Sep 2007 Catalog

MNG-AJM Games and Collectibles

Sep 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?

101 Instant Games, published by Macdonald Ltd. 1977. Book. Good. £4

Softback, 25x23cm, 64 pages. A compilation of 101 games you can play with pretty much no preparation and just items you can find around the house. The games range from party games for many players to classic abstract games such as mancala. The games are divided as follows: Games of Chance (17), Outdoor Games (24), Travelling & Waiting Games (15), Games For Two Or More (17), Party Games (28).

3 Or More, published by Spear's Games. 1981. Box. Box shows wear. £3

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

Tile laying game using long thin tiles each with 3 coloured circles on it. These are placed adjacent to those already on the table in rows of up to eleven. The objective is to score points by making lines of circles of the same colour - the longer the line the higher the score and diagonal lines count double. When all the tiles have been played the highest scorer wins. Could be considered a sort of colour dominoes, but with three colours per domino rather than just two.

After Dinner Origins, published by Jordans Games. 1988. Box. Good, but edges show wear. £2

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

Players take turns to read out three possible origins of well known phrases or customs (such as why we say "The Bee's Knees", or how saluting started), and the other players guess which is the correct one. Points are scored for guessing the correct origin. The game comes in a box which looks very much like a box of After Eight Mints, and the cards come in After Eight style wrappers! There are 60 cards with 5 sets of origins on each card.

Age Of Mythology, published by Eagle Games. 2003. Box. In shrink. £23

Board game version of the civilisation building computer game of the same name. The game includes vast numbers of components including all sorts of wonderful plastic figures of men and monsters from different empires, wooden blocks, cards, dice and three game boards. The game is about gathering resources, building an empire and an army to defend and expand it, moving into new levels of civilisation, and ultimately building a Wonder of The World. Requires a large table, but it looks fantastic when laid out.

Alles Futsch, published by F X Schmid. 1998. Box. Excellent. £6

Card game. Players trade collectable goods like paintings and sculptures. The interaction is intriguing as you do not simply bid and add items to your sets, but once items have been bought, if you already have enough of that type of item you can perform a forced sell to another player with that type of item and get a good price, and potentially reduce the value of their collection as well, thus quite a bit of tactical bidding can be involved.

Am Fuss Des Kilimandscharo, published by Hans Im Gluck. 1995. Box. Box good, contents unused. £11

Light game in which players use their cards to form combinations of methods of transport, in their quest to reach Base Camp first. Each player has 3 cards laid in front of them indicating their current modes of transport. Players can either play onto their own piles to improve their position or onto opponents' piles to mess them up. In addition various events occur as the players get further up the mountain when certain spaces are landed on exactly, so aiming to hit or miss these is important.

Animal Tracks, published by Spear's Games. 1983. Box. 1 box corner taped. £5

Designer Unknown. No. players: 2-6. Country: British, Duration: 20 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Children's game (age 7+). A rather attractive tile laying game in which the players play path tiles (showing assorted curves, straights, cross-overs, dead ends etc) onto a 4x4 grid. Around the sides of this grid are 16 animal tiles (cows, hens, pigs and sheep). The objective is to play a tile which creates a path between two animals of the same type. Those two animals' cards (which are worth various amounts) are then kept and will score at the end of the game. The animals which have been won are then replaced with new animals ready for the next player.

Antiquity, published by Splotter Spellen. 2004. Box. New. £55

Special notes: 2nd Edition (in dark green box)

Substantial strategy game from the company that created Roads & Boats. Set loosely in Italy in the middle ages each player starts with a small town which they must develop in a variety of ways by making use of the countryside around it, gathering resources, and making use of these. There are also a variety of patron saints, and during the game one of these must be selected as the game goes on. Victory is achieved in different ways depending on the saint selected. The game requires careful planning to do well as the land gets slowly depleted making resources more difficult to come by later in the game. Comes in a large box with a veritable trove of components, which is what makes this expensive.

Asterix: Operation Britain, published by Hodder & Stoughton. 1992. Book. Excellent. £5

Solitaire paragraph gamebook based on the famous Asterix comic characters. The game uses paragraphs in the same type of way as Fighting Fantasy books, but also uses a special dice and comes with a selection of extras such as a map, potion cards, a password scroll, coinbag card and Asterix and Obelix cards. 284 paragraphs. The mistletoe crop has failed in Gaul, and Asterix needs more in order to make his magic potions. Thus the heroes head to Roman occupied Britain to obtain some more mistletoe.

Attacking The King, published by B.T. Batsford. 1991. Book. Excellent. £5

Softback, 21x13cm, 109 pages. Chess book translated by Malcolm Gesthuysen. Every chess player aims for successful attacks on the king. This book shows you how to: launch a piece attack against an uncastled king, create checkmate possibilities against a castled position, undertake pawn storms when there is castling on opposite sides, keep your opponent guessing as to your own king's destination.

Auf Der Pirsch, published by Phalanx Games. 2005. Box. In shrink. £7

Trick taking card game with an unusual twist. Four rounds are played and each round there is a different trump suit (known from the very start). However, the tricks taken in one round are the cards you will use in the next round. Once you have won your share of tricks all your remaining cards count as losers. The cards also have points on them, and winning cards with points scores. In the final round everyone tries to win as much as possible, with the suits having different values. An intriguing take on trick taking.

Balanx, published by Fun Connection. 1993. Box. Good. £7

Special notes: Original rules missing, but a printout is supplied. The two large steel ballbearings rusted at some point (but have been cleaned).

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

Battle Quest: Caves Of Fury, published by Hodder & Stoughton. 1992. Book. Excellent. £5

Solitaire adventure game book in the same style (using paragraphs) as Fighting Fantasy books. However, this book comes in a packet with two special dice used to resolve combat, and a selection of extra items (treasure and strength counters), Book of Wisdom card, Password Scroll, and transparent spell sheets. 342 paragraphs. You are a fearless warrior sent to the Caves of Fury by an old man who wants to know what happened to his sons who never returned.

Battleship, published by Milton Bradley. 1995. Box. Good. £5.50

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

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

Billionaire, published by Spear's Games. 1984. Box. Excellent. £3

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

Bison, published by Phalanx. 2006. Box. In shrink. £16. Special notes: Fully English edition.

Board game which uses unusually shaped tiles (curved hexes!) to build up a NW American wilderness in which the players take the role of competing tribes of Indians. Each tribe claims territories which will provide food: bison, wild turkeys and fish. Players can choose how many actions they take each turn, but the more actions used the more food it will cost. As well as deploying hunters, permanent settlements can be built up to secure areas. At the end of each round more food is obtained and then the next round played out, with the best fed tribe being the winner at the end of the game. Clever design - I have some house rules which I feel improve it further.

Brainline, published by Palitoy Bradgate. ca.1983. Box. Good. £3

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

Strategy game in which the players try to get their 4 pegs into a straight line with no opposing pieces in between. The game is played on a hexagonal grid. Pieces may be moved any distance in a straight line, but cannot jump another peg or land on another peg.

Bridge In The Menagerie, published by Faber & Faber. 1985. Book. Good. £12

Softback, 20x13cm, 152 pages. Contract bridge book written humourously with a variety of characters each with their own personality and playing style. The intent is for the book to amuse the bridge playing reader while also imparting some tips and useful points which should help improve their game. The book is subtitled: The Winning Ways of the Hideous Hog. Well out of print, and actually quite rare and now sought after.

Buro Crazy, published by F X Schmid. 1997. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Excellent. £3.50 2) Excellent - unpunched. £4

Card game, 150 cards used in competition for office promotions. Players use their influence cards to gain promotion, but must be careful to conserve rather than over-bid their hand. The loser of a contest for promotion gets their influence cards back and also gets some compensation. At the end of the game the top ranking employees all vie for the right to be Boss in a last special round.

Byzantium, published by Warfrog. 2004. Box. In shrink. £22

The Byzantine Empire has to battle foe after foe in a desperate struggle for survival. However, after holding back the Persians, the Arabs look to be too much. Interestingly each player gets to act on both sides of this war, and tries to do well for both sides, scoring points on two separate tracks. Players can build up armies, build churches / mosques, move their units, attack with them, and perform many special actions. As usual with Martin Wallace games, you can expect a substantial game with plenty of interesting ideas, and very approachable rules.

Calculate, published by Pantheon Books. 1979. Book. Good, a very few sheets have been used.. £10

Special notes: Signed by Sid Sackson.

Softback, 20x25cm, 72 pages. A collection of games to play using your wits and a calculator. The games are all devised by Sid Sackson, so you can be sure there will be novel ideas. The book includes many black and white sheets on which the games are played - you will need pens / pencils (not supplied) to play. The games are: Run For President (2-4), Target Number (2-4), Invasion (2), Away Across (2), Travels (2-4), High Finance (2-4).

Candidate, published by Shaw Games. 1979. Box. Good. £14

Election game, based on the American electoral system. Played for a predetermined number of turns with a shorter 40 minute game being quite possible. Each turn the players can choose two of three possible cards types to draw. Campaign cards give you votes in the state where you currently are. Fundraising cards give you money which can be spent secretly. Dirty tricks cards allow you to hurt your opponents, but these can sometimes backfire.

Cats 'N' Dogs, published by Spears. 1986. Box. Good. £4

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

Each player has 8 large discs (those of one player show cats while those of the other player show dogs). These discs can stack on other discs during play. Players form new stacks with these discs or move discs from stack to stack. No board required, you just play on any flat surface. The objective is to have 5 of your discs showing. No pile may ever exceed 3 in height, and being able to remember what the hidden discs are will help considerably.

Caylus Magna Carta, published by Ystari Games. 2007. Box. In shrink. £17

Special notes: Fully English edition.

Card game based on the theme and many of the ideas from its very well received big brother Caylus. This game does away with the board and many of the details of the original, while still being a resource cube management and generation game. In case you haven't played Caylus, the idea is that it is 1289 and King Philip is building a new castle in Caylus. The players do their best to help and the player who is able to contribute the most to it will be the most prestigious. Plays much quicker than its bigger brother.

Celebrity Trivia, published by Nostalgia Lane Inc. ca.1985. Box. Good. £1.50

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

A box of 400 cards each with 6 trivia quiz questions and answers about well-known people. Also includes a die and rules.

Check Lines, published by Tri-ang. ca.1968. Box. Good. £4

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

A pocket sized strategy game which uses an asymmetric board with 11 peg holes and many straight lines joining them up. Each player has five pieces (horses for one player and lions for the other) which fit into the holes in the board. To win a player must be the first to position these so that they have two straight lines, both of three men.

Chrominos, published by Sourire Pour Saisir. 1992. Box. Good. £6

Designer Unknown. No. players: 1-10. Country: French, Duration: 30 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Set of 75 dominoes with colours rather than numbers and with three sections rather than two. When placing chrominos onto the existing layout at least two matching contacts must be made. The objective is to get rid of your chrominos first. Some additional rules for more advanced games are also included.

Colosseum, published by Days Of Wonder. 2007. Box. In shrink. £29

Designed by Wolfgang Kramer, Markus Lubke. No. players: 3-5. Country: German, Duration: 2 hrs, Desc. by Andy. Special notes: English rules provided - components are language free.

Substantial board game set in Rome in which the players recruit artistes of various sorts (gladiators, chariot teams, musicians, animals etc), in order to put on progressively more impressive shows. The game uses auctions but also senators move around a track and getting them to visit your stadium will help you considerably. Players have a limited number of actions to use to improve their stadia, and purchase the plan to new shows. Unusually it is not the player who does the best series of shows who wins, but the player who puts on the single best show.

Commissario, published by Phalanx Games. 2004. Box. Excellent. £7. Desc. by Andy.

Card game in which the players are federal agents who want to arrest villains in a series of raids, and must avoid arresting innocents. The game uses some clever mechanics where you have to first limit your options for the turn by choosing just two places to raid, but then they are resolved one at a time. There is significant element of bluffing your opponents, but depending on the turn order, there will sometimes be definite good moves if you can spot them. At the end of the game there are bonuses for the agent who arrests more of each of the various gangs. Plays especially well with 3 players, and recommended for that number.

Cube Farm, published by Cheapass Games. ca.2003. Packet. New. £2.50

Card game in which the players add cards to a communal layout and place tokens on the cards to claim offices. The idea is that the cards show office units which have been partitioned into 'cubes'. The office also has vital facilities such as the coffee machine, water cooler, printer etc, and players want their people to be as close as possible to these facilities. Play is tactical - you want to set up opportunities for yourself while not giving too much away to your opponents. As usual with this company, you will need to supply your own counters for each player.

Cyberspace - Death Game 2090, published by Iron Crown Enterprises. 1990. Booklet. Good. £1.75

Adventure module for the Cyberspace roleplaying game. This module allows you to run a linked series of adventures based around the Uniqorn Qlub, a place which features the latest in ActiStim technology - the Death Game of the title. This module is subtitled Cyberventure Mission File #2, but you only need the CyberSpace rules in order to play.

Das Riff, published by Kosmos. 2000. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Excellent. £10 2) Good. £9

Unusual game of catching rare and colourful fish in order to breed specific new combinations. Colourful square reef cards showing fishes, sharks, coral, pearls and open sea are placed in rows, some face up and some face down. Players use their ships and worms (as bait ?) to explore the reefs, and obtain more boats, always looking to obtain breeding pairs which will produce young fish currently in demand. Play is quite tactical, but with luck in whether previously unexplored sea regions hold what is desired and in what worms become available. The game has a neat 'water-flow' mechanism which drives the replenishment of the tiles. Definitely an unusual one and well worth trying.

Dealer's Choice, published by Parker Palitoy. ca.1975. Box. Good. £8

Designer Unknown. No. players: 3-5. Country: British, Duration: 45 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Family business game in which the players are car dealers. Players buy and sell a selection of cars ranging from top of the range sports cars to old wrecks. Each player has a special 'Blue Book' which can be consulted to give the value of any given car. Options include insurance and event cards keep the play varied. Players try to make the most money by clever wheeling, dealing and bluffing.

Design And Sell Toys, Games & Crafts, published by Chilton Book Co.. 1977. Book. Good. £7

Hardback with dustcover, 27x19cm, 165 pages. A very useful book for anyone who has invented a new game and wants to get it published. The author clearly has her feet on the ground, and hopefully will be able to bring budding inventors back down to earth too. Considering the games side, the author gives a good categorisation of all games, and gives answers to what makes a good game, and what makes one a best seller. Other chapters cover Getting New Ideas, Names, Writing Good Instructions, Costing Your Design, Testing, Protecting Your Ideas, Selling Your Idea, Sample Developments, Case studies.

Die Magier Von Pangea, published by Queen Games. 2001. Box. In shirnk. £14

Fantasy themed game in which each player is a wizard controlling minions who wander around a world which often shifts around changing its layout. These minions produce goods which are used to purchase amulets from the agents of foreign wizards. Collecting these amulets and returning them to your wizard's tower gives you the ability to cast more spells and obtaining enough of them combined with a suitable number of goods wins the game. Some unusual mechanics combine to form a game which feels unique.

Dilbert: Corporate Shuffle, published by WoTC. ca.1998. Box. Excellent - unused. £4

Card game, 60 cards each featuring an individual full colour Dilbert cartoon. Dilbert is a character in a newspaper comic strip, a geeky computer programmer with an uncomprehending boss. The game itself is a new version of the company’s game The Great Dalmuti. It is a 'climbing' game in which players play increasingly strong combinations until no more can be played, and then a new round starts. The objective is to get rid of all your cards as quickly as possible.

Dinosaur Dice Book, published by Teeney Books. 1998. Book. Excellent. £1.75

A very nice book, made up of thick game boards (no paper pages). Built into the book is a plastic spinner to be used as a die. You need to provide your own counters. The book has the following games: Snakes & Ladders Dinosaur Style, Dino Bones, Dangers of the Deep, Run!...Run!...Run!, Don't Meet a Dinosaur, and Collector's Corner. Very nice item.

Disorderly Conduct The Game, published by Western Publishing. 1993. Box. Good. £4

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

Special notes: Box slightly indented due to stacking, base has a tape removal mark, and 1 corner taped. 1 of 160 cards is missing, but this does not affect play.

Party game intended for young adults. The players split into a team of girls and a team of boys and each team moves their playing piece around the board and acts on the spaces they land on. These often require that a 'dare' card is drawn and so someone will have to perform an embarrassing dare, sometimes involving a player from their own team and sometimes with someone from the other team. Players can refuse a dare, but then they get a stamp - two stamps and that player becomes the other team's 'partyslave'. The box and board feature snapshots of a group of male and female models playing the game, giving a bit of the look of popular U.S. TV sitcoms (like 'Friends').

Dos Rios, published by Mayfair. Box. Excellent. £22

Set in a valley of two rivers the board can be reconfigured each game for variety. Players move their campesinos into fertile areas which the rivers flow through in order to grow their crops. However, opposing campesinos can chase away the existing ones by coming in greater force, and a clever mechanism allows the rivers to be diverted using dams, changing which areas are irrigated. The types of area which will produce can be seen a few turns in advance to allow for planning. However, occasionally desperadoes come out of the hills and chase away some of the campesinos to the city. The first player to build their five income producing buildings wins the game.

Dungeon Twister - 3-4 Player Espansion, published by Asmodee Editions. 2006. Box. In shrink - Excellent. £15

Special notes: While still in shrink there is slight damage to one corner of the box. It is still Excellent though.

Each player has a team of adventurers with various powers, who are trapped in a dungeon. The board is made up of small maze-like boards which can be rotated during the game, changing the layout. Action points are spent to move adventurers, pick up and use items, fight opponents or perform special actions. The objective is to gain victory points by escaping from the dungeon and killing opposing adventurers. The game is card driven - the cards being selected each turn from an open display. Very well received fantasy game. Together with the base set this expansion lets you play with 3 or 4 players.

El Grande, published by Hans Im Gluck. 1996. Box. Good. £15. Desc. by Andy.

Special notes: I can print out and laminate a set of English action cards to considerably ease play for an extra £4. This set also includes a German Kong & Intrigant expansion.

Brilliant game, which was German Game of the Year 1996. The players vie for control of areas of medieval Spain, in order to score victory points for having the majority of caballeros at the three census points during the game. The game is driven by action cards, of which five are available each round and each player will get to select one. The more powerful actions allow less men to be added to the board, whereas the weaker actions allow more men to be placed. Players also have to play cards to determine player order (and thus the chance to get needed action cards) each round. Various other excellent mechanics make this one of the best German games of all time in my opinion. Highly recommended.

Elevation, published by Appletree Toys. 1983. Box. Box base & lid indented due to stacking. £5

Unusual game in which each player controls an elevator with space for 3 blocks. The elevators are on either side of 9 'storeys' and on each storey upto 5 blocks can be held. There are 7 colours of blocks which start randomly on the 9 storeys. Players move their elevators up and down loading and unloading blocks trying to make storeys hold a single colour. Achieving this scores a point. There are various restrictions to ensure the game doesn't become a stalemate too. Well constructed plastic board with chunky blocks.

Empire Campaign System, published by Empire Games. 1984. Box. Good. £5

Unusual item, a board game designed with the miniatures gamer in mind. This is a grand strategy game, played on a large hex map of Saxony and the surrounding areas. When you force the enemy to battle, the idea is to then use miniatures rules for the battle itself. The rules suggest that you will want to use the Empire 3 operational-tactical miniatures rules to play out the miniatures battles. The rules include sections on resolving the combats but I am not at all sure if they will work without using the Empire 3 rules as well.

Empires Of The Ancient World, published by Warfrog. 2000. Box. Excellent. £16

Multi-player war game, taking you back to the age of Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great. Players build empires, by creating armies, annexing neutral provinces, trading across the Mediterranean, and waging war. Uses a card combat system, with units such as pikemen, swordsmen, war elephants, cavalry, siege towers and galleys. Bookcase box.

Equality, published by Peter Pan. 1978. Box. Good. £3.50

A Scrabble-like game, but instead of making words players have number, and arithmetic symbol tiles and make up simple arithmetical sums (eg. 4 x 5 = 2 0 ) to place on the board and score. There are double tile and 'double equation' spaces on the board, and there is a bonus for using all 10 of your tiles in one go. Includes racks for the tiles.

Europa Tour, published by Schmidt. 2002. Box. Good - the lid is very slightly indented. £12.50. Desc. by Andy.

Players must try to build a valid route through Europe using country cards, plane and ship cards. There are special card holders to ease play and a map board showing what routes are allowed for road, plane and ship journeys. It is a development of the system used in the old game Rack-O. I very much enjoy the puzzle-like challenges it poses - highly recommended.

Falling, published by Cheapass. 1998. Box. Excellent. £2.50

Card game, 54 cards illustrating characters in free-fall from a great height. Each player is falling to the ground, and the one who hits the ground last is the winner (for a few moments, anyway!). Cards by Magic the Gathering artist Brian Snoddy. Card play is fast and furious - no hesitation permitted, and one player acts as a non-playing dealer for the round. However, given the short duration several rounds can be played.

Fantasy Business, published by Descartes Editeur. 2002. Box. Excellent. £7

Economic game with a fantasy theme. Players must buy various bits of adventuring gear (eg. weapons, armour, horses, etc) at auction and then after a set number of auctions there is a selling round. After discussions players secretly set their prices for the items they have on offer. Lowest price sells with a bonus, middle prices sell with no bonus and highest prices don't sell at all. There are also some action cards to make things interesting and keep people on their toes.

Fibonacci, published by Naylor & Associates. 1994. Box. Good. £7.50

Privately made well regarded strategy game played on a large hexagonal grid of triangles. Players attempt to manoeuver their 'strike' pieces around the sides of their opponent's main piece. There are also support pieces which are used to help form groups of pieces. Keeping your pieces in groups is essential as this allows improved movement options. The game can be played with cards to make things slightly less predictable, or without them for purists. Nicely produced.

Fore, published by Scott & Webb. ca.1985. Box. Box shows wear, corners taped. £4

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

Not the same as the game of the same name by Oneliner. This large box game has a folding board which shows a 9 hole golf course, with each hole having various bunkers, and has lines demarking every 10 yard interval. A different set of cards is provided for four different irons, a driver, putter and for getting out of the rough. Each card says how far the ball will travel, or in the case of the putter how many puts will be taken to get the ball in. Cards are played from your hand so you must decide how best to play them in order to finish each hole in as few strokes as possible.

Frank's Zoo, published by Rio Grande Games. 1999. Box. In shrink. £7

Card game which is a 'climbing game'. This means that players can play any card combination which beats the current card combination on the table. In this game the cards depict animals, starting from the lowly mouse, through hedgehogs and foxes up to lions and finally the mighty elephant. However, elephants can be beaten (scared off) by mice... The objective of the game is to get rid of your cards rather than winning 'tricks', although winning gets you the lead which is often vital. The game can be played individually or (better) in partnerships.

Funkenschlag Benelux/Central Europe Maps, published by 2F Spiele. 2006. . In shrink. £8

New maps for the excellent game Powergrid. The maps are Benelux and Central Europe, and there are slight variant rules to be used on each of these maps, to reflect the power production history of these countries. Recommended, though you need the base game to make use of this.

Game Of Life, published by Milton Bradley. 1984. Box. Good. £3

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

The original British version of this classic game. The game involves moving random amounts along a track, but with some choices to be made on what strategy to go for, but a great deal of luck in the dice and cards. The board has 3-D elements adding to its attractiveness. Players start having just left school and get jobs or take further education, and will get married and have children, buy shares and advance their careers, trying to achieve most before retirement.

Games Of The World, published by UNICEF. 1982. Book. Good. £10. Country: Swiss, Desc. by Andy.

Softback, 26x23cm, 280 pages. Produced by the UNICEF committee, this book describes how to play, how to make and how the games featured came into existence. Very nicely produced with colour pictures throughout. The games covered not surprisingly, have been gathered from all over the world. They are categorised as follows: Board & Table Games (35), Street & Playground Games (15), Field & Forest Games (8), Party & Festival Games (12), Puzzles Tricks & Stunts (13).

Ghost Train, published by Hodder & Stoughton. 1992. Book. Excellent. £5

Solitaire adventure gamebook which uses paragraphs in the same type of way as Fighting Fantasy books. This book comes in a packet along with a special dice, a map, rucksack, codesheet, transparent key sheets and a ghost counter. Along with your companions, a professor of 'ghostology' and a medium investigate rumours of sightings of a ghost train in the Scottish Highlands. 329 paragraphs.

Go For Gold, published by Webster's Yorkshire Bitter. ca.1980. Box. Box corners split, shows wear. £2.50

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

Promotional sports quiz game in which players answer sports trivia questions to progress around the qualification ring, then the bronze ring, and finally the silver ring to get the gold medal and win.

Gold Und Rum, published by Asmodee Editions. 2003. Box. In shrink. £11

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

Golferholics, published by A.L.E.M.. 1999. Box. Excellent. £5

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

Golf game with a large attractive board showing an 18 hole golf course. Also included are two special dice, one used to determine progress while on the fairway and the other for short range shots. The playing pieces are nicely made flags. Game play is driven by dice and event cards and scores are recorded on very well made pads of score cards.

Hansa - Changed WInds Poster Map, published by Spiele Aus Timbuktu. 2006. Poster. Good. £6

A poster map with different wind arrows for the board game Hansa. You will need the original game in order to make use of this map.

Highway, published by BMI. ca.1990. Box. Good. £4

Children's board game designed to teach about crossing the road safely. The board incorporates two lanes of traffic on cardboard rings which are rotated during the game. They show various cars and changing traffic signals at the various crossings. The graphics all show bears and are quite cute. The objective is to be the first player to move their bear token from home to the playground, school and the ice cream van and get back home again. When crossing the road the traffic rings are rotated and the traffic moves on and the player must decide if it is safe to cross or not.

History Of The World, published by Gibsons. 1993. Box. Good but box shows a little wear. £15

Classic game, as easy as Risk, but far more subtle, and working through from the dawn of history to the 20th century. In each of 7 rounds every player controls a different civilisation that appeared in that time period. With the counters for your civilisation you build cities, capture towns, construct monuments and occupy as much land as possible. Very well regarded game. The duration ranges from 2-5 hrs - the game is longer the more players are involved.

Holiday AG, published by F X Schmid. 1990. Box. Excellent. £12.50

Clever game of the same general type as Acquire and Big Boss. There are five travel companies in which the players will gain shares, and each company has a line of 20 spaces onto which luggage markers are placed. Cards allow placement of the luggage markers, but the game is about trying to get strings of adjacent markers onto the companies you have shares in, while trying to ensure that those you do not have a stake in do not get long groups of markers, as the longest group of markers for each company at the end of the game determines the values of the shares. Recommended.

Hot Spots, published by Great Games Company. ca.1986. Box. Good. £7.50

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

This game is actually two distinct items in one. However, both use a deck of cards and a sloping board onto which the cards are placed so that only the top half will show. The first 'game' is an unusual and very difficult solo puzzle in which the cards have to be arranged in such a way that dots and lines on the cards match up neatly. There are apparently two solutions and the start and ends of each have been given. Alternatively the other side of the cards can be used to play a game in which players try to make lines of spots of the same colours in order to score points - again only one half of each card is in play at any time, and players can move an already played card if they think it will help. Most unusual item

I.Q. The Logic Puzzle Game, published by Lagoon Games. 1998. Box. Good. £4

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

A set of 100+ cards each with a logic or lateral thinking puzzle on it, and the answer on the back. Also included is an egg timer to limit the time you have to work on a puzzle. The puzzles are worth different numbers of points and some have bonus questions too. An example: An artist is painting a large canvas 2m x 2m. He wants to cover half the canvas in a deep rich purple, but he also wants to keep a square section which is still 2m high and 2m wide unpainted. How does he do this?

Ido, published by Goldsieber. 1998. Box. Good. £8

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

Igel Argern, published by Doris & Frank. 1996. Box. Excellent. £15

The title means 'Hedgehogs in a Hurry'. The players have hedgehogs (wooden disks with a cute hedgehog picture), which will race along a board showing six tracks. In the basic game a die is rolled and a hedgehog moved to the right or left before a hedgehog in the track rolled is moved. Special spaces cause hedgehogs to become trapped, and the first player to get three hedgehogs to the end wins. However, there are 40 variant games, some daft, some fairly serious, and you can combine the ideas to make exactly the type of hedgehog race you desire.

Iliad, published by Asmodee Editions. 2006. Box. In shrink. £13.50

Special notes: Fully english language edition.

Card game with an Ancient Greek theme in which the players must use their cards wisely in order to win victory in a series of battles. The cards represent warriors, archers, chariots, ballistae, elephants, and more. These can be deployed to increase your own forces and/or deplete those of your opponents. There are two types of battle - one in which the winner takes all the VPs, and the more common one in which position matters - the game uses a neat system of card play which encourages players to drop out early to get the aid of powerful heroes. The first player to gain 12 VPs wins.

Info Baseball, published by Information Games. ca.1980. Box. Good. £2

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

Card game, 120 cards featuring Red Sox baseball players and their statistics. The game is a variation of Top Trumps.

Insider Dealing, published by Fantasy Games. 1988. Box. Good. £11

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

Special notes: The calculator needs a new battery.

Stocks and shares game. Players deal in the shares of six companies on the Stock Exchange. Stock prices are affected by event cards of two types - market news (which everyone gets to see) and insider information which only the current player gets to see. In addition players move around three sections of the board, one in which it is possible to buy shares, one in which it is possible to sell shares and a special area which must be passed through in between. Players can decide how long they wish to stay in an area before leaving it. Nicely produced and includes an electronic calculator as well.

Intrigue, published by Wiggins Teape. ca.1980. Box. Good. £7

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

Special notes: Box shows wear and is slightly indented due to stacking

The game consists of a 'stadium' with 7 concentric rings which can be rotated independently. These rings have slots which accept marbles and when they are lined up a marble can roll towards the centre. The objective is to get all your marbles into the centre before anyone else. The components are all very nicely made and it plays a bit like a sort of more sophisticated Downfall.

Jeopardy, published by Milton Bradley. 1964. Box. Box corners split. £2.50

Designer Unknown. No. players: 3-5. Country: American, Desc. by Eamon.

TV related. 3rd edition. Based on a popular American game-show (practically unknown outside the States), where players are told an answer and must give the question it relates to, as the answer, if you see what I mean! MB Game No. 4457.

Jumbo Grand Prix, published by Jumbo. 1998. Box. Good. Label removal mark on one side. £9

Card game with a motor racing theme. Players draft cards in an interesting way trying to obtain the three parts of a car needed to make a working car, plus a driver. After several rounds of drafting players put forward a set of car cards and the better the car the more points it will win. Unplayed cards are then used as the basis for a car the following round. Fast and fun game.

Junkyard Races, published by JKLM Games. 2003. Box. Mint. £24

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

Junta, published by West End. 1985. Box. Excellent. £20

Excellent political game. Players vie for jobs in a Third World government. One player is elected President and he appoints other players jobs. This can involve offers of high wages, bribes or threats, but at the end of the day he hopes to pocket as much money as he can in his Swiss bank account. Coups regularly take place as players distrust each other. The winner is not the one with the most power or money, but the one who has stashed more money in Switzerland than any other player.

Justinian, published by Phalanx Games. 2006. Box. Excellent. £21. Desc. by Andy.

Very nicely produced game in which the players influence 12 Byzantine advisers to the Emperor. Each player has a pool of influence markers which can be used to enhance or reduce the power of the various advisers at court. The influence tokens are also used to help determine just when Justinian will call upon the advisers and about what topic he will ask. Each player holds the strings behind two different advisers for each of the four possible topics, and manipulating the situation and using clever timing is what it is all about. The main mechanism ensures in an extremely clever way that all advisers have roughly the same potential.

Kardinal & Konig Das Kartenspiel, published by Spiele Aus Timbuktu. 2001. Packet. Excellent. £13

Special notes: The cards and tokens have been laminated to make them easier to use and more durable. No 584.

Card game produced as several sheets of card which you must cut up. The cards show different regions (those in the K&K board game), but also have a selection of family symbols and transportation symbols. The cards are laid out in a grid and players take it in turn to draft cards from the ends. The objective is to get majorities in the various regions, as well as in the families and also to collect enough transportation tokens to score for them. The scoring system is clever and is the same as that in the parent board game. Produced in a limited edition of 1000.

Lizardmen, published by Mayfair. ca.1987. Booklet. In shrink. £3.50

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

AD&D compatible fantasy roleplaying supplement and adventure. This 128 book details the history, physiology, culture, religion, weapons, spells etc of lizardmen. It also includes lizardman character classes so you can play them as detailed NPCs or even PCs. The adventure is titled 'Redemption and Rebirth' and is for 5-7 characters of levels 6-8, and features detailed maps of an ancient Lizardman city and is intended to be played using lizardman PCs.

Lords Of The Spanish Main, published by Sierra Madre Games. 2006. Packet. New. £14

A game full of the flavour of 17th century colonization and piracy. The game uses cards to give a great deal of variety to play and to give a real feel of the period. One player is the Spanish governor who is quite happy to deal in contraband goods. The other players run the fleets of other European powers. Each year the players bid on property and slaves, establish colonies and manoeuver ships. Treasure fleets sail and the contents end up either in the hands of pirates or divided amongst the players who organised the sailing. Ultimately the player with the most gold and treasure wins. Very highly regarded.

Lost Worlds Combat Books. Book. Published by various publishers.

Character books for the Lost World system. You need any two to play. Each player has a character sheet listing attack moves that character can make, and how effective they are likely to be. Players choose moves simultaneously and a clever yet simple system determines the result, which is shown in picture form - you get to see what your move did to your opponent. Sometimes a player is highly restricted in what they can choose to do and that gives the other player an advantage. Highly Recommended. If you really care which edition of a book you will get please check with me as it isn’t always easy to tell which is which!

1001 - Man In Chainmail with Sword and Shield, published by Nova. ca.1982. Excellent. £3.75

1002 - Skeleton With Scimitar, published by Chessex. ca.1982. Excellent. £3.75

1006 - Hill Troll With Club, published by Nova. ca.1982. Good, 1 corner slightly damaged. £3.50

1008 - Fighter Mage + Magic Sword, published by Nova. ca.1982. Excellent. £3.50

1016 - Winged Gargoyle + Scimitar, published by Nova. ca.1982. 2 copies:

1) In shrink. £4 2) In shrink, but 1 corner slightly dirty. £3.75

1018 - Man In Plate + Sword & Shield, published by Nova. ca.1982. Excellent. £3.50

1601 - Manticore, published by Nova. ca.1982. Excellent. £4

4019 - Samurai With Katana, published by Nova. 1985. Excellent. £3.75. 2nd printing.

60152 - Sir Percival, Mounted Knight, published by Chessex. ca.1982. In shrink. £4

Magdar, published by Fantasy Flight Games. 2003. Box. In shrink. £9

Fantasy themed game which clearly takes its ideas from Tolkien's works. The dwarves have delved too deep in their mines, and have woken Magdar, a terrible magma demon. The playing area is set out using boulder tiles placed in four rows. The players move dwarves from boulder to boulder and can mine gems and mithril. The longer spent in one place mining a gem the more valuable it becomes, however each turn Magdar moves and destroys a bit more of the mine, so any dwarves dawdling too long are likely to be destroyed along with their part finished gems. At the end of the game only gems which have a matching piece of mithril score.

Maka Bana, published by Tilsit. 2003. Box. In shrink. £20

Board game with a tropical island development theme. Players try to build their beach huts (think Bermuda not Skegness) onto various sites around a paradise island, and ideally building their huts adjacent to each other if possible. Each potential site is uniquely identified by the beach it is on, the type of terrain and a pattern. Each turn every player secretly chooses three attribute cards which indicate the site they wish to build on, but then must reveal one of these, thus giving a clue about it. Each player can then make one site off limit for that turn, which hopefully will hinder other players. It is also possible to take over other people's huts by openly playing an additional card. There are advanced cutthroat and chaotic rules.

Mare Nostrum, published by Euro Games / Descartes Editeur. 2003. Box. Excellent. £16

Players lead their empires based around the Mediterranean Sea from the dawn of civilisation through several centuries. The burgeoning empires will trade, build temples, caravans, legions and fleets, and battle it out for supremacy. The objective is to build monuments which can be considered Wonders of the World. Very much in the mould of the classic game 'Civilization' but the box claims a 2-3 hour playing time.

Mind Your Language, published by Spear's Games. 1992. Box. Good. £8

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

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

Mixtur, published by Cutting Edge. 1997. Box. Excellent. £1.50

Card game in which players must gather the correct ingredients (angel's hair, troll's nose etc) in order to cast spells. The first player to cast all their spells wins the game. The spells have various effects, some amusing and some which will help you win. The cards all have a lot of German on, and so this is most likely to be of interest to players whose German is fluent. Thus I am not providing a translation of the rules since such folk will understand the German rules anyway...

Money Go Round, published by Philmar. ca.1970. Box. Good. £3

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

Family business game which reuses many of the ideas from Monopoly. The theme is a trip to the fairground, and players travel around a figure of eight shaped track landing on various spaces, which include actions such as finding 10p on a park bench, or missing a bus, as well as the various attractions which can be bought and will then earn admission fees from other players landing on them. If a set of related stalls are bought then the admission goes up, and advertising chips can be bought to further increase admission costs. The Fair Manager's Office replaces Jail and so on. All the money is in small numbers of £ and p with realistic card coins and paper notes, making it a useful game to teach children to deal with money too.

Mutiny, published by Fantasy Flight. 2003. Box. In shrink. £8

Pirate themed game in which the players represent different factions of the crew on a pirate ship, on which the captain is no longer capable. However, his officers are still loyal. Players vie for the favour of these officers to gain various privileges in order to be the first faction to organise an armed mutiny. This is done by bidding with money and rum. The various favours include: getting more money or rum, getting weapons (needed for a mutiny), controlling the spyglass (to break ties as you wish) and deciding where to sail next - different places favour different officers.

My Fun To Play Chess, published by Hamlyn. 1985. Book. Good. £3

Hardback, 32x23cm, 61 pages. This book gives an introduction to chess, and is clearly aimed at children, the idea being that the book will teach children to play chess from scratch, and will prepare them for challenging their peers and have a good shot at winning. The first part of the book is purely teaching the rules themselves while the second part aims at improving the novice player's skills.

Nature Trail Game, published by Early Learning Centre. ca.1990. Box. Good, but box corners taped. £3

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

Children's nature themed game for ages 4-7. Players try to collect a set of 8 friendly animal tiles, while avoiding danger tiles. When a danger tile is drawn, a person tile must be discarded to eliminate the danger. The tiles are attractively illustrated. The players do not need to be able to read to play this game.

Naval Battle, published by Invicta. 1983. Box. Good. £0.50

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

A travel version of Battleships, with all the pieces made of plastic that adheres to the plastic board. This is in the shape of a wallet so it can be tucked into a pocket. Part of the Travelleers Series.

Nix Fur Ungut!, published by F X Schmid. 1996. Box. Excellent. £5

Special notes: The board has been amended to the English language.

Card game, with players trying to match poker style combinations to score points. However, only the three last declared sets of each category get any points. The trick is deciding when to declare your more powerful combinations and when to instead just use a weaker one as a delaying tactic.

Number Quest, published by Family Learning. 1997. Box. Good. £6

The board shows a diamond shaped grid of hexes showing the numbers 1-100. These are all colour coded in different sections of the board, with higher numbers being more difficult to make and so scoring more. Players take it in turn to roll 4 dice and use +, - and x operations on the numbers to produce a result which is hopefully an unclaimed space (eg. 6x4 + 3x2 = 30). Bonuses are available for completing an adjacent triangle of spaces and a larger bonus for doing so when a prime number is involved. Play continues until the numbers 1 and 100 are joined up by a continuous line of scored spaces.

Offshore Oil Strike, published by Printabox. ca.1975. Box. Box shows wear. £7

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

Promotional game, sponsored by the BP petrol company. Players buy drilling rights to blocks of the North Sea, get their drilling rig to those locations and drill for oil. Once found pipelines back to the player's oil terminal (or another of that player's operating rigs) must be laid, and a production rig installed. All this costs money on a turn by turn basis, and only then will income start to be generated, and then exploration of further areas started. The game has nice plastic oil rigs and uses a double sided rotating disk in a jacket to determine success of exploratory drilling attempts and also the production levels of rigs in different areas of the North Sea.

One Too Many, published by Waddingtons. 1970. Box. Fair. £1

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

Special notes: Box corners damaged, and base scribbled on extensively. Lid has some writing on.

Stacking game in which each player has 10 large plastic 2-D clowns and players take it in turns to add one to the stack. They attach to each other in all sorts of odd ways so it soon becomes a real tangle. The idea is to be the first to get all your clowns into the tangle. If any fall out on your turn you add them to your pile.

Operation Fitness, published by Ski. 1984. Box. Good. £0.50

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

Promotional game made for Ski Yoghurts (by Waddingtons). Players try to get fit, with various choices to make along the way.

Oxford Cambridge Boat Race, published by Piatnik. 1998. Box. Excellent. £7

Trick taking card game which uses two decks, one for each of the Oxford and Cambridge boats. Each deck has three suits of eight cards and wild cards. Suit precedence is chosen and only five tricks are played each hand. Tricks won are logged to the player for that boat, and counted jointly for that boat as well. When one boat has 26 points players score up, getting double points for tricks won using cards of the winning boat. Score is kept on a very attractive scorepad which shows a map of the real boat race.

Packeis Am Pol, published by Phalanx. 2005. Box. In shrink. £13. Desc. by Andy.

Reissue of the small run game Pingvinas (and the US version is called Hey! That's My Fish!). Very clever tactical game in which each player moves their penguins around the board claiming fish tiles of value 1-3. These are worth points at the end of the game. However, these tiles also make up the board and so as they are removed the remaining tiles get less and less well connected, eventually splitting up into separate islands. Eventually every penguin will be left stranded on a single tile and this ends the game. Every turn there are many things you need to do, but you may only choose one, and so must select well. Fast to play, and highly recommended.

Parcheesi, published by Milton Bradley. 1989. Box. Good. £3

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

Special notes: Box lid shows slight indentation due to stacking

This is the American equivalent of Ludo. This edition comes with wooden playing pieces and a wooden dice cup.

Phoenicia, published by JKLM. 2007. Box. In shrink. £26

Special Notes: For £1.50 extra I can print and laminate a set of player aid sheets which help a lot.

Updated version of the excellent Outpost system. The players each build up a small Phoenician village from a basic hunting and farming based community eventually to a large city with a port, city walls, iron smelters and so on. Players use their money to improve their income by hiring workers and investing in buildings which will give prestige (VPs) and additional income each round. There are many different routes to building a thriving city, but each player tries to do so in a more efficient way than anyone else. Highly recommended.

Pictionary, published by Pictionary Inc. 2000. Box. Good. £5

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

One of the most popular party / after dinner games, where players have to draw the subject matter for their team-mates to recognise before the time runs out. This set includes 200 word cards each with 10 words on, so you can be sure of lots of variety. First Edition.

Pictionary Junior, published by Parker. 1988. Box. Box shows wear. £4

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

Special notes: Mark on cover where label was removed, corners taped. Includes 15 Pictionary cards from a breakfast cereal promotion.

One of the most popular party / after dinner games, where players have to draw the subject matter for their team-mates to recognise before the time runs out. This set comes with two sets of cards, one graded for 6-8 year olds and one for 9-10 year olds.

Piremid, published by Egyptian Enterprises. 1986. Box. Good. £7

Players traverse the board looking for slaves, barges and talents to build a pyramid. Game play involves using a dice roll to move around a series of tracks. Only when the pyramid blocks have been collected can the second track be entered etc. The game gives players the option to use their turn to trade cards with other players. Nice components including four 4-part pyramids, and miniature barges.

Playing Cards And Their Story, published by David & Charles. 1975. Book. Good. £4

Hardback, 24x19cm, 120 pages. Attractively produced book with many plates including some colour. This book presents the history of playing cards, and covers antique designs from all around Europe, the Middle East and Asia, as well as covering non standard playing cards and modern decks.

Popular Card Games, published by W D & H O Wills. 1933. Book. Good. £6

Interesting book of games published by the Imperial Tobacco Company and probably sold in pubs. Includes 15 'families' of games with many variants. These families are: Auction Bridge, Contract Bridge, Whist, Solo Whist, Piquet, Bezique, Cribbage, Poker, Vingt-Et-Un, Baccaret, Napoleon, Loo, Slippery Sam, Newmarket and Rummy.

Popular Games Of Patience, published by Bazaar, Exchange & Mart. 1922. Book. Good. £7

Special notes: The dustcover is very worn but has been put in a special protective sheet.

Hardback with dustcover, 22x15cm, 166 pages. A collection of 45 of the best games of card patience. Includes black and white card layouts of the various games. Games include: Double Fives, Microbe, Royal Family, Falling Star, Algerine, Interregnum, King Edward, Small Triangle, Captive Commanders, Kingsdown 8s, Derby, Chess-board, Weavers, Highlands, Batsford, Royal, Ostend, House Of Commons, Variegated Demon, Carbouche, King Albert, Poker, Rainbow, Matrimony, Midshipman, ...

Putsch, published by Queen Games. 1998. Box. Excellent. £10

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

Quadrum, published by RoJo Games. 1985. Box. 2 box corners taped. £6

Special notes: Box shows slight indentation due to stacking

Tile laying game which is related to dominoes. The tiles show different numbers / colours on each side, with some sides often blank. A board is provided onto which the tiles are played, and points are scored for matching sides with those tiles already played. In addition there are various bonus spaces which give bonus points and others with optional special abilities. Around the edge of the board there are also colours / numbers to match, and doing so will tend to be quite hard, but will give big bonuses. There are variants for children as well as a solitaire puzzle to solve using the game too.

Quiz Kids, published by Whitman. 1945. Box. Good. £2

Special notes: Set No. 3

Card game, radio related, based on an American radio game-show of the same name. 36 double sided cards featuring questions, and the rules sheet also doubles as an answer check. One player takes the role of quizmaster and reads the questions and the others put up their hands to give answers. Played in 10 minute rounds after which the highest scorer takes over as quizmaster.

Quoridor, published by Gigamic. 1997. Box. In shrink. £18

Clever abstract game, but highly approachable for those not generally fond of that genre (eg. me). Players must reach the opposite end of the board, but as well as moving their pieces players also place walls in places which will block their opponent more than they block themselves. However, a wall may never be placed so as to make a goal unreachable. This allows a quite cunning maze to be built up and clever play will certainly decide the winner. Recommended. It is similar to (but not identical to) Cul-De-Sac. The game is made with very sturdy wooden components.

Rasant, published by Amigo. 1993. Box. In shrink. £7

Card game, 55 colourful cards which are used in a unique car race. As cards are played, the order of the cars changes and points are scored throughout the game. Timing the play of your better cards is vital, as sometimes it is possible to score a lot more than at other times. Uses 13 wooden cars. I can provide some house rules to help reduce the luck of the draw.

Revolution, published by Phalanx. 2004. Box. In shrink. £35

Special notes: No. 1797

Limited edition long awaited game by this master designer. All components in English. Revolution simulates the 80 Years war between Spain and the Netherlands between 1568 and 1648, which eventually brought independence to Holland and the northern provinces. William of Orange and King Phillip II were the main protagonists. Each player represents one of the principle factions: The Catholics, Habsburgs, Nobility, Burghers, and Reformers. Each faction has its own goals, some of which may align well with those of other factions - at least for a while. Not a war game, but more a strategic game of political, religious and economic power.

Rhino Rush, published by Peter Pan Games. 1996. Box. Good, but box shows some wear. £7

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

Special notes: There is some tape on the joins of the board.

Children's game (age 5+) which is essentially just a roll and move game. However, what makes this fun is that there is a large (6 inch long!) motorised plastic rhino which moves around the board erratically and moves the playing pieces as well!

Ricochet Robots, published by Rio Grande Games. 1999. Box. In shrink. £14

This is one of those games you will either love or hate. The board shows a factory floor with various walls dotted around and some target spaces with symbols. 4 coloured robots are placed on the board and then a token turned face up. This token indicates which robot must be moved to which space. The players then all study the board simultaneously seeing how they can move the robots around the board to achieve this goal. Once a robot starts moving in a straight line it only stops when it hits something, so sometimes it can take many moves in the right sequence to get a robot to a particular location. Very intense game.

Ritter Ohne Furcht Und Tadel, published by Euro Games. ca.1997. Box. In shrink. £10

Game of medieval knights participating in a jousting tournament, with wooden pieces, masses of dice, and colourful counters. The title translates as Knights of Honour without Fear. Knights have differing defence and attack ratings and prefer different attributes in their ladies (hair colour, thin or well rounded etc), and this will affect which lady each knight seeks the favour of. The game plays as a series of challenges between pairs of knights, and between bouts the knights need to recover. Resolving challenges involves the roll of many dice, but a knight who fares badly can yield to save further injury.

Royal Comette, published by Oxford Games. 1996. Box. Excellent. £4

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

Facsimile of a very old card game, with a deck of cards that looks like a copy of a 19th century deck (or older). The board is sectioned into compartments into which players place their stakes (plastic betting 'sticks' are included), and the game mechanics are very similar to playing card games like Newmarket and Pope Joan.

Rubik's Royal Brain Teaser, published by Hallmark Cards Inc. 1991. Box. Good. £4

This is a jigsaw puzzle with a difference. Instead of a picture, the 440 pieces each show a section of a gold chain on a blue background with a gem in the middle of each piece. The box says that by determining the sequence of the gems and by working out the shape the chain must go in, the puzzle can be completed. However, this should only be tried by experienced puzzlers looking for a challenge!

Ruffhouse!, published by Parker. 1979. Box. 1 Box corner split. £1

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

Game of deceit and double-cross. A 'round-the-board' game but with good interaction as players lie and cheat their way to a winning score of five points. This is essentially a crazy race game with elements of gambling (playing the odds against certain die rolls turning up).

Rum & Pirates, published by Rio Grande Games. 2006. Box. In shrink. £23

Fun board game in which players must make best use of their supply of pirates while in town. Each turn you can choose where to lead the Red Corsair, but must assign your pirates to lead the way, so longer routes use up more of your resources. At each location you gain some benefit - perhaps money, treasure maps, rum, an invitation to a romantic rendezvous and more. Ultimately all these options result in VPs, and the objective is to get as many as possible. At the end of each round there is a fun dice-off for VPs, with the odds favouring the players who have left more of their pirates back on their ships, rather than using them on the board.

Ruse And Bruise, published by Rio Grande Games. 2006. Box. Excellent. £13

Card game played in rounds. Each round there are several prizes with a value and a particular symbol. Players place cards in rows against these prizes hoping to win them using their character cards. The cards have varying values and many have interesting powers which can affect the other cards, or how you win the prize card. In a neat twist cards are played face down, but then the previous card played against the same prize is revealed and if it has a special ability it is actioned then. After several rounds of play there is a bonus for anyone getting one prize with each symbol.

Rushin’ Russian, published by Pressman. 1991. Box. Mint. £5

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

Fun game in which there are amusing and surprising short stories with 10 Russian words at key points. The story is read out and the players make guesses as to what they mean (or deliberately get them wrong for more fun results). Rubles are won for guessing the words correctly.

San Juan, published by Rio Grande Games. 2004. Box. In shrink. £14

Excellent card game based on the exceptionally popular and award winning board game Puerto Rico. Players build a city which will consist of a selection of production buildings (which allow goods such as sugar and tobacco to be produced and later sold) and special buildings. There are lots of different special buildings which give their owner a variety of benefits, generally improving the way a certain phase of the game works for their owner. In turn each player chooses a particular action which they get the full benefit of while others get a more limited option - these actions include building, production, trading, and prospecting. Highly recommended.

San Marco, published by Ravensburger. 2001. Box. Excellent. £13.50. Desc. by Andy.

Interesting twist on the 'majorities in regions' genre of game. The main novelty in this game is that the actions are all on cards, but that each turn a player must choose how to divide a pile of cards into two (or 3 with 3 players) in such a way that even with his opponent picking first he will have an advantage. To make this even more difficult there are bad cards as well as good ones which have to be divided. The mechanism works very well indeed and drives the game very effectively.

Scorpion, published by Spears. 1983. Box. 1 corner battered and has been taped up. £5

Special notes: Photocopied rules, inside of box base and lid show speckling.

An elegantly produced game of the parcheesi family, but with sufficient twists to make it unique and to add considerable strategy to the game. The board is a large 3-D moulded plastic track in an S shape, with yellow spaces on the way out and black spaces on the way back. Each player has 4 scorpion tokens which are moved according to dice rolls, but each of the two dice must be rolled either on the yellow felt mat or the black felt mat to indicate the colour of space on which a scorpion must be for it to be moved by that dice. Also landing on or adjacent to (on the other track) another scorpion lets you sting that scorpion and gain an advantage yourself or disadvantage the other scorpion. Well worth investigating for players of Backgammon.

Seasons, published by Dust Bunny Games. 2004. Box. In shrink. £12.50

Card game, which has its roots in Rummy. However there are various modifications to make this its own game. Firstly the cards are all brightly coloured and themed to fit the months and seasons of a year. There are various wild cards of different types, eg. Harvest Moon can represent September or October, and also each player has their own customised deck of cards - each one based around a particular season. The winner is the first to 365 points. Very attractively produced.

September, published by Paradign. ca.1988. Box. Good. £1.25

Special notes: Box lid and base show indentation due to stacking

Players must build a connecting line of pieces from one side of the board to the other, getting in each other's way as they do so. The unofficial British Game of the Year that Christmas.

Shanghai, published by Ravensburger. 1997. Box. Good. £12

Special notes: This set includes laminated event cards in English.

Players start with cards which can each be redeemed in one of 13 locations around Shanghai, but will be worth different amounts at different times during the game. Each turn there are four possible destinations and players bid to decide which will be chosen, and then cards can be redeemed by all players at that destination. Players try to gain points as fast as possible in order to exceed the current VP target, but redeeming cards too cheaply too soon may leave you unable to get enough later on. The game is played in the box with a rotating dial indicating the next possible destinations. Many similarities to the same author's excellent game Maloney's Inheritance.

Shuttles, published by Shoptaugh. 1984. Box. Box shows wear. £6

Special notes: Original rules missing, but I will print out a transcription of them.

Strategy maze game, in which the board consists of nine sliding plastic sections each with nine holes, and also some maze walls on them. At either end there are also the home bases, where the five player pegs of each colour start. The objective is to get all of your pieces to the far end of the board. Players take turns either moving one of their pieces, sliding a section of the board or jumping an opposing piece.

Sid Meier's Civilization, published by Eagle Games. 2002. Box. In shrink. £30

Board game version of Sid Meier's award winning PC strategy game of the same name. Players start with two villages in 4000BC and develop right the way through to the modern day. Play involves exploring the world to discover resources and the natives; expanding by creating new cities; researching new technology to gain advantage over the other players; increasing production and developing military units for defence and / or attack. The game comes with 784 miniatures, and a huge 46" x 36" board.

Sink The Bismarck!, published by 3W. 1992. Box. Good. £10

Wargame in which the Bismarck attempts to disrupt the Allied shipping convoys supplying Britain, while the Royal Navy hunts it down in order to eliminate this last major threat. This is an operational simulation but retains tactical ship to ship elements of the encounter. The rules allow for fog of war using both dummy task forces and pre-plotted German movement. Includes various what-if scenarios. Each hex represents 75 nautical miles, and turns represent 8 hours of real time. Rules including scenarios cover 7 pages.

Skance, published by Murfett Regency Pty Ltd. 1987. Box. Box shows wear. £4

Two strategy games which also use dice and can be played on the same board. The board shows a 4x4 grid of circles, each of the circles is connected to its neighbours by lines. Each of these lines is numbered, and when moving a piece (in either game) a dice is rolled and a piece must be moved along a line showing that number. In one game the objective is to get a piece onto your opponent's home space, and in the other game the objective is to eliminate your opponent's pieces using several different capturing mechanisms. The name 'Skance' is a combination of 'Skill' and 'Chance', which is what the game is designed to be.

Slik Move, published by Design Games. ca.1995. Box. Good. £5

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

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

Slow Freight, published by Alan Moon. 2004. Envelope. 2 copies available:

1) Excellent. £6. The card sheets were all laminated before they were cut up in this set, making it more durable and easier to use.

2) New. £5

This train game comes in a large envelope and you will have to cut up the sheets of cards required to play. The card sheets are colour printed though. In the game players put together engines with freight carriages, and then have to deliver the goods. The longer a train the more it will score, but the slower it is to move, and so delivery will take longer. Undelivered goods at the end of the game incur a penalty, and the player scoring the most VPs wins.

Space Opera - Ground & Air Equipment, published by Fantasy Games Unlimited. 1981. Magazine.

Cover a bit worn. £2. Designed by Edward E. Simbalist, A. Mark Ratner.

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

Roleplaying supplement for the Space Opera system. This 38 page booklet details heavy military equipment for use with Space Opera.

Square Play, published by H. Thiessen. 1984. LP Case. Good. £3

Strategy game played on a board showing 5 squares one inside the other, but each at 45 degrees to the next one inside it. This produces an attractive and interesting pattern. The objective is to get your tokens on all four corners of any one square, but an intermediate goal is to get three tokens in a line, as this lets you remove an opponent's token from the board. Simple but effective.

Star Trek DS9: The Board Game, published by Component Game Systems. 1998. Box.

Good - contents unpunched. £8.50. Designed by Andrew Smith, George T. Henne Jr, C. Henry Schulte.

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

Star Trek DS9 game in which up to four factions (The Federation, The Maquis, The Cardassians and The Dominion) vie for control of the wormhole. The playing area is constructed out of large hexes showing areas of space. Victory can be won by military or economic means or even by completing a special mission. The game uses colourful counters, cards with various effects, special dice, and each faction also has a board detailing its special abilities etc. This game is compatible with the Star Trek TNG game by the same company, and also starter packs were made to allow extra players to play using additional factions. The basic rules are not long - though there are lots of optional and variant rules which can be used if desired.

Stop The Train, published by Spears. 1986. Box. Good. £6.50

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

Special notes: The dice is not the original one, but an entirely suitable replacement.

Children's game (age 5+) in which the players have to get 3 playing pieces around the board and back home again - first to do so wins. A dice is used to dictate movement options, but it does not have pips, but colours, and rather than indicating how the playing pieces move it determines how two trains move about the board. The board has a clip-in clear plastic railway track and two large train overlays which fit onto the railway track and can be slid around the track. These trains cover several spaces and at the end of each turn when the trains are stationary and playing pieces next to them get on, or if at a detour space, get off and move backwards a bit. Good children's game.

Tactics!, published by Hodder & Stoughton. 1990. Book. Good. £8

Special notes: The spare division card has been marked up by a previous owner.

Very unusual item. Inspired by Fighting fantasy style game-books, this allows you to indulge in Football Management. Besides the book, it also includes a special die, cards, scoreboard and league tables. These extra items are kept in a special plastic packet, together with the book. You can play a whole season of games, but can break off after each match and come back to it later. Your team starts bottom of the division, with a good (but not great) team. Your decisions and the luck of the dice will help your team to better fortune and hopefully glory. 456 paragraphs are used to guide gameplay.

Take That You Fiend - Batch of 5, published by John Harrington. ca.1995. Fanzine. Good. £0.50

Special notes: Price is for the batch, not per magazine!

A play by mail fanzine, with some articles of more general interest and letters column which also cover more than just the PBM games which take up much of each issue. I have the following issues to sell as a batch: 98, 109, 135, 136, 137,

Thats Life, published by Palitoy. 1978. Box. Good. £3

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

Family board game based on Esther Rantzen's TV programme of the same name. Players try to be the first to acquire a TV set, cooker, car, bath and dog for their home. Play involves moving around a circular track and actioning the spaces landed on. These allow players to trade goods, as well as forcing players to get items repaired, which involves other players, and should a repair not be possible Esther Rantzen can be called in to expose the dodgy dealer who provided that good, which can result in that player being penalised. Includes nice plastic playing pieces for the cookers, baths, cars, dogs, TVs etc.

The Amazing Magic Robot, published by Merit. ca.1960. Box. Good. £4

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

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

The Battle Of Waterloo, published by Palitoy. ca.1978. Box. Good, but 1 box corner taped. £8

Very unusual item for a mainstream company. The board shows the two sides forming up against each other, with several lines of attack available for each side. The options available are represented by tracks leading into enemy territory. A dice is rolled and any piece can be moved along an appropriate track - this gives lots of options as several such attacks can be underway at any time, and so it should be possible to land on advantageous spaces, and when the end of a track is reached exactly an enemy unit is destroyed, and the attacker is readied for another attack. Most unusual mechanism. Background historical information is included on the battle too.

The Bigfoot Game, published by Waddingtons. 1989. Box. 1 Corner of box damaged. £1.50

Family game about searching for the legendary Bigfoot. Large plastic components. Not based on a film, but the box art bears an uncanny likeness to the Bigfoot in the film Harry and the Hendersons.

The Brotherhood, published by GDW. 1983. Box. Good. £10

Gangster game that requires considerable planning. Players write down their moves each turn, deciding which rackets to enter, which part of the town to infiltrate, where to spend bribes, and so on. Players must decide whether to concentrate their efforts on a few places or whether to spread them around, and whether or not to go for the most lucrative, but no doubt most highly contested rackets. Once any politicking is done thugs fight it out, using a dice based combat system. Unusual theme for this company and this designer to use.

The Complete Book Of Card Games, published by H.F.& G. Witherby Ltd. 1939. Book. Good. £10

Hardback, 22x15cm, 258 pages. This collection of card games give rules and also illustrative examples and discusses the games in detail too. It covers: Contract Bridge, Solo Whist, Piquet, Cribbage, Black Maria, Poker, German Whist, Nullos, Bezique, Bezique Poker & Cribbage Two Player Patience, Tablanette, Cassino, Five Hundred, Three Handed Bridge, Knaves, Hasenpfeffer, Greek Hearts, Slobberhands, 12 games for 3-7 players, 11 party games, 28 games of patience. A good collection.

The Flintstones Game, published by Triotoys. 1990. Box. 2 box corners taped. £2.50

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

Special notes: Box somewhat indented due to stacking

TV related. Fred and Barney decide to take the day off work to go fishing, but first they must get their families safely home. To do this you will have to visit a number of locations such as the zoo, the bowling alley etc, and play out the cards you were dealt, as well as collect appropriate family cards. A dinosaur wanders around and can mess things up. Some cards are played on opponents. Colourful board with standup counters.

The Guinness Encyclopedia Of Games Puzzles & Pastimes, published by Guinness Publishing. 1988.

Book. Good. £4. Designed by Honor Head. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Softback, 25x19cm, 256 pages. An excellent resource to keep your children amused in the holidays, with a vast array of puzzles, activities and games to keep them occupied. Everything is sorted alphabetically rather than by category, but with an index as well.

The Ins & Outs Of Peg Solitaire, published by Oxford Univerity Press. 1985. Book. Excellent. £7

Hardback, 22x14cm, 275 pages. A very thorough examination of Peg Solitaire. The game is introduced and the history given, then a mathematical approach to the game is given, and this can then be used to solve many peg solitaire problems. Peg solitaire on different shaped boards and even infinite and 3D 'boards' are also considered. Great if you really want to understand peg solitaire mathematically. The book contains over 200 problems for you to attempt (with solutions).

The Loving Game, published by Penthouse. ca.1984. Box. Good. £7.50

Game intended to be played by romantic couples privately. Play involves rolling the dice and moving your playing piece around the track and actioning the space you land on. The spaces say things like: tell your partner 3 things that frighten you; hug your partner; kiss your partner passionately!

The Midas Touch, published by Spears. 1991. Box. Good. £6.50

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

The Nacho Incident, published by Eight Foot Llama. 2005. Box. Excellent. £11

Card game in which players smuggle Mexican food supplies over the border to Canada, and then try to set up the best cantina, in four provinces. Players secretly choose which smuggler they will use each round, with the better ones being fastest, and so likely to get better prices, but also being more likely to be caught as well, which is bad news as this will ensure the Mounties hassle your cantina, which can prove costly. The game is won by making the most money, which requires a balance between supplying the most profitable demands and setting up the most profitable cantinas while also avoiding the Mounties.

The Official Encyclopedia Of Bridge, published by Crown. 1971. Book. Good. £9

Hardback with dustcover, 25x17cm, 793 pages. Stunning piece of work, a reference library of all matters relating to Bridge, from personalities to bidding, from events to the history of the game. The book is organised with keyword entries ordered alphabetically.

The Scrabble Puzzle Book, published by Queen Anne Press. 1981. Book. Excellent. £5

Hardback, 25x17cm, 128 pages. This book includes 200 Scrabble puzzles with solutions (which give the best options along with several less good options). Also included are the rules to Scrabble, a description of allowed words, and a listing of unusual words used in the puzzles along with brief definitions (eg. filimic = pertaining to the cinema).

The Twits Card Game, published by Winning Moves. 2004. Box. In shrink. £5.50

Card game with a Roald Dahl tie in. It involves collecting sets of cards which are then played to the table. However, the game has some new ideas to add to a Rummy type game - cards left in you hand will score for or against you depending on whether they are +ve or -ve, but all melded cards will score +ve. Also some special cards change the values of cards left in your hand.

The Werewolves Of Millers Hollow, published by Lui Meme / Cafe Games. 2003. Box. In shrink. £7

Large group game which is also played with a moderator to run it. Werewolves have infested Millers Hollow, and at the start players are secretly assigned the roles of werewolves or normal villagers. Each night the werewolves choose a victim while everyone else has their eyes shut. In the morning everyone discusses who should be killed as a suspected werewolf and a vote is taken. This repeats until either only werewolves or normal villagers are left. This set also includes a number of other characters for variety and extra interaction: The Seer, The Witch, The Little Girl, Cupid, The Lovers, The Hunter, The Thief and The Captain.

Thinking Man's Golf, published by 3M. 1966. Box. Good. £4

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

Tightline, published by Splash Games. 1982. Box. Good. £2

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

"As Mayfair is to property, Tightline is to fishing", so says the box. Also described as the 'World's premier fishing game'. You travel round the board collecting pieces of equipment and catching some fish. The first to the cafe, with a complete set of tackle and 4 fish, wins the game.

Times Square, published by Rio Grande Games. 2006. Box. In shrink. £13

Card game in which the two players use their cards to move around several wooden figures representing various characters, including Saucy Sue and her bodyguards. The objective is to get the figures into your entertainment establishment. The two rival hostelries face each other across Times Square. It is possible to win the game by either a slow accumulation of points by having more characters consistently in your inn than your opponent's, or by clever play which your opponent is unable to stop, getting Saucy Sue into your establishment despite her bodyguards.

Tom Jolly's Cargo, published by Wingnut Games. 2004. Box. Good. £10.50

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

Tough Luck!, published by Peter Pan. 1988. Box. Good. £11

Despite the name this is actually a game of auctions and there is a considerable amount of skill (not so surprising when you note the designer). The central component is a neat gadget which pops out a ball at random from those hidden within it. Most of these balls are numbered, and players choose to purchase them unseen for a fixed price or buy them at auction as they are revealed. These balls are placed into a special tray and the objective is to get 5 balls in a row. A few special balls (penalty and wild) add interest. Essentially a little known game of money management and risk taking.

Tour Of London, published by Waddingtons. 1984. Box. Good. £2

Players try to collect a full set of souvenir cards and then return to the hotel. This is done by moving around the board according to dice rolls. There are chance cards and opportunities to swap souvenirs with other players as well as using buses or taxis.

Touring Scotland, published by Geographia Ltd. ca.1955. Box and Board. Fair. £6

Special notes: The box appears a bit 'moth eaten', with some of the cardboard showing through the paper covering. Also the original dice shaker is missing.

Period game with an attractive map of Scotland showing many towns and the roads between them. Players are dealt a set of 8 cards, 2 from each of 4 areas and must then travel the board and visit the towns before returning to the starting point as quickly as possible. Some spaces cause delays or provide shortcuts. Metal car playing pieces and separate board and box.

Trading Routes, published by Van der Veer. 2005. Box. Excellent. £7

Card game set in the jungle, each card showing part of a trading route between tribes. The cards must be played adjacent to other cards, domino style so that the trade route continues on. If a player manages to play so that the symbols at each end of the trade route are the same then they have completed the trade route and win those cards. There are also cards which increase the value of a trade route, but don't change the values at the ends, and war and peace cards which stop a trade route from being finished or remove a war. The player who claims the most cards wins.

Trans Europa, published by Rio Grande Games. 2005. Box. In shrink. £16

Railway game in which the players are given cards showing cities in different areas of Europe. Track is then laid connecting the cities, all track is communal, and the first player to connect to all of their cities wins the round. Fast, light and fun. In its previous incarnation (Trans America) it was on the German Spiel des Jahres nomination list for 2002. Recommended.

Trekkie Trivia, published by Paul Lamond Games. ca.2000. Box. Excellent. £3.50

Trivia game with 2400 questions on 400 cards in 6 categories. All the questions are on the Star Trek universe, and goes from the original series through TNG, DS9 to Voyager and the various films made up till then. The game has its own rules, but this set can also be used as a Star Trek expansion for other games (such as Trivial Pursuit).

Tricks, published by White Wind. 1995. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Good. £3. Missing one money chip - this does not affect play

2) In shrink £4

Card game, 95 cards and play money. Nice trick taking game where players bid for cards to form their hands before play starts, and then bid on the number of tricks they will obtain and score more the more tricks bid for and the closer the number of tricks taken is to the number bid. I can provide my own house rules to this as well.

Tyros, published by Kosmos. 2002. Box. Good. £11

Players expand and gain holdings in the lands around the Mediterranean. This is done by sending out ships from Tyros and landing around the coast. The game uses tiles showing the various areas, and cards which are collected into sets to pay for the various actions. The game also allows players to exchange cards which aren't useful to them. The players play tiles in order to expand the empires and at the end of the game holdings in these empires are rewarded - the greater the holding and the greater the empire, the greater the reward.

Ultimatum, published by Yaquinto. 1981. Box. Good. £9

Strategic nuclear war game in which one player plays the Soviet Union and the other the United States. The players invest in nuclear technology, getting resources into crisis regions, and assorted defensive or offensive weapons. The board shows a rather odd map of the USA and USSR combined (!). Crisis areas are fought over, and the players may decide to launch a direct nuclear attack on each other! Victory depends on destroying lots of your enemy while keeping as many of your people alive as possible.

Uno Madness, published by Spears Games. 1996. Box. Good. £5

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

Enhanced version of Uno, the card game in which players play cards either of the same colour or number as the player before, or draw a card, with the objective being to get rid of your cards. This version is tile based, and the tiles are placed on a board. In addition there is a noisy timer which ticks down, and if it goes off (jerking the board upwards in the process) then the current player is penalised with more tiles. The timer keeps things moving quickly and adds to the tension considerably. As with original Uno there are some special tiles with effects such as reversing the direction of play and forcing the next player to play a special tile or pick up two tiles etc.

Up Periscope, published by Denys Fisher. ca.1972. Box. Box taped and shows wear, base indented.. £13

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

Wonderfully designed naval game. Each player tries to sail his 4 merchant ships across the ocean to safety. They are escorted by a destroyer but can be attacked by your opponent's submarine. The board is double sided and is held vertical with the pieces fitting snugly into holes on either side, but with a thin rubber film ensuring they can't be seen from the other side. Players take it in turns to move and use a periscope device (with mirrors) to try to sight opponent's ships, and then destroy them using torpedoes which are poked into the rubber film to make a ship on the other side pop out! Wonderful mechanism.

Vendetta, published by Hexagames. 1991. Box. Excellent. £14

Not the same as Vendetta made by Parker Bros. Gangster game, with players as members of feuding Sicilian families, trying to control as much of the town as possible and become the new Godfather. Players play their men onto the board with the eventual goal of being the only player there when that region is scored. However, before a region is scored, first the player with the least men loses those men, and then players who remain get more men to use. Also some regions are raided and all men in these regions are lost. Vicious game! Wooden pieces.

Vexation, published by Winning Moves. 2007. Packet. New. £2.50

This is a mini expansion for TransAmerica and/or TransEuropa. The idea is that as well as communal black track you can also play a very limited number of coloured tracks. These coloured tracks cannot be used by other players. Therefore it now becomes possible to develop track in ways which is much less likely to be of great benefit to other players.

VI Sup, published by Dolumont. ca.1979. Box. Good. £8

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

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

Westminster, published by Gibsons. 1983. Box. Good. £5

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

Unusual political game, focusing on the passing of bills though Parliament rather than the election itself. The game starts with a general election with players controlling the various political parties. Then a series of by elections take place and the winner is the first to get a bill through parliament, which takes 3 readings.

Westwarts, published by Spiel Teufel. 1995. Box. Excellent. £8

Designed by Marion & Andreas Dettelbach. No. players: 2-6. Country: German, Duration: 75 mins, Desc. by Andy. Special notes: Numbered 99. The cards have had English translations added to them.

Limited edition from a small publisher. In this Wild West themed game there are 20 wagons travelling through 4 regions. Players have cards which are used to manipulate the order of the wagons, and set them on fire etc. The objective is to spot ways you can use your cards to change the wagon order so it fits in with one of the current scoring cards (eg. Priest and Teacher must be adjacent) in order to score points. The cards for the wagons have been attached to cork to make them thick enough to easily pick up and move around the board.

Where On Earth, published by Octogo Games. 1988. Box. Good. £2

Trivia game in which all the questions are geography questions. Admittedly they come in various flavours of geography. There is also a little strategy involved as you sometimes get the chance to hinder another player

instead of helping yourself.

Whiplash, published by Peter Pan. 1988. Box. Box corners taped + mark where label was. £2.50

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

Special notes: No rules included, though the box says all you need to know to be able to play.

Fast action game, a sort of two player bagatelle! The board has a central scoring section into which players try to get their marbles. Each player also has a bagatelle style ball shooter and each ball lane curves around the board and then up a ramp which hopefully will send the ball into the scoring area. First to get 100 points wins. Play is simultaneous, so pretty frantic!

Why, published by Milton Bradley / Chad Valley. 1961. Box. Good. £7

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

Subtitled: Alfred Hitchcock Presents The Game of Why. Each player is a private eye and must try to solve a murder case. This is done by moving around a board and collecting cards, accusing players of holding particular cards and claiming other cards stored face down off the board by recalling what type of card was placed there. To win you need to collect either a set of cards for a victim, motive and weapon, or the whole set of Alfred Hitchcock cards.

Winter Olympics, published by Ocean. 1987. Box. Good - contents unpunched. £6

Winter sports themed board game which is driven by a video cassette. Players compete in nine events, and on their turn watch a 10-15 second video clip of one of these sports. At the end there are fast changing numbers shown, and when paused the number showing is used as the number of points scored, and this also determines movement on the board. Medals are won by accumulating points in the various events, with gold silver and bronze all available. Some spaces on the board result in a card draw - some of which are good, some bad. The VCR system makes the game very replayable. Includes board, cards, plastic medals, video cassette (for UK VCR), and playing pieces.

Wordsworth, published by Spear's Games. 1989. Box. Good, but 1 box corner taped. £4.50

Word game. The board is a wipeable crossword grid with numbers 1-6 in the corners of each white square, some blanked out squares and some bonus point squares. In their turn players roll the dice and add that many letters to the board. There are no letter tiles - you can add whatever letters you like, but exactly the number rolled and you score the points on the spaces for all new words so created.

World Formula Grand Prix, published by Racing Games. 1999. Box. Good. £10

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

Motor racing game, with nice components including egg-timers to time delays when a car comes off the track, and a large sealed spinner device which determines a car's speed each turn. Pit strategy cards determine the number of pitstops each player must make. A dice is used to determine starting speeds and stalls, thereafter a special spinner is used. The spaces on the board have different effects and so players will want to land on the most favourable one possible for their current circumstances. Additional rules cover tyre types, changing lanes, overtaking, and marshall's flags.

World Of Sport Action Quiz, published by Chad Valley. ca.1965. Box. Box shows wear. £3

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

Special notes: The 'special pencil' is missing, but any similar object (eg. sharp pencil) will do instead. Quiz cards unpunched.

One of the weirdest 'games' I have ever seen. In the box there is a set of sports quiz cards one of which is placed onto a special 'machine'. The machine is set up with ball bearings at the top and one is 'fired' into the machine. It bounces around and goes down a path. The path it goes down indicates which question you must answer. You then put a special pen into a hole under the answer. If you were quick enough and got the answer right you will divert the ball and score points. I'm not entirely convinced it works consistently, but it is still an amazing item.

Xanth Boardgame, published by Mayfair Games. 1991. Box. Good. £8

Fantasy adventure game based on the world of Xanth as depicted in the many books by Piers Anthony. This is a totally daft fantasy world and the books include more puns than most people can bear! Many of the puns extend to places, characters or events in the game. The game itself uses good mechanics used in many games since - eg. players get the chance to play monsters and unpleasant events on the current player to hinder their movement, but the nastier events can only be keyed to specific places or situations, so may never be playable, whereas weaker hazards are easier to play, but are less hazardous! Players attempt to be the first to complete three quests.

Yari, published by Dallah Heyari. 1989. Box. Good. £4

Special notes: The box edges show wear, and one corner is badly damaged but has been repaired very neatly.

Very nicely produced parcheesi (ludo) variant in which players cast 6 special shells rather than using dice. The shells are moulded plastic, but still somehow feel like shells, and have definite 'up' and 'down' sides. Movement allowances depend on what is thrown with certain combinations considered special. The playing pieces are large gold and copper coloured Egyptian style figurines.

Zargos, published by Euro Games. ca.1990. Box. In shrink. £16

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

Zooloretto, published by Rio Grande Games. 2007. Box. In shrink. £23.50

Spiel des Jahres 2007. This is based on the excellent card game Coloretto. Each player has a Zoo playing board and drafts animals which must be placed into pens - each pen can only hold one type of animal, and there are quite a few more types of animal than you have pens for. Any animals who don't go in pens will count against you. It is possible to earn action tokens which can be traded in to move animals, or switch them around or get rid of unwanted animals. Recommended.

Terms and Conditions

Back to Old Catalogs Page Back to MNG-AJM Home Page