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

Fantasy roleplaying magazine with a regular wargames column as well. This issue includes: Farstar (2 Traveller mini adventures), Play by Mail games, A Yuletide Quarrel (AD&D/Dragon Warriors adventure), Battlefield (Wargames column), Tall Tails (CoC fiction), A Hole In God's Wall (RQ adventure), American Express (Horror Movie mini RPG and scenario).

Fantasy Warlord Mass Combat Rules, published by Folio Works. 1990. Book. Excellent - unused. £10

Softback, 27x20cm, 192 pages + 20 removable sheets. A detailed set of fantasy miniatures rules for mass combat. The rules cover creating an army, organising your army, setting up for battle, giving orders, movement, terrain, missile fire, combat, morale, magic, tactical hints.

Four Scores, published by Spear's Games. 1971. Box. Good. £5

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

Tile placement game. The tiles are rectangular cards showing a diagonal line on each half, with each line being one of four colours. The board is a rectangular grid on which the tiles are placed, but with little pegs sticking out around which the tiles fit neatly and then stay in position. Players alternate tile play with the objective of forming either crosses or squares made up of all four colours. On completing one of these a scoring marker is placed at the centre of that cross or square to ease tallying up the scores at the end of the game.

Fuzzy Felt Bees Game, published by Toy Brokers Ltd. 2002. Box. Excellent. £3

Young children's action game. 20 large colourful felt bees are placed on a felt mat and each player has a bee swatter (with velcro strip) and a hive. When the game starts the players try to pick up bees with their swatter by swatting them, and any bees so collected are placed on that player's hive. Once all bees have been collected the player with the most in their hive is the winner.

Games (And How To Play Them), published by Thomas Y Crowell. 1973. Book. Good. £3

Hardback, 26x26cm, 44 pages. A colourfully illustrated book of children's party games - some traditional, and some less well known. There are 43 games detailed. A very useful book for anyone intending to host a children's party or activity session.

Go For It, published by Parker. 1985. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Good. £1.50 2) Box shows wear, contents unused. £1.50

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

Players compete to collect status cards in the categories: Going Places, Wheels, Feeling Good and House & Home. Playing pieces are moved around the board which is a track in the form of a calendar, and different spaces allow different actions. At the start of a year you can declare that you are 'Going For It' and if you have sufficient status cards at the end of the year then you win, but be assured that opponents will do their best to stop you.

Greyhound Race Game, published by Bob Edes Board Games. 1985. Box. Good. £5

Greyhound racing and betting game. Includes 8 plastic greyhound tokens and an oval board. When betting a variety of bets can be made, including combination bets. Movement is by dice and cards being drawn on certain spaces. 2 d8s and a d20 are used by the game.

Hang On Harvey, published by Kingsley Paige PLC. 2001. Box. Good. £6

Played on a vertical playing area, which consists of two parallel sheets of clear plastic with many holes in them. Players have several pegs each which they place through the holes to suspend their 'Harvey', a man with hooked feet and hands, between the two plastic sheets. Players then take it in turn to remove one of their pegs (which will almost certainly change the way Harvey hangs) and put their peg in a different hole. The objective is to get your Harvey down to the bottom safely, rather than having him fall (in which case he gets restarted at the top). Interference with your opponent's Harvey is quite possible too.

Happy Days, published by Parker Bros. 1976. Box. Good. £4

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

TV tie in game, subtitled Fonzie's Real Cool Game. Players try to be the first to collect 16 Cool Points and then to play their song on Arnold's juke box. The game is driven by dice, and card play, but also includes a subgame where players challenge each other to a race on the drag strip, with the winner gaining a Cool Point and the loser being deemed a Nerd.

Heroes For Wargames, published by Dragon's World. 1986. Book. Excellent. £5

Softback, 28x22cm, 126 pages. Book about painting and collecting miniatures for use in role playing games and fantasy battle games. The author was the European Sales Manager for Games Workshop, so had access to Citadel Miniatures and Games Workshop staff and workshops. The book gives an introduction to fantasy roleplaying games and to fantasy battle games and describes how miniatures are made. There is then a guide to painting figures and creating dioramas.

Heroquest Jigsaw, published by Milton Bradley. 1989. Box. Good, but box lid slightly indented. £3

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

300 piece fantasy jigsaw puzzle entitled Dwarven Pass, and with the Heroquest logo. The jigsaw shows a dwarf fighting several goblins, and with a giant winged demon also entering the fray. This all takes place on ledges which look like they are part of a dwarven city complex. Nice picture.

Hexentanz, published by FX Schmid. 1989. Box. Excellent. £6.50

Clever memory game involving remembering pictures underneath identical witches’ hats. These hats ‘dance’ round the board, not helping the memory banks! Game of the Year Nominee, 1989.

High Hand, published by E S Lowe. 1984. Box. Good but corners taped, shows some wear. £8

Interesting card game using cards laid out on a board, and moving your pawn around the board to collect the cards, forming them into as high as possible poker hands. The partnership game is definitely the better form of the game, as it has a clever scoring mechanism and also players start off playing for themselves but may choose a partner they think will win during the game, and they can then help ensure their partner does win. However, this is only worth doing if you are sure you yourself cannot win.

Hi-Q Euclid, published by Peter Pan. ca.1980. Box. Good. £3

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

A thirteen piece puzzle, but harder than that would suggest. The thirteen chunky plastic pieces are supplied with a frame into which you must try to put them. The pieces are cleverly designed based on a rounded 6 pointed star, but each having from 0 to 5 of the points removed and rounded off. Nicely tactile just as such a puzzle should be.

History Of Chess, published by Abbey Library. 1977. Book. Good. £9

Hardback with dustcover, 27x21cm, 375 pages. A fascinating study of the history of chess by a Polish expert. The book has many black and white plates and covers: A Little History; Chess In Britain; Ramifications Of Chess; Chess And Mathematics; Sport, Science or Art?; Chess And Machines; Love And War At The Chessboard; Living Chess; Who And When?; Chess In Poetry And Prose; Chess Curiosity Box. Perhaps an ideal present for a chess enthusiast ?

Hollywood Players, published by Van der Veer. 2005. Box. In shrink. £6.50

Card game with 144 cards. Players try to win Hollywood awards such as best actor, best director etc and this is done by collecting the best sets of cast cards. A set collecting card game with some interesting twists.

Hot Dog, published by Amigo. Box. Excellent. £7. Designed by Wolfgang Kramer, Richard Ulrich.

No. players: 2-5. Country: German, Duration: 30 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Card game in which each player tries to sell their hot dogs at three tables both quickly and profitably. Each round the players secretly decide at which table to try to sell hot dogs, how many to try to sell and how much discount to give. Each table has a limited capacity each turn and so the cheapest hot dogs sell, and only complete batches will be bought - thus some players may not be able to sell theirs. As soon as one player has managed to sell all of their hot dogs the game ends and the player who has earned the most money wins. Fast and fun.

How To Play Better Trax, published by David Smith. 1983. Book. Good, but cover creased. £7

Softback, 29x21cm, 182 pages. This book gives the rules to the tile laying game Trax, and then gives a great deal of analysis of the game - the study of which is sure to improve your play. The book is divided into various chapters on threats, openings, do's and don'ts, and also provides some puzzles to solve. The book is copiously illustrated with game positions.

Indoor Games, published by Viking Kestrel. 1985. Book. Good. £3.50

Hardback with dustcover, 22x14cm, 215 pages. A collection of games for family and friends with games rated by complexity, and with both old favourites and some less well known games. The book covers: card games (28), domino games (10), board games (12), dice games (8), pencil & paper games (8), match games (5), other games (3).

IQuest, published by San Serif. 1987. Box. Good but corners taped. £3.50

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

Special notes: 1 'i' token and one 'q' token are missing. This means the game is no longer playable with all 6 players, but 5 or less is fine. Quiz type game, but rather than general knowledge questions, simple IQ test style questions are provided. There are 6 categories: Twixers, Rangles, Numbles, Oonies, Werdles and finally IQuests which are only used when a player has collected tokens for all the other categories in order to win the game. The game board shows a circular lattice of connections and the players work their way into the centre to win. Unusually, it is not just the active player who must try to answer the current question, but all other players too, and they have to indicate if they agree with the active player by secretly playing a card. Thus all players are kept involved all the time. Includes 2200 questions.

ITV Seven Race Card Game, published by Bison. ca.1975. Box. Box shows wear. £2.75

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

TV related, named after a special combination of televised horse-races which were linked in a special wager for Saturday afternoon gamblers. A variation of the playing card game Racing Aces, where you bet on a ‘suit’ likely to win a ‘race’, armed with the information that some cards of each suit are missing from the playing deck. Cloth board.

Jericho, published by Abacus Spiele. 2005. Box. In shrink. £6

Card game in which players build up long walls in different colours. When scoring happens the longest walls in each colour win their owner extra cards. However, players can use trumpets to tear down sections of their opponents' walls, but there are restrictions on this so you have to wait for just the right moment. The player with the most cards at the end of the game wins. Some clever ideas - a good light game.

Jericho, published by House of Marbles. ca.1995. Box. Excellent. £3

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

Yet another tower game, riding in on the success of Jenga. Looks unused so would make a nice present. The twist in this version is that some of the wooden blocks have a marble in them, and if you take one of these out of the tower successfully, you can choose to miss a turn later on in the game (when the going gets tough so-to-speak).

Jigsaw Puzzles: An Illustrated History And Price Guide, published by Wallace-Homestead. 1990. Book.

Excellent. £12. Designed by Anne D. Williams. Country: American, Desc. by Andy.

Softback, 25x18cm, 362 pages. An essential book for the jigsaw collector. The first half of the book covers: The history of the Jigsaw Puzzle, Major Jigsaw Manufacturers, Developing a Jigsaw collection, Jigsaw Values. The second half of the book gives a detailed description of jigsaw puzzles by type. There are many photographs in colour and black and white throughout.

John Silver, published by Eggert Spiele. Box. New. £6

Card game with a pirate theme. During the game players will collect cards - there are three types: treasure which players want for themselves, black spots which they want to avoid and apples which will score for the player to the left at the end of the game. Cards are also numbered and are placed into a 3x4 grid, with rows for the type of card and one column for each player. When a row is full the cards are distributed to the players with the highest and lowest cards. In addition when a card showing apples is played a troublesome card can be taken back from the table. There are plenty of tactical decisions to be made.

King Tut, published by Paul Lamond Games. 1994. Box. Good. £7

Special notes: The box isn't really strong enough for the weight of components, and so is a little fragile.

Dexterity game of the same general type as Jenga. However, in this game you initially build a 5 layer pyramid from large well shaped pieces of wood. Players take it in turns to remove a piece at a time and try to ensure they don't knock down the rest of the pieces, and also try to build two alternative partial pyramids from the pieces they have taken. Very nice components, and pretty heavy.

Krimo, published by T Storey. ca.1935. Box. Fair. £1.50

Special notes: Box shows wear and corners taped, the padded lid is worn and has a rip. The cards are well used but still playable.

Card game, 60 cards representing four forces of policemen and eight crime cards. A trick-taking game. The holder of the Detective Card must retain it longer than the holder of the Guilty Card to win, and vice versa for the Guilty Card holder. Nice item.

Legend Of The Five Rings - Clan War, published by AEG. 2000. Book. Excellent. £7

Hardback book, 318 pages. Fantasy miniatures wargame set in the world of the Legend of the Five Rings CCG and RPG. This is the updated Daimyo edition and includes information on the forces of all 11 clans and the Emperor's own forces, spells and items available, storyline information, complete rules with index and glossary. Also included is a CD ROM utility for your PC to help you build your armies. For the uninitiated the world of the Legend of the Five Rings bears some resemblance to medieval Japan.

Line-Out Bumper Pack, published by Lambourne Games. 1988. Packets. Excellent. £13

International Rubgy Union replay game. The system reproduces the highlights of the clashes between various international teams, and in this way allows an entire match to re replayed in about 25 mins. Team statistics are provided for the Five Nations for 1986/7 and 1987/8 + five more World Cup teams for the 1986/7 season. This bumper pack also includes the following expansions: All Blacks vs British Lions 1993, Great XVs Files 1 and 2, Five Nations Championship 1992, Five Nations Championship 1993, Rugby World Cup 1991.

Lord Of The Rings Jigsaw, published by Hestair. 1979. Box. Good. £4

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

400 piece jigsaw puzzle. The picture shows Gandalf with his sword Glamdring invoking a spell - perhaps while attempting to fight Saruman's evil weather magic. Two of the hobbits watch from the foreground.

Mage Knight Rebellion Series 1 Starter Set, published by Wizkids. 2001. Box. Excellent. £3.50

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

A twist on the Collectable Card Game phenomena, this is a Collectable Miniature Figures game. This is the Starter set, featuring 10 of the figures (from a total available of 160, which you buy in booster boxes). Features the war between the Black Powder Rebels and the Magical Avatars of the Atlantis Guild. Set also includes a 28 page comic book introducing the world of Mage Knight. A neat idea is that all the figures' stats are on their base and twisting the base around keeps track of damage etc.

Magic The Gathering Official Strategy Guide (5th Edition), published by Carlton Books. 1997. Book. Excellent. £3.50.

Softback, 24x18cm, 126 pages. This book was designed as a guide for beginning players to explain the basics of deck construction, an insight into creature combat, general play strategy and tips, ideas for deck themes etc. The book was written when 5th Edition was the latest base set, and so the cards focused on are from that set, but many of the basic lessons apply just as well to more modern cards. There are vast numbers of full colour card illustrations throughout.

Man The Lifeboat, published by Serif. 1987. Box. Good. £3

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

Family game in which players sail their lifeboat and shallow water liferaft around the nicely produced board showing an inland sea. The objective is to rescue ships in distress in order to save lives. The game is driven by dice, and there are a wide variety provided including 2 special d6s and 2 special d10s. The player who saves the most lives wins.

Mask, published by Parker. 1985. Box. Good. £1

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

Based on the award winning cartoon series and subsequent range of toys. Mask are the good guys, against the evil Venom. Players drive vehicles around the board and collect cards, hoping to collect pairs. When a pair is obtained it can be displayed to gain a bonus, but then it can potentially be taken by opponents, unless you have a suitable defence card. First player to accumulate a fixed number of pairs wins.

Mastergame, published by Invicta. 1982. Box. Good but some stacking indentation. £3

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

Each player has 8 pieces, showing either a heart, diamond, club or spade, and the board is an 8x8 grid also showing these symbols. Players take it in turns to move a piece one space, but may not move a piece onto a space showing that piece's symbol. The objective is to get four of your pieces into a row. Attractive plastic board and pieces.

Media Mogul, published by JKLM Games. 2004. Box. In shrink. £15

Special notes: Includes the double deck of cards and revised rules.

Media Mogul thrusts players into the role of international tycoons seeking to spread their own operations over the globe. Winning over audiences with your television, radio and newspaper media with quality content is important to gain audiences, but what makes money (and victory) is lucrative advertising contracts, but adverts bore and repel your audiences, requiring you to balance profit and sustainability at all times. Game play makes use of cards, and players have a limited number of actions which they can perform each turn.

Mikado, published by Origineering. 1976. Box. Good. £6.50

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

Abstract game, a Westernised version of Shogi (Japanese chess), with some twists (I think, but I am not a Shogi expert). Nicely presented.

Milk Race Game, published by Jason Games. Box. Good but box corners taped. £4

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

Cycle racing game which uses a spinner for movement, and tactics cards which can be played on yourself or other cyclists, as well as a special 'shake up' at the sprint and mountain sections. This 'shake up' is effectively a mini dice game which decides how well the cyclists do in this stage - but only cyclists who were still in the pack will take part. Finally there are also rules for time trials as well.

Moleko, published by CNRS Editions. 1998. Box. Good. £15

British edition of a French game designed by the winner of a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The game includes nearly 600 atoms and bonds which the players will collect as the game goes on and construct into complex molecular models! Players are given objectives which they can fulfill by creating one of several different molecules - which they will decide to do depends on what atoms and bonds they manage to collect. Game play involves moving around a board and collecting atoms and bonds, and actioning event cards. 105 chemical molecules are depicted on the cards and in a special booklet with information about each one, ranging from the relatively simple tetrafluoroethylene (C2F4) to the likes of Nicotine (C10H14N2). Extraordinary item.

Move Out! Batch of 21 Issues, published by Leeds University. Booklets. Good. £3.50

A batch of 21 issues of this board wargaming and postal games zine. Each issue is roughly 24 pages long and contains some reviews, some game variants and some postal games stuff. While the latter is unlikely to be of any interest the former articles are potentially well worth a read. These issues date from Sept 1987 - July 1989.

Null & Nichtig, published by Amigo. 2006. Box. Excellent. £6.50

Card game in which tricks are played and won, but there is never any need to follow suit, and the highest card played wins the trick. Each player keeps a pile of cards won for each suit, and newly won cards are placed on top. However, at the end of the hand only the top card on each pile scores! Plenty of scope for vicious play!

Nur Peanuts, published by Gold Sieber. 2001. Box. Excellent. £12

Players attempt to gain money from the other players by choosing the number of dice to roll in order to move around a circular board and to land on a high value space. At the end of a round the player on the highest value space gets paid by the other players and gets to purchase an extra space. The game can end in a couple of ways, and so the winner can be the player who owns the most spaces or the player with the most money.

Olympics, published by Starlight. 1981. Box. Good. £2.75

Family game covering various sporting events. The game is played so that all the events are played simultaneously, and your positional play in one event, might help you advance in another event.

Operation, published by MB Games. 1996. Box. Excellent. £4.50

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

Fun family game in which the players take it in turns to extract various organs from an unfortunate patient. This is done using a pair of metal tweezers and should the tweezers touch the metal side of the hole being operated on an alarm sounds and that operation fails! Silly, but fun.

Palermo, published by Piatnik. 1992. Box. Good. £14.50

Very nice game, with wooden pieces, and tiles to make each game different. Each player runs a protection racket, and tries to extort money from the local Pizzerias, restaurants, bars, etc.. The game is played in two phases - Phase 1 where players use the tiles to 'build' the town to their advantage, and Phase 2, where players move their mobster from place to place, collecting their payments. Essentially a race game, in which players try to set the course so it will be quick for themselves and slow for their opponents. However, there are tactical decisions, great bits and an interesting theme.

Panasonic European Open, published by Wheatley Golf. ca.1980. Box. Box Lid Poor. £2.75

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

Special notes: Quite large mark on lid where a label was removed

Golf game, played on a scale map of the Old Course at Sunningdale. Players choose their own clubs, and cards decide distance and direction. The ball is marked on the boards with a chinagraph pencil.

Pastimes For Children, published by Butterick Publishing Co.. 1890. Book. Fair. £8

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

Special notes: The cover is worn and somewhat discoloured, and two pages have been taped.

Softback, 28x21cm, 96 pages. A book of games and activities for children such as: pictures to copy / enlarge, making shadow pictures, making a boomerang, ring catchers, windmills, hand signals, make your own menagerie, make your own doll's house, making dolls clothes, mental pastimes (charades, puzzles, anagrams, riddles etc).

Payday, published by Parker. 1975. Box. Good. £2.50

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

Pay Day is played on a calendar showing the days of a month. Players have to deal with various bills and expenses, but also have the opportunity to make deals on property and earn money. At the end of each month, players are paid their salary and must pay off all outstanding bills, taking out a loan if necessary. Most money (or least debt) wins after six months.

Pentagames, published by Books UK. 1990. Book. Good. £2.50

Hardback with dustcover, 23x23cm, 164 pages. A collection of games and activities which is colourfully illustrated. The rules for each game / activity are always simple, and many can be played anywhere. The book features word games, number games, domino games, card games, pencil & paper games, outdoor games, abstract games, mazes, origami and more.

Pick A Dilly, published by Abacus Spiele. 2005. Box. Excellent. £8.50

Light family game in which players try to get their hens fed as well as possible. Each round every player chooses which player's hen to feed and they secretly select this on a special dial. When all have selected these are shown. Any hen who has been picked just once lays no eggs, but getting picked zero or two or more times will get you eggs. Also the number of times the player who has the rooster token gets chosen determines how far the rooster will move around the table - having the rooster is a sure way to get bonus eggs.

Pico 2, published by Doris & Frank. 1996. Packet. Excellent. £1.75. Desc. by Andy.

Card game with just 13 cards. The cards are dealt and the one remaining is set aside. Players play cards simultaneously, with the higher card being set aside for points at the end of the hand. However, if the higher card is more than double the value of the lower card then the lower card wins instead. Also the loser takes their card back into their hand. The round stops when one player has just one card left. Points are tallied and the hands swapped and replayed. Best score over both rounds wins. To play well you will need to out think your opponent - working out when they will play low and when high.

Pin Point, published by Oliver Games Ltd. 1993. Box. Good. £6.50

Strategy game played with large two-coloured capsules (rather like giant pills). The board consists of a 10 x 10 grid of holes into which the capsules can be placed and with a grid marked on the board. Each turn a player plays four capsules and tries to form high scoring patterns with these placements ideally without giving away good scoring opportunities to the next player. When capsules have formed a suitably large and high scoring pattern they are flipped over so that the pattern cannot be extended further. There is also a clever rule for the placement of wild capsules. Nicely produced.

Piratenbucht, published by Amigo. 2002. Box. Good. £12. Desc. by Andy.

Special notes: For £3 extra I can colour print and laminate a set of English action cards to ease play

Pirate themed game in which each player captains a pirate ship, and each round gets the chance to improve their lot. The hull can be reinforced, more cannons can be fitted, more men recruited, or the sails and rigging improved. Each of these gives various advantages. The other objective is to catch and plunder treasure ships, and occasionally deal with the Royal Navy. Sometimes control of a port will be uncontested, but at other times it may be necessary to see off one or more other players' ships before the booty can be gathered. Attractively produced with nice ship improvement play sheets.

Piratenspiel, published by Unser Lieblingsspiel. 1989. Box. Good. £6.50

Trick taking card game in which winning tricks allows you to move your ship on the board, with the objective being to get to the treasure island and claim the treasure. Various spaces have different features meaning that there will be times when you particularly want to win a trick and times when you are not so fussed, thus giving you extra things to think about during the card play. Attractively produced.

Power Barons, published by Milton Bradley. 1986. Box. 1 box corner + edge split. £9.50

Designer Unknown. No. players: 3-4. Country: Canadian, Desc. by Eamon.

Three-dimensional business game in a large box, full of plastic components with 4 of the most impressive playing pieces you will ever use in any game. Each player is trying to become the most powerful person in the world, whether that be powerful as a capitalist, or a politician, or even someone on the other side of the law. Played on a map of the world, this game is essentially a card game, with the results of the card play being translated into actions on or around the board.

Rail Race, published by Spears. ca.1955. Box. Box poor, contents good. £15

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

Special notes: The box edges have been taped up fairly extensively - this game is normally much more expensive!

Unusual game for this company. Six metal trains race round Britain, visiting locations on cards. Attractive graphics on the lid, of a train hurtling out of a dice cup, as if it were a tunnel. Movement is by dice, with events occurring on a 6. However, the passing rules making blocking other players a sound tactic.

Railroad Dice 2, published by Wassertal Spieleverlag. 2005. Box. In shrink. £22

Train game which like its predecessor uses dice as the tracks, however the game play is otherwise quite different. Six mini boards are laid out and depict the terrain on which the game will be played. Players then place their home stations and neutral stations and then take turns using the dice to lay tracks to connect their station to other stations. Tracks can be upgraded using orange upgrade dice / tracks, and passengers are moved for profit, but trains must be bought to permit this, and as the game goes on better trains become available and the initial ones become obsolete. A good addition to the genre.

Rodney Matthews Fantasy Jigsaw 3479, published by Falcon. 1994. Box. Good. £6

625 piece jigsaw puzzle. The picture is titled Treebeard, and depicts Treebeard the Ent from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of The Rings. Rodney Matthews is a well known and very skillful fantasy and S.F. artist. In the picture Treebeard is holding and examining Merry and Pippin.

Saga, published by Uberplay. 2004. Box. In shrink. £7.50. Desc. by Andy.

Card game in which players vie for control of 6 kingdoms. Each turn the ruler of a kingdom gains some victory points, and in some cases a special power. The rulers also gain VPs at the end of the game, but the balance for each kingdom is different. Kingdoms are won by openly laying down sequences of cards over several turns to form an army. Once strong enough the army takes over the kingdom it was first declared as attacking, although there are card placement limitations which mean care must be taken to ensure the army will be strong enough to attack. The game play is neat, and is all about timing your attacks correctly and managing your hand of cards well, as well as keeping a close eye on your rivals. Recommended.

Scarne's Complete Guide To Gambling, published by Simon And Schuster. 1961. Book.

Good - dustcover shows wear. £7. Designed by John Scarne. Country: American, Desc. by Andy.

Hardback with dust cover, 714 pages, 24x16cm. Excellent book devoted to the rules and strategy of gambling games, written by a noted game designer and magician. The chapters cover: America's Biggest Industry, Mathematics & Science of Gambling, Horse Racing, Betting On Sports Events, Lotteries Sweepstakes Pools & Raffles, The Numbers Game, Bingo, Casinos, Craps, Odds In Dice Games, Black Jack, Roulette, Slot Machines, Chemin de Fer & Baccarat, Keno, Carnival Games, Private Card Games, Poker, Gin Rummy, Pyramid Clubs, General, Hustlers & Cheats. Throughout the book there are hints on spotting cheats and even on how to cheat should you be so inclined.

Siena, published by Zugames. 2005. Box. Excellent. £18

Business game which uses cards and is played on a board showing the famous painting of Siena by Ambrogio Lorenzetti. Players start off as peasants and play cards to produce crops which they can then take to market and sell. When rich enough players can become merchants which means they now sell more profitable goods and can pay for influence on the town's council (VPs). Eventually players will become bankers, and money veritably rolls in, but the expenses are also higher, and in order to gain valuable influence artists must be commissioned to add to your fame (more VPs). All this is cleverly driven by card play.

Skull, published by K & S Enterprise. ca.1970. Box. Good. £0.75

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

A variation on the deduction game Mastermind, but with letters instead of colours

Smog, published by Urban Systems. 1970. Box. Good but box is grubby. £18

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

Special notes: Birthday message written on front cover in biro

This company specialised in games about real environmental concerns. The amount of plastic in this game might have worried some of their supporters! Players are civil servants responsible for 'Clean Air'. The board holds factory pegs which have smoke trails which trail over the board polluting other spaces. Players make decisions on how to expand their city, and how to provide transport and waste disposal services, and these decisions affect each player's popularity (votes), finances and air quality, and in turn these cause victory points to be gained and lost at various points in the game. Some unusual mechanisms, and definitely collectable.

Sogo, published by Ravensburger. 1983. Box. Good. £1

Special notes: 1 end of the box is slightly discoloured, and one bead is missing but has been replaced with a non-identical one. Tactical game played in three dimensions. The goal is to get four beads of your colour in a row. The board holds 16 vertical rods arranged in a square onto which beads of two colours can be dropped. Players alternate placing a bead onto a rod. Includes rules for an advanced version and a team game for four players.

Speculate, published by Waddingtons. 1972. Box. Good. £6

Invest in the stock market with some information from the cards in your hand. The interesting idea in this game is that you are given a series of targets to try to achieve (specifying a minimum number of shares in each of various companies), and once you achieve this mix of stock you get a bonus payout and a new target. This gives the game some focus which some other share dealing games lack. The inventor was the owner of Games Centre and Games & Puzzles magazine.

Spy Web, published by Milton Bradley. 1998. Box. Excellent. £6

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

This game also has the 'Action Man' logo on it. Essentially a spy themed deduction game. The idea is that one player takes the role of 'Action Man' and the other 'Dr X' (the bad guy). Players both have a secret commander who the other must discover the identity of and also their whereabouts. The first to do this wins. Information about the layout of your opponent's spies is gained by asking who a spy is looking at / listening to / pointing to, and gradually working out how this must mean the tiles have been laid out on your opponent's grid. Very nice components.

Starship Troopers, published by Avalon Hill. 1976. Box. Good, but box shows some wear. £11

Science fiction wargame based on the novel by Robert Heinlein, in which the Humanoids and the combined forces of the Skinnies and Arachnids do battle. Uses hidden movement to allow creatures to burrow underneath your troops. Includes 7 scenarios. The rules introduce the game one scenario at a time, so only 5 pages need to be read before the playing the first scenario.

Station Manager, published by Spiele Aus Timbuktu. 2002. Box. Excellent. £8

Train themed card game. Players collect sets of cargo cards and trade in sets to claim scoring cards. However, these can be stolen away by other players playing the same set later in the game. The game can end in several ways, and when it does players score for the sets played and the scoring cards in front of them.

Strike It Rich, published by Lamplight. 1986. Box. Good. £7

Stock market game that uses actual stock market results over the period 1985 to 1986 to alter share values during the game. Includes a Casio calculator which will be helpful in play. Players move their pieces around a track and action the space they are on. The central mechanism to the game is that a 'fact' card is read out which gives details of some financials facts (eg. FTSE index, gold price, mortgage rates etc and a financial press headline, and the players get to react to this before seeing what actually happened to their shares that week using a share price lookup book for 36 major companies. Venture cards (random events) and a capital fluctuation dice are also used.

Take Two!, published by A & C Black Ltd. 1977. Book. Excellent. £4.50

Spiralbound book with thick card pages, 31x21cm, 32 pages, and each page having the rules to a different game and a diagram on which to play it. You will need to supply playing pieces. Thus there are the rules to 32 two player games in the book, all simple in terms of the rules, but not necessarily simple to master. The games are all abstract in nature, some being to do with numbers, many to do with positions on a board or taking it in turn to remove / place pieces with assorted twists. Most of the games are playable in a very few minutes, with the remainder being perhaps 20 minutes to play. If you like these types of games at all then this book is highly recommended.

Targen's Tome: A Master's Guide To Magic, published by Chessex. 1995. Book. Excellent. £3.50

Softback, 27x21cm, 182 pages. This book introduces Magic The Gathering, explaining how to play and then moving on to the theory of deck design and giving some example predesigned winning decks. The book also has a good Magic The Gathering Glossary and lots of top ten lists to give you ideas for decks and cards to include in your decks. Of course the card sets used the book are now rather old, but most of the strategy and deck building skills described are still very useful.

Teenagers From Outer Space - Fieldtrip, published by R. Talisorian Games Inc. 1987. Booklet.

Excellent. £0.75. Designed by D.Friedland, M.Pondsmith, L.Bryant. No. players: 2+.

Country: American, Desc. by Andy.

Adventure module for the Teenagers From Outer Space RPG. The students go on a field trip in Deathbus 13 and encounter all sorts of wierdness including: power crazed aliens, demon motorcyclists from beyond time and space, mad scientists, the cosmic referee and much more.

Test Your Communications, published by Victor Gollancz. 1989. Book. Good. £7

Softback, 19x13cm, 80 pages. Contract Bridge book. The author presents 36 hands and asks the reader how they would solve a particular problem that hand poses. The solution is then given on the following page. Thus you can test yourself to see how good your Bridge skills are, and also improve them where they were wanting. Hard to find book.

Tet Offensive, published by GDW. 1991. Box. 1 Box edge damaged. £8.50

Simulation of the great offensive effort of the Vietcong in January 1968 directed at the major cities and towns of Vietnam. This proved to be the decisive battle of the war. Morale plays a major role in the game, and demoralising your enemy is a key strategy. Includes variants, such as a 4 player version. Comes in a larger box than is usual for this company and has striking art work.

The Acol System Today, published by Edward Arnold. 1961. Book.

Good, but cover slightly discoloured. £2.50

Hardback, 22x14cm, 163 pages. This Contract Bridge book takes a look at the varied forms of Acol which had developed in the 9 years since Acol's development and presents what was then considered the best practice amongst those variations. The book goes through the various main bidding situations describing how best to apply the Acol system. The main sections are: The Uncontested Auction, The Contested Auction, Acol In The Space Age.

The American Revolution 1775-1783, published by SPI. 1972. Packet. Good. £5

Area movement based simulation of the American Revolution. The rules cover 9 pages, and map is unmounted 17" x 22". One strength point represents around 500 men. The game uses immovable Colonial militia, and Tory militia which can be recruited. The British player tries to control regions worth sufficient VPs, whereas the Colonial player wins by winning three major battles or various lesser victory conditions. The game includes various what-if scenarios, which can be used in combination to add to the replayability.

The Chess Player 5 - 1973b, published by Chess Player Ltd. 1973. Book. Good. £1

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

Softback, 23x17cm, 286 pages. A collection of the games played by the top level chess players at the time, at the various top level events that year. Each game's moves are listed and annotated, with some key positions shown.

The Complete Card Player, published by McGraw Hill. 1945. Book. Good. £11

Special notes: This copy has an impressive embossed leather cover

Hardback, 771 pages, 23x16cm. As well as rules to a very large number of games (over 350) this book also has interesting articles such as The Romance of Playing Cards, Card Playing in the U.S., A general guide to Card Procedure, and How to Run a Tournament. The games themselves are categorised into: Banking Games (22), Beginners' Games (19), Bezique Family (7), Contract Bridge, Other forms of Bridge, Casino (6), Cribbage variants, Euchre, Fan-Tan Family (15), Five Hundred (7), Hearts (13), Kalabriasz, Pinochle (19), Piquet (6), Poker (51), Rummy (36), Solitaire (38), Solo (8), Whist (24), Skat, Sheepshead and more... Nice item.

The Concorde Game, published by Ideal. 1976. Box. Box base indented and lid corners taped. £10

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

Business game in which the players attempt to make money by flying Concorde between major world airports. In order to fly a player needs to gather passengers and crew and get permission to take off. This is done by moving a playing piece around an outer track, and deciding when the plane is full enough to warrant flying. Once flying, fuel must be paid for, and fuel prices fluctuate. It is possible to fly either subsonic (slow but less fuel used) or supersonic (faster but needs more fuel). In addition players can claim flight paths and gain money from other players who use parts of their flight paths. While your plane is in the air you can start getting the next one ready to fly. Nice concorde miniatures.

The Farming Game, published by Weekend Farmer Company. 1979. Box. Good. £5

Players acquire plots of land and plant a variety of crops in the hope of getting a good return come harvest. However, with each harvest comes the unavoidable costs of farming (fertilizer, equipment breakdown, purchasing new seeds, etc.). Players move their pieces around a track and the spaces drive the game. The first player who has a total net worth of $250,000 wins the game. Assets tokens are actually peelable and can be stuck onto a player's fields during the game.

The Fishing Game, published by Anglepen. ca.1980. Box. Good. £4

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

Fishing game in which the large board shows a gridded lake onto which fish are placed. Players use very nicely made metal angler figures with fishing rods either from the banks or from the island (using metal boats). Lines are cast and hooks positioned on the board. There are rules about not crossing lines with other players. If a fish is close enough to a hook then it takes the bait, and a struggle to land it ensues. The weight of any fish landed is recorded and players try to return home with the biggest catch.

The Full Monty, published by Susan Prescot Games. 1998. Box. Mint. £1.50

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

Film related, aimed at adults who won't mind stripping off during the game. Other penalties/actions in the game mean you need to be pretty broad-minded to play.

The Game Of Home And Away, published by Milton Bradley. 1989. Box. Good. £1

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

TV related, based on the popular Australian programme. Each player is a character from the show and must resolve a 'problem' between two other characters. They have to work out who these two are by deduction and eliminating possibilities. Movement is by dice in order to land on the spaces in order to ask questions.

The Glory, published by Genesis. 1988. Box. Good. £10

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2-6. Country: British, Duration: 3 hrs, Desc. by Andy.

Privately made game. Each player represents a great European power in the mid-nineteenth century vying for supremacy. Players have to look at things both from a military commander's point of view, positioning forces ready to attack, and planning with potential allies, but also from a King's viewpoint where keeping the people happy and keeping yourself popular are important too. Involves negotiation and knowing when to break allegiances too. Bookcase box

The Hobbit Jigsaw, published by Express Gifts. 1999. Box. Good. £6

1000 piece jigsaw puzzle. The picture is a complex and attractive piece of artwork incorporating portraits of the dwarves, small pictures of various scenes from the book, inc. Smaug, along with a central section showing Bilbo's encounter with Gollum.

The Hobbit Two Sided Jigsaw, published by International Polygonics Ltd. 1971. Box.

Box indented, 1 piece missing. £2. Designed by J.R.R. Tolkien / Pauline Baynes. No. players: 1.

Country: American, Desc. by Andy.

Note: I don't normally sell incomplete items, but this one is so nice it seems a great shame to throw it away...

Two sided 500+ piece jigsaw puzzle based on Tolkien's The Hobbit. One side shows a map of the portion of Middle Earth involved in the book The Hobbit from The Shire to The Lonely Mountain, and the other shows Bilbo floating down the river on a barrel. Very nice item.

The Legend Of The Lone Ranger, published by Milton Bradley. 1980. Box. Good. £7.50

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

Special notes: Box corners taped but contents unpunched

TV related, with a very unusual insert that is part of the game because it is, in effect, an adjustable 'Wanted Posters' display board and keeps track of the current reward on offer. Players travel the board looking for Bad Bob, Mean Gene and other notorious outlaws. Play involves collecting wanted posters and confronting outlaws. Each time an outlaw escapes capture the reward on his or her head is increased making it more profitable to go for them.

The Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King Jigsaw Puzzles, published by Ravensburger. 2003. Box. Good. £4. Designed by New Line Cinema. No. players: 1+. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

This box contains two 500 pieces jigsaw puzzles which both show pictures from the Peter Jackson film of the same name. One shows Legolas in various poses, and the other shows Aragorn in several poses. The jigsaws are 49x36cm when complete.

The New Book Of Games, published by Syndicate Publishing Co. Ltd. ca.1955. Book. 2 copies available:

1) Good, but corners show some wear. £6.50. Dice and playing pieces are missing.

2) Good. £8. Dice and playing pieces are missing.

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

Hardback, 28x20cm, 30 pages. An unusual antique item which has some very thick card pages which fold flat to form a board, and some regular pages. The book contains boards for: Football, Test Match, Air Race, Draughts, Ludo, Snakes & Ladders, Riding The Ranges. As well as rules to these games there are also a selection of party games and activities described and some magic tricks and puzzles too. Originally came with some dice and playing pieces.

The Rixi Markus Book Of Bridge, published by Willow Books. 1985. Book. Good. £3

Hardback with dustcover, 208 pages, 26x18cm. This book on Bridge is by the leading female Bridge player of her time. The book is intended to improve the intermediate to advanced reader's game. The book covers: Bidding (Doing What Comes Naturally, Countering Artificiality, Getting Into The Act, Some Passing Thoughts, Two Different Worlds), Play (Stop, Look, Listen; A Walk On The Embankment), Defence (A Leading Question, Getting The Message, A Switch In Time).

The Third Citadel Compendium, published by Citadel Miniatures. 1986. Magazine. Good. £0.50

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

This is a magazine and catalogue combined. The articles are: How to Build a Fantasy Inn, Painting Regiments for Warhammer, Bellicose Bestiary (new Warhammer monster stats), The Quest of Kaleb Daark (10 page comic). Also included are about 50 pages of pictures of Citadel's very extensive range of miniatures.

The World's Pictorial Sports And Pastimes, published by Charles Taylor. ca.1908. Book. Good. £10

Special notes: The flysheets show speckling, but internally it is fine.

Hardback - embossed cover, 320 pages, 24x18cm. An unusual collection of articles about sports and pastimes of the wealthy around 1900. There are about 100 articles with titles including: Albatross Fishing, Tiger Shooting In The Depths Of The Jungle, Hunting Of The Wild Boar, Pig Sticking In India, Ostrich Farming, Shark Fishing, Racing On Stilts, How Frenchmen Box, Ballooning and much much more! Needless to say it is not at all politically correct, but as a view on a bygone era it is fascinating.

Tumblin' Monkeys, published by Tomy. 2001. Box. Mint. £3

Family game, based on the principles in Kerplunk. Players must remove poles from the tree, and beware of dropping the monkeys out of the tree. Would make a perfect gift for a young relative or friend.

Vabanque, published by Winning Moves. 2001. Box. Excellent. £13. Desc. by Andy.

Game of gambling and bluffing with a casino theme. Each round players get to place increasingly large money chips onto table cards placed in a circle. Players also get to place and optionally move a playing piece to indicate one of these table cards they definitely want resolved that round. Players also place their own claim cards besides the table cards to stake a claim on a share of the money there. However, there are also special cards which multiply up the amount of money at a table, and even steal all the money at a table. All players have the same resources to work with, so you have to try to work out what your opponents are up to.

Vertigo, published by Euro Games. 1990. Box. Good. £23. Desc. by Andy.

Ecological business game. Each player is in charge of the factories, etc. in their country, but they must pay attention to the amount of pollution they create. Pollution can 'blow' next door, to other countries, making you very unpopular. The game mechanics are very interesting. You must balance pollution against profits and against the greater good of the world environment. There is also a UN meeting at which the players vote for new laws such as penalties for the worst polluters or benefits to the poorer countries etc. The player with the greatest production capacity at the end of the game wins, but players can be eliminated due to their own excessive pollution.

Viceroys, published by Task Force Games. 1986. Box. Good. £18

Special notes: This set includes the Columbus Expansion set.

War game in which the players explore the world, colonise and conquer in the 15th and 16th centuries. To be successful economic strategy must be taken into account as well as military strength. Relatively few units are involved, but they have options from building to being pirates. A special exploration system produces a different world each game, and historical scenarios are included. Also included are optional rules for roleplaying explorers, adding non player empires and pirate nations.

Victorian Parlour Games For Today, published by Peter Davies. 1974. Book. Good. £4

Hardback with dustcover, 25x17cm, 140 pages. A collection of the best Victorian parlour games which are still worth playing today. There are a huge number of games described here and most taking only a paragraph or two to do so. The book has many Victorian illustrations, and the games are categorised (and subcategorised) as follows: General Party Games (Blind, Chairs, Hunting, Guessing, Chase & Catch, Be Serious, Talking, Movement, Acting, Kissing, Romp), Word Games, Table Games (Pencil & Paper, Board, Domino, Solitaire), Card Games (Fun, Money), Marbles, Forfeits.

Visual Brainstorms, published by Binary Arts. 1995. Box. Excellent. £5

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

A set of 100 full colour oversize cards each of which has a visual brainteaser on it. The card is studied for a limited time and an answer given. The answer is on the back of the card, and sometimes there is a bonus question on the back as well which must be answered without further reference to the card. Fun game which can be played on your own as a challenge or with several players as a competitive game. Attractive illustrations and clever puzzles.

Vultures, published by Henry Games. 1987. Box. Good. £7.50

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

The players are vultures, fighting over carcasses in the desert. Interaction and movement is by card play (fly, waddle or fight). The board shows the desert with some watering holes and trees (safe spaces). The first to scavenge 5 carcasses either from the desert or from other vultures and get back to the safety of a tree is the winner.

W.W.F. Wrestling Challenge Game, published by Milton Bradley. 1991. Box. Good. £3

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

TV related, based on the exploits of well-known wrestlers like Hulk Hogan, Earthquake, Mach Man, Ultimate Warrior, Million Dollar Man, The Model, Mr Perfect, Jake the Snake and Big Boss Man. A fun game, and some tactics required with the use of your Power Cards - when and where to use them can be crucial.

Wizard, published by Amigo. 1995. Box. Excellent. £5.50

Trick taking card game which uses a 60 card deck in four suits, every card having its own very attractive colourful fantasy picture by renowned artist Franz Vohwinkel. The game play is essentially nomination whist, but with four supertrumps (the wizards). Points are scored for each trick won, as well as getting the number you said you would get, and penalties are greater the more wrong you were.

Yali, published by Jumbo. 1996. Box. Good. £10

Intriguing game of balance and tactical movement played on a board with a built in see-saw. After each move you may play again unless the board tips towards your opponent in which case they get to move. The objective is to get all your metal balls to the other side of the board. Attractively produced with a large see-saw playing area and large steel ballbearings.

Yellowstone Park, published by Amigo. 2003. Box. Excellent. £10

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 - eg. getting rid of all your cards or filling the 8th or 9th space in the current 3x3 grid.

Zig Zag, published by Milton Bradley. 1977. Box. Good. £3.50

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

Special notes: A few of the white scoring markers have been 'chewed' - I will supply suitable (but non identical) replacements.

Strategy game in which each player has a selection of pieces made up of 1-4 hexagons. Players alternately place these into spaces on the board. These spaces form areas of size 3-10, and the player who places the last piece into one of them scores for that area, but must then play again. You must play carefully to try to make your opponent unable to play some of their larger pieces, but equally running your pieces out too soon can let your opponent walk away with the high scoring areas. Surprisingly interesting little game with chunky plastic pieces and robust board.

Zodiac, published by Chad Valley. ca.1965. Box. Good. £8.50

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

Special notes: 1 corner taped and the box edges show wear

Economic game combining an odd mix of astrology and materialistic goals. The winner of the game is the player who first manages to purchase a house + a flat + £1000 in shares + a car and a boat. The game is played on a track of the days of the year with days assigned to the various signs of the zodiac. Each month there is a payday, and each time one is passed money is earned, which will be needed to pay for the various status symbols as well as paying when landing on spaces belonging to other players - the amount depending on how many houses / flats / boats etc that player owns. There are several types of event cards as well.

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