MNG-AJM Games and Collectibles

Sep 2008 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?

Advice. Published by Inquot. 1976. Box. 2 Box corners taped. £5

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

Strategy game with 26 wooden pieces played on a square 9x9 grid. Each side represents a citizen, backed by lawyers, priests and psychiatrists. The objective is to get your citizen to the opposite corner or to capture your opponent's citizen. There are three types of move: a step forward, a hop over an adjacent piece to an empty space or a chain of hops. Capture occurs during hops, but only some types of piece can take others in a scissor-paper-stone type of cycle. Also included are rules to 6 other related games playable with the same set.

Affenfelsenspiel. Published by Fagus. 1984. Large Tube. Good. £13

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

Special notes: Overall: Good - the German rules are a bit battered (translation supplied) and the tube has some small scratches and scrapes.

Each player controls three monkeys who race across a rock strewn path in order to get to the Baobab tree first. A dice is rolled which indicates the way in which one of your monkeys can be moved: upright, on all fours, onto / off a rock, or swinging from rock to rock. Occasionally a panther appears and monkeys on or next to rock are safe while others have to retreat backwards. Thus there several choices of how to use your alloted movement. The first player to get two of their monkeys home wins. Wonderful and extremely chunky wooden components, and a vinyl board.

All About Cribbage. Published by Bailey Brothers & Swinfen. 1974. Book. Good. £3

Author: Douglas Anderson. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Harback with dustcover, 20x13cm, 97 pages. Perhaps the most authoritative modern book on this great two-player card game. It includes the history of the game, the game's rules, strategy, variants, statistical considerations + more.

Ars Magica. Published by White Wolf. 1992. Book. Excellent. £7.50

Author: Ken Cliffe, Mark Rein-Hagen. No. players: 3+. Country: American, Desc. by Andy.

Special notes: Also included is a storyteller's screen.

3rd edition rules book. Paperback, but very substantial at 392 pages long. This is the core rule book for the Ars Magica role playing system, a fantasy RPG set in a dark medieval Europe in which mages are legendary in power, and definitely superior to their non magic using compatriots. The system is very well regarded. This book covers character creation, combat, the realms, the magic system, spells, laboratory research, mythic Europe, and more.

Ars Magica - Parma Fabula. Published by Atlas Games. 1996. Booklet. Excellent. £2

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

Fantasy roleplaying supplement for Ars Magica. This contains a GM screen and also a booklet detailing: Fabulous treasures, A listing of books which might be found in a library and details of mercenary grogs all for you to include in your campaign.

Ars Magica - Saga Pack. Published by Lion Rampart. ca.1990. Folder. Exellent. £1.75

Designer: Mark Rein-Hagen, Lisa Stevens. No. players: 3+. Country: American, Desc. by Andy.

Supplement for the Ars Magic fantasy roleplaying game. This includes a 3 panel storyteller's screen, 16 complete grogs with personalities, briefing sheets on all sorts of matters of interest to the Ars Magica storyteller, eg. The Code of Hermes, Limits of Magic, etc.

Ars Mysteriorium. Published by Hangman Games. 2005. Box. New. £23

Designer: Alan D. Ernstein. No. players: 3-5. Country: American, Duration: 90 mins, Desc. by Andy.

As apprentice alchemists the players see who can earn the most money by gathering basic elements (eg. Brimstone, Verdigris, Salt, etc) from various suppliers and then using them in alchemical recipes. At the end of the game monetary rewards are paid out for sets of recipes and the most successful alchemist will be declared a Master. Game play involves deciding how to deploy your 'favours' amongst the shops and the masters each turn and making the best use of the elements you manage to gather.

Auction Bridge Complete. Published by John C. Winston. 1926. Book. Good. £2.50

Author: Milton C. Work. Country: American, Desc. by Andy.

Hardback, 19x14cm, 500 pages. Includes the Official 1926 Laws of Auction Bridge, and the Laws of Duplicate Bridge. The book also covers the Bidding and the Play in great detail, setting out a system of bidding and important factors in the play of the cards. As you would expect a large number of example hands are considered throughout.

Auction Bridge For Beginners And Others. Published by Stanley Paul & Co.. 1929. Book. Good. £4

Author: A.C.Barker. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Hardback, 17x11cm, 189 pages. This book covers: For Beginners, Definitions, First Bid by Declarer, First Bid By Second Player, First Bid By Third Player, First Bid By Fourth Player. General Bidding, Doubling, Opening Lead Against No Trumps, Opening Lead Against Suit Declaration, General Play of Declarer's Opponents, General Play of Declarer, Play of Declarer at No Trumps, Play of Declarer With a Suit as Trumps, Pre-emptive Bids, General Hints.

Babylon. Published by Bütehorn Spiele. 1982. Box. Good. £8

Designer: Walter Wolf Windisch. No. players: 2. Country: German, Duration: 20 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Strategy game played on a 5x5 grid with the object being to construct three towers in a line in a specific manner. Players take it in turn to place or move the tower components, which come in top, bottom and middle sections in each player's colour. Tower sections can be moved and or jumped by the player who owns the top piece. Very nicely produced.

Bang. Published by DaVinci Games. 2002. Box. In shrink. £9

Designer: Emiliano Sciarra. No. players: 4-7. Country: Italian, Duration: 30 mins, Desc. by Andy.

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

Batik. Published by Gigamic. 1997. Box. In shrink. £17.50

Designer: Kris Burm. No. players: 2. Country: French, Duration: 10 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Special notes: The box shows very slight signs of damage on one side - barely noticeable.

Very nicely produced game which will look great on a coffee table, and is short enough to be played over a coffee too! The playing area is a vertical slot between two perspex sheets supported by wooden blocks. Each player has the same set of assorted wooden triangles, parallelograms and other shapes, and players take it in turn to drop a piece between the perspex sheets. The loser is the player whose piece sticks out of the top after dropping it. Fun and very attractive.

Berserker. Published by Flying Buffalo. 1981. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Good. £5.50 2) Good - counters unpunched. £7

Designer: Fred Saberhagen & Richard Loomis. No. players: 2. Country: American, Desc. by Andy.

Science fiction combat game based within the Berserker World created in a series of novels by Fred Saberhagen. One player is the planet-levelling Berserker and the other is the humans trying to stop the relentless assault. The basic rules cover 5 pages of A4, and there are another 2 pages of optional rules. The Berserker has a crew of 18 robots and can split itself to form cruiser attack ships, while the humans also have cruisers as well as heavy artillery ships and ramming ships which allow the humans to board the Berserker and attack from within.

Big Brother The Game. Published by Hasbro. 2000. Box. Good. £4

Designer: Dick De Rijk. No. players: 4-6. Country: British, Duration: 45 mins, Desc. by Andy.

TV related item, based on the immensely popular reality TV programme Big Brother. Players try to be the last one left in the Big Brother house which is depicted on the board. Players roll and move around the board collecting cards. Frequently confrontations will occur as indicated by the cards, and players get to vote who goes out next using their collected votes and attributes the players have gained during the game. Visiting different rooms give the players different powers. Last player left in wins.

Big Bucks. Published by Gestion Group-Or. 1987. Box. Good. £7

Designer: Andre Bilodeau. No. players: 2-6. Country: Canadian, Duration: 90 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Special notes: Box lid shows considerable wear marks on one side and the edges, but is still sturdy. Contents fine.

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

Blockbusters. Published by Waddingtons. 1986. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Box corners taped. £2.50 2) Good. £3.50

Designer: Unknown. No. players: 3+. Country: British, Duration: 30 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Quiz game based on a very popular British 1980s TV programme of the same name. What makes this a little different is that it is designed for unequal teams - eg. 2 players on one team and 1 on the other. If a team gets the answer to a general knowledge question right (they are of the form: What 'A' is the highest male voice?) then that team gets to place a piece on a hexagonal grid, and the objective is to make a line of your pieces from one side of the board to the other. However, this is a longer path for the stronger team than the weaker team. Attractive and chunky hexagonal standup grid.

Boggle. Published by Parker. 2000. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Excellent. £4 2) Good. £3

Designer: Unknown. No. players: 1+. Country: British, Duration: 3 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Word game in which 16 letter dice are rolled and set into a 4x4 grid. Players then have 3 minutes to spot words within the grid, starting anywhere and moving from letter to letter horizontally, vertically or diagonally. Words found are worth more the longer they are. Only words not found by other players will score though. Can be played solo trying to beat your previous top score.

Bridge: Modern Bidding. Published by Faber & Faber. 1961. Book. Good. £2

Author: Victor Mollo. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Hardback with dustcover, 19x13, 124 pages. Intended for reasonably experienced Bridge players, this book outlines an approach to bidding rather than a particular system, although the author prefers Acol over most other systems. The book covers: Minimum Openings & Responses, Limit Bids, 1NT, Strong Rebids, Reverses, Forcing Take-Out, Slams, 2 Bids, Pre-emptive Bids, Defensive Bidding, Free Bids, Protection, Lead-Directing Doubles, Sacrifice Bidding, Deception.

British Square. Published by Gabriel. 1978. Box. 2 Box corners split. £1.50

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

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

Cassa Grande. Published by Mattel. 1987. Box. Good. £4

Designer: Roland Siegers. No. players: 2 or 4. Country: German, Duration: 15 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Players sit on each side of a 6x6 grid into which they play number tiles. There will be 4 spaces and each player has a card which breaks up rows. Once all the cards are down each player reads the numbers (up to 6 digits) from their side of the table and adds them up for their score. The exact positioning of the grid is not known initially which adds to the tactical possibilities. This is the small box version - there was a large box version made too.

Cavendish. Published by Hiron. 1986. Box. Excellent. £2

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

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

Civilization. Box. Several editions available:

1) Published by Avalon Hill. 1982. Box shows wear - 2 corners taped. £10. Country: American.

2) Published by Avalon Hill. 1982. Box. Good. £12. Country: American.

3) Published by Gibsons. 1988. Good, but 1 corner taped. £9. Country: British.

4) Published by Gibsons. 1988. Good. £8. Country: British.

Box shows some wear and 2 corners taped

Designer: Francis Tresham. No. players: 2-7. Duration: 7 hrs, Desc. by Andy.

Classic game, especially with more than 4 players. An all day game. Each player takes on the role of leader of an ancient civilization, such as the Illyrians or Babylonians. Your task is to guide your people through the ages by expanding your empire and using its proceeds to finance new technological advances, such as Literacy, Metalworking, or Law.

Code 7. Published by Chieftain. ca.1985. Box. Good. £35

Designer: Robert Abbott. No. players: 2-4. Country: Canadian, Desc. by Andy.

Aka Code 777. Brilliant deduction game - one of the most challenging there is! In this game, players have 3 numbers on a rack, displayed to the other players but unknown to themselves. Obviously every player can see all the other racks except their own. Now they can ask one of a set of specific questions to help deduce which number is in front of themselves. This will certainly get your brain working. It is also now pretty rare. Recommended.

Coloretto. Published by Abacus Spiele. 2003. Box. In shrink. £6

Designer: Michael Schacht. No. players: 3-5. Country: German, Duration: 20 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Neat card game in which players collect cards. The cards come in seven different colours and the value of a set of cards goes up in a triangular sequence (ie. 1 card -> 1VP, 2->3, 3->6, 4->10 etc), however only the biggest three sets count positive, with other colours counting against your score. The way cards are collected is fast but interesting: a player can either claim a pile of cards or draw a card unseen and add it to a pile. This is repeated several times and then the players' collections are scored. It sounds too simple to be good, but works surprisingly well. Highly recommended.

Combit. Published by Winning Moves. 2001. Box. In shrink. £5

Designer: Klaus Palesch, Horst-Rainer Rosner. No. players: 2. Country: German, Desc. by Andy.

Card game in which the players try to collect pairs of cards of the same colour to sell. Cards are bought at the face value (2-6) and sold as a pair of the same colour to the bank for their values multiplied together. However getting hold of the valuable cards isn't so easy as your opponent will also want them and is unlikely to let you have them if at all possible.

Connections. Published by Connections International. 1991. Box. Good, but base intended. £7

Designer: Tom McNamara. No. players: 2. Country: New Zealand, Duration: 10 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Abstract game in which the players try to connect a line of their pieces from one side of the board to the other, or try to surround any of their opponent's pieces in a box. The game always ends with a winner, never a stalemate, and while the rules are very simple the play is actually rather good. The components are large and impressive making it very attractive during play. Rules in umpteen languages too!

Contract Bridge For Beginners. Published by Methuen. 1981. Book. Good. £0.70

Author: Charles H. Goren. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Softback, 18x12cm, 152 pages. Bridge book which introduces Charles Goren's Point Count system of bidding. The book covers: Mechanics of Bidding, How to Score, What Shall I Bid, Responses to Opening Bids, Rebids by Opening Bidder, Defensive Bidding, Penalty Doubles, Slam Bidding, Getting to Game, Play of the Hand.

Cooks Tours. Published by Invicta. 1972. Box. Box shows wear. £1

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

Special notes: One coin is missing, but the bank does not require a precise number of coins, so this does not affect play.

Family game about travelling across Europe on a Thomas Cook Tour. Players travel to the famous cities and collect souvenir coins as they go. Originally published by Selchow & Richter in America. Includes trivia questions.

Counter Magazine. Published by Stuart Dagger.

Author: Stuart Dagger, Mike Clifford, Alan Howe. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

This magazine has a deserved reputation as one of the finest game-related periodicals in the world. It features over 70 ages of reviews and opinion, and covers 'German style' board and card games in great detail. Main articles listed by issue.

Issue 7 Nov 1999. New. £2.50. Hall of Fame Results, Essen 1999 Report, GenCon Report, Ludodelire & Eurogames, Gaming Preferences, Reviews (Andromeda, Boulomania, Clash Of The Lightsabers, Cloud 9, Dutch Intercity, High Kings Of Tara, Knights of the Rainbow, Die Mauer, Nicht Die Bohne, Olix, Pacal, 6 Billion, Stephensons Rocket, Tabula Rasa, Torres, Turfmaster New Tracks, Tzuris, Vinci, Westwarts, X.Net, Zero, Zoff Im Zoo), Letters (major feature), Big Boys Toys, Dice Games Properly Explained, Borderlands ...

Issue 8 Feb 2000. New. £2.50. 1999 Top Fives, 4 Player Lost Cities, Going It Alone, 3 More Binary Dice Games, Levelling The Playing Field, Reviews (Autoscooter, Corruption, Dolce Vita, Elfengold, Elchfest, Frisch Fisch, Isi, Konig Der Elfen, Mit List Und Tucke, Pacific Northwest Rails, Rosenkonig, Schrille Stille, Die Siedler Von Nurnberg, Split, Die Sternenfahrer Von Catan, Sumera, Theta games, T-Rex, Verrat, Yukon Co.), Letters (major feature), The Best of Times, Game Themes, Summit, Spicing Up Your Beans.

Issue 10 Aug 2000. New. £2.50. Hall of Fame, The 90s, Origins Report, Reviews (Australian Menagerie, Bambuti, Bladder, Castle, Composite Index, Democrazy, Dragon Delta, Die Fursten von Florenz, Hera & Zeus, How Much For The Camel?, Kardinal & Konig, Das Kollier, Mirador, Silberzwerg, Time Pirates, Der Weisse Lotus, Wongar), Letters (a major feature), Acquire Special Powers, Road & Rail, Careers, Wer Hat Mehr, Modern Art Variant.

Issue 13 Jun 2001. New. £2.50. Gamers Choice Awards 2001, Gathering of Friends XII, 1825 Expansion Kits, History of the World, Top Fives, Reviews (Africa, Capitol, Dragon's Gold, Drahtseilakt, Evo, Auf Falsche Fahrte, Hovertank 3, Ivanhoe, Knights, Medina, Mordred, Morisi, Old Town, Pampas Railroads, Queen's Gambit, San Marco, Strand Cup, Witch Trial, Wyatt Earp), Letters (major feature), Thumbnail reviews, The Big Guns, Western Games, Chaos vs Control, 19xx - Airlines Games, No Dice.

Issue 14 Sep 2001. New. £2.50. Canasta, Games Packaging & Storing, Risk 2210, Record Keeping, Reviews (Age of Empires ECG, Bali, Crazy Race, Das Amulett, Der Grosse Galier, Das Schattendieb, Die Handler Von Genoa, Die Magier Von Pangea, Don, Die Neuen Entdecker, Flower Power, Gnadenlos, Limits, Meridian, Nur Peanuts, Rebel Rails, Volldampf, Zaubercocktail), Letters (major feature), Circus Maximus / Minimus, Wargames, Trump.

Issue 15 Dec 2001. New. £2.50. Essen Report, Dark Side of Zoch, Chaos Reigns, GenCon 2001, Specialize / Diversify, Reviews (Ebay Auction Game, Eden, Funkenschlag, Gargon, Head To Head Golf, Hell Rail, Iron Road, Kupferkessel Co., Mull + Money, Muscat, Odysseus, Pig Pile, Quick'e'ly Dice, Spinball, Too Many Cooks, Urland, U.S.Patent No. 1, Vabanque, Venezia, Vom Kap Bis Kairo, Yeti Slalom), Letters (major feature), Briefing on 6 more games, Executive Decision, Hobbits on Ice, Win Place & Show.

Issue 16 Mar 2002. New. £2.50. 2001 Top Fives, Temptation Poker, Funkenschlag, Player Interaction, Reviews (Andersonville, Auweier, Champions Football, Chrononauts, A Dog's Life, Freight Yard, Friends & Foes, Goldrush City, Hive, Im Zeichen des Kreuzes, Kanaloa, Kardinal & Konig Kartenspiel, Liberte, LotR: The Fellowship Card Game & Board Game, Saloon, Siedler Starfarers 5/6 player, Starship Catan, Sumo Arena, Tacara, Titicaca, Ur 1830 BC), Letters (major feature), Gipf Series, Lightweight Gaming, ...

Issue 17 Jun 2002. New. £2.50. Gamers Choice Awards 2002, Gathering of Friends XIII, Boardgames as Computer Games, Ebay Grows Older, Lunchtime Gaming, BayCon, Reviews (Alles Im Eimer, Blokus, Combit, Die Sieben Weisen, Dschunke, Emerald, Hick Hack in Gackelwack, Indochine 2000, Integralis, Kampf der Gladiatoren, Lumberjack, Mexica, Muckenstich, Piratenbucht, Pompeji, Puerto Rico, Schuamermal, Silverado, Zahltag), Letters (major feature), London Toyfair, Colony, Ones That Got Away, 3 Mini reviews, ...

Issue 18 Sep 2002. New. £2.50. Physical Mechanisms, Abstract Games, Teaching Games To Newbies, Reviews (Age of Arguments, Cairo, Chebache, Cortez, Gouda! Gouda!, How Ruck, La Guerre des Moutons, Lokomotive Werks, M, Magellan, Millionary, Nautilus, Pueblo, Roundhouse, San Gimignano, Star Wars: Jedi Unleashed & Epic Duels, Too Many Cooks, Tyros, Wallenstein, Wie Hund und Katze, Wildlife), Letters (major feature), Felsberger Holzspiel series, Cotton Kingdom, Settlers Travel Edition, ...

Issue 19 Dec 2002. New. £2.50. Sid Sackson - An Appreciation, Hall of Fame Results, Essen 2002, Eagle Games Interview, GenCon 2002, Reviews (Abenteuer Menschheit, Affen Raffen, Age of Steam, Antoni Gaudi Tile Game, Bayon, Buntu Circus, Canal Grande, Cannes, Cityscape, Fundstucke, Globopolis, Goldland, Keythedral, Moderne Zeiten, Mogul, Stonewall, Street Soccer, Theophrastus, Thor, Tin Soldiers, Trias, Zoo Sim), Letters (major feature), More Essen, Da Vinci Games, Backgammon, Game Variants, Pagode.

Issue 20 Mar 2003. New. £2.50. 2002 Top Fives, Sid Sackson Games Auction, Race Games, Reviews (Ad Acta, Das Architekturspiel, Carcassonne H&G, Dwarves, Eurogames 2 player series, Eye of Horus, Fische Fluppen Frikadellen, Fist of Dragonstones, Gang of Four, Golfprofi, Grand Prix F1, Korsar, Krone & Schwert, Landerbahnen, Life Is Money, Lupus In Tabula, Monkeys On The Moon, Napoleon In Europe, Odin's Ravens, Ragnar Bros Card Games, Sid Meier's Civilization), Letters (major feature), + lots more articles.

Issue 21 Jun 2003. New. £2.50. Transatlantic Pilgrimmage, Warfrog Interview with Geoff Brown, Gathering of Friends 14, Reviews (Amun-Re, Bohn-Hansa, Carcassonne:B&T, Cave Troll, Coloretto, Discovery Island, Edel Stein & Reich, Eketorp, Europa Tour, Die Flosserei, Frisch Fisch, Hekla, Insider Trading, LotR: The Two Towers, Mermaid Rain, New England, Oraklos, Paris Paris, Polterdice, Richelieu, Sunda to Sahul, Time Is Money), Letters (major feature), Kosmos 2-Player Series, Japanese Games, ...

Issue 22 Sep 2003. New. £2.50. Women In Gaming - Interviews, GenCon 03, Viva Il Re, Obituary: Roger Corrie, Reviews (Alhambra, Avalon, Balloon Cup, Bin'Fa, Burn Rate, Clans, InterUrban, Lawless, Magna Grecia, Mammoth Hunters=Eiszeit, Mare Nostrum, Mystery of the Abbey, Mystery Rummy 4, Pitstop, Rome, Scarab Lords, Die Schatzinsel, Search For Poseidon's Gold, Territory, Tom Tube, Veld Railroads), Letters (major feature), Mini Reviews, The Meeting Room, Game Inventor's Handbook, Lowenherz Old & New, Gamate, ...

Issue 23 Dec 2003. New. £2.50. Essen Reports, Face to Face by Email, Reviews (Age of Mythology, Armoury, Attika, China Moon, Coyote, Feurio, Finstere Flure, A Game of Thrones, Hexenwerk, Industria, IQ-5, Logistico, Lucky Loop, Maya, Medieval, Nobody But Us Chickens, The Prince, Princes of the Renaissance, Railroad Dice, Santiago, Scream Machine, Secrets of the Tombs, Senjutsu, Die Sieben Siebel, Yinsh), Letters (major feature), Mini Reviews, King Arthur, Age of Steam New Maps, Variants & Tweaks, Re-reviews.

Issue 24 Mar 2004. New. £2.50. 2003 Top 5s, Dobbergenics, Valentin Herman's Games, 7 Player Games, John Yianni Interview, Reviews (10 Days in Africa / USA, Alexandros, Anno 1503, Ark of the Covenant, Bridges of Shangri-la, Carcassonne: The Castle, Castle Danger, Die Fugger, Dracula, 1 Stein + Co, Hoppla Lama, Junkyard Races, Kogge, Masquerade, Oasis, Pingvinas, Saga, Schwarzarbeit, Termination Inc., Terra, Tongiaki, Zauberschwert & Drachenei), Letters (major feature), Mini Reviews, Conquest, ...

Issue 25 Jun 2004. New. £2.75. Alex Randolph - An Appreciation, Gathering of Friends XV, Hippodice 2004 Winners Interviews, Starting a Games Club, New American Games Publishers, Reviews (Abagio, Auf den Spuren von Marco Polo, Cargo, Corsari, Einfach Genial, Geist, Global Powers, Hansa, Hector & Achilles, Iglu Iglu, In 80 Karten um die Welt, La Strada, Oh Pharao, Saga, San Juan, Spy, Tahuantinsuyu, Ticket To Ride), Letters (major feature), Mini Reviews, Blue Moon, Struggle of Empires, Winds of Plunder, ...

Issue 26 Sep 2004. New. £2.75. Obituary: Dave Farquhar, I'm a Gaming Snob, Richard Breese Interview, New England, Organising a Con, New American Games Publishers, Reviews (Adam & Eva, Anno 1503 Expansion, Atlas & Zeus, Australian Railways, Dicke Luft in der Gruft, Dos Rios, Goa, Indus, Leapfrog, Lost Valley, Maharaja, Memoir 44, Smugglers of the Galaxy, St Petersburg, Tyrus, Versunkene Stadt, Viking Fury, 3 Kidult Games), Letters (major feature), Mini Reviews, Sleuth, Funf to Farfalia, Santiago Bidding, Tour de France, ...

Issue 27 Dec 2004. New. £2.75. Edinburgh to Essen, Fringe Essen, Andreas Seyfarth Interview, Reviews (18EU, Around the World in 80 Days, City & Guilds, Cloud 9, Dancing Dice, De Ontembare Stad, Election USA, Fifth Avenue, Geschenkt, Goldbrau, Heroscape, Karibik, LotR: The Duel, Mutiny on the Little Blue, Oceania, Oltre Mare, Reef Encounter, Shakespeare: The Bard Game, Vapor's Gambit, War of the Ring, Die Weinhandler, Ys), Letters (major feature), GenCon 04, Auctions, JKLM Interview, Flaschenteufel, ...

Issue 28 Mar 2005. New. £2.75. 2004: Top 5s, 25 Years of Kadon Games, London Toy Fair 05, The Return of the Kings, More Substance!, Reviews (1860, Antiquity, Boomtown, Doom, Easy Come Easy Go, Farfalia, Gartenzwerge, Hispaniola, Ideology, Im Schatten des Kaisers, Jenseits von Theben, Mall World, Metallurgie, Neuland, Old Town, Revolution, Riding Through England, Space Shuffle, Succession, UFOs Fritten Aus Dem All, Wey Kick), Letters (major feature), Mini reviews, Depth in Games, Mediterranean, Re-reviews.

Issue 29 Jun 2005. New. £2.75. The Gathering 05, Where's My Pallet?, The Conquest of Space, Reviews (Amazonas, Ars Mysteriorum, Australia, Bootleggers, Candamir, Control Nut, Diamant, Flandern 1302, Game of Life Cardgame, Gracias, Heart of Africa, Ice Cream, Jambo, King Arthur Cardgame, Louis XIV, Manifest Destiny, Manila, Return of the Heroes, Submarine, Treasure Island, Ubongo, Warriors), Letters (major feature), 3 Yun Games, Crokinole, Escape From Colditz, Re-reviews.

Issue 30 Sep 2005. New. £2.75. Indonesia, 1825 Unit 3, Origins 05, Reviews (Architekon, Canoe, Der Turmbau zu Babel, Die Dolmengotter, Dividends, Fjorde, Garden Competition, Im Auftrag des Konigs, Himalaya, Montanara, Nexus Ops, Palazzo, Pots, Russian Rails, Shadows over Camelot, Shear Panic, Sicilianos, 3 Stones, Verflixxt), Letters (major feature), Some 1st Impressions, Stratamax Redux, Confrontation, Organized Crime, Re-reviews.

Crystal Faire. Published by Hangman Games. 2006. Box. New. £19

Designer: Alan Ernstein. No. players: 3-5. Country: American, Duration: 2 hrs, Desc. by Andy.

Limited edition gem trading game. Number 564. The game uses lots of glass beads as the gems which players trade with each other, manipulating the prices of the gems in the market to their advantage. The trading mechanism is unusual - some gems are offered openly while others are offered unrevealed, with rules determining the possible mixes. At the end of each trading session the players with the most of each type of gem are rewarded, but some of those gems will be lost prior to the next session of trading.

Delta. Published by I.Q.Company Ltd. 1987. Box. Box poor, contents good. £3

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

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

Die Erbraffer. Published by Ravensburger. 1994. Box. Excellent. £10

Designer: Nik Sewell and Jeremy Shaw. No. players: 2-6. Country: German, Duration: 90 mins, Desc. by Andy.

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

Dog Eat Dog. Published by QED Games. 1999. Box. Excellent. £10

Designer: Evan Jones. No. players: 2-6. Country: American, Duration: 90 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Corporate business game set in the 1980s. You are the president of a division of Rinky Dink Inc, and are out for profit without regard to the environment. You will plunder the earth's resources, turn them into products and sell them for $M. Some of these $ then get funnelled into your Swiss Bank Account. The first person to embezzle $150 million before the environment is devastated wins! In your way stand corrupt congressmen, eco-terrorists, unions, the IRS and the other players - CEO's of other divisions of Rinky Dink Inc.

Dragonball Z Adventure Game. Published by Drummond Park. 1989. Box. Good. £8

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

TV related. Players travel through the world of Dragonball Z encountering the many fantastic characters on the show. The objective is to search for and collect Dragonballs. The game uses a couple of unusual mechanisms: a marble run used as a timer at various points in the game, and a set of heat sensitive disks which reveal an action when held in warm fingers.

Dragonlance. Published by TSR. 1988. Box. Good, 1 corner taped. £18

Designer: Michael S Dobson. No. players: 2-6. Country: American, Duration: 1 hr, Desc. by Andy.

Beautifully produced three-dimensional game of aerial combat by dragons. 30 dragons (nice models on stands) compete to gain the legendary Dragonlance. Special interlocking pieces are placed under the dragons to show their current altitude. There is a castle with walls and a large board on which the game is played. The objective is to capture the Dragonlance and bring it back to your base. The game comes with basic and advanced rules. Nice item.

Drunter & Druber. Published by Hans-Im-Gluck. 1991. Box. Good. £9.50

Designer: Klaus Teuber. No. players: 2-4. Country: German, Duration: 40 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Germany's 1991 Spiel des Jahres. Baron Munchausen style graphics. Players lay tiles to complete the rebuilding of the town of Schilda using roads, walls and waterways. However, dotted around the town are different types of buildings, and each player secretly wants to preserve one type of building, thus guiding development away from such buildings, but without making it too obvious what they are doing. Also, whenever a little toilet building is to be demolished (and there are many of them) the players must vote on whether that tile can be placed or not. Fun game, but cunning is also required. Recommended.

Duplicate Bridge Rules Simplified. Published by Books On Bridge. ca.1991. Book. Excellent. £3

Author: J. Rumbelow, T. Humphries. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Softback, 18x12cm, 34 pages. A small book which as the title implies presents a simplified and concise set of rules for Duplicate Bridge, with rules for what to do when various types of misplays or infractions are made by the players.

Eternity. Published by Christopher Monckton Ltd. 1999. Box. Good. £5.50

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

An exceptionally difficult 209 piece puzzle. This is essentially a sort of tangram set, but with 209 pieces. They are each made up of 12 half equilateral triangular units in a large variety of shapes. Originally 1 Million Pounds were on offer to the first person to complete the puzzle. Very nice item for puzzle fans.

Europa 1945-2030. Published by Euro Games. 1998. Box. In shrink. £9.50

Designer: Duccio Vitale & Leo Colovini. No. players: 3-6. Country: French, Duration: 1hr 45mins, Desc. by Andy.

Interesting election based board game which covers the creation of the European Union from 1945 through the present day and extrapolating forward to 2030. At the start of the game there is no E.U. just lots of countries, some of which are more likely to join the E.U. than others. Players place their politicians into these countries and at the end of each turn any countries with enough politicians in join the E.U. providing the players with politicians can agree on a suitable coalition, and the coalition members score points and a large cardboard piece in E.U. colours is placed over this country. In addition some countries are predisposed to war, and players need to work to prevent it spreading out of control. Unusual game which works well.

Family Challenge. Published by JGE Board Games. 1995. Box. Good. £4.50

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

Soccer themed family board game. The board shows four concentric tracks around which the players move their pieces. They start on the outer ring, which counts as the 4th division, and get to collect players, money and advantageous cards before moving up to the next ring. The objective is to get to the centre of the board in order to win. The game also includes trivia cards. The 3rd and 4th division questions are general knowledge, but the 1st and 2nd division questions are mostly football related.

Farfalia. Published by Da Vinci. 2004. Box. In shrink. £7

Designer: Derek Carver. No. players: 2-5. Country: Italian, Duration: 40 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Card game. A slightly reworked version of Derek's Funf / Chinkway, and thus is predominantly for 5 players. When played with 5 players enough hands are played so that everyone gets to partner everyone else and also gets to play on their own as well. Each hand goals are set for card types which have to be collected to score points. During the card play the winner of a trick can take one card from the trick just won and set it aside to fulfil the goal. A neat idea and one of the finest card games for five players. Recommended.

Fifth Avenue. Published by Alea. 2004. Box. Excellent. £10

Designer: Wilko Manz. No. players: 2-4. Country: German, Duration: 90 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Auction based strategy game based on developing Manhattan in the 1930s. Players build up neighbourhoods so as to be as valuable to themselves as possible. This is done by getting your skyscrapers adjacent to plots with shops. Cards are collected of various colours and these are used in auctions for the various plots, but the colour of cards used determines the plot which that player is bidding for, and in addition the lower the maximum value of any cards used to win the bidding the more buildings can be placed. Finally, everyone wants to get in on the free for all that is Central Park, where there are less restrictions.

Figurix. Published by FX Schmid. 1985. Box. Good. £7

Designer: H. Seitz. No. players: 2-6. Country: German, Duration: 15 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Three dice are rolled, one shows an animal symbol, one a background colour, and one an outer edge colour. Players study the board and look for precisely this combination amongst the 54 pictures on the board. The first to spot it correctly and place their counter on that space gets to leave their counter there. The first player to get rid of all 6 of their counters wins. The dice are very large and wooden.

Firepower. Published by Avalon Hill. 1984. Box. Good. £4

Designer: S Craig Taylor, Jr.. No. players: 1-2. Country: American, Desc. by Andy.

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

Fireside Football. Published by Gibsons. 1996. Box. Good. £4.50

Designer: Alan Parr. No. players: 3-6. Country: British, Duration: 1 hr, Desc. by Eamon.

Card game, simulation of a football season. Originally designed as a postal game, this version comprises 110 illustrated cards. Each player chooses which players to field in each match, and can buy overseas stars to bolster the team's performances. You can replay the whole season inside an hour.

Game Of The Year. Published by Spears. 1989. Box. Good. £4

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

Cleverly titled family game. Each player must get through a year of 366 days, earning as many Red Letter Days as they can. The game is driven using a really neat spinner device consisting of flaps suspended around an axle which can be spun. It works really well, and is great fun to use and gives a choice of two moves each turn. The current player or the others may then spend money to add to the number of spaces moved to result in a good / bad event day. Events come in various flavours - a mainly good deck, a mainly bad deck and fixed events on special days of the year.

Games For Children. Published by Faber & Faber. ca.1950. Book. Good. £5

Author: Marguerite Kohl, Frederica Young. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Hardback, 20x14cm, 191 pages. A large collection of games and activities for children - ideal for parties, rainy days and just generally keeping them amused. Each game or activity is generally described in only a paragraph or two, and they are split up as follows: Quiet Games, Active Indoor Games, Game to Play Outdoors, Birthday Party Ideas. There are also a number of charts to help you find the right game for a particular occasion - eg. by number of children, duration, age range etc.

Games Man Issue 10 Apr 1992. Published by Unknown. 1992. Magazine. Good. £0.50

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

Professionally produced games magazine which focussed on role playing games, strategy games and adventure games. This issue includes articles on: Gangland Slayers (1920's RPG scenario which uses a simple game system included in the magazine), New games from major manufacturers, Dark World review, Call of Cthulhu V review, Clan Troops review, Uncle Albert's (Car Wars supplement) review, Atmosfear review, Magic in FRP, 20 mini scenario ideas to get GMs thinking, RPG Problems solved, PBM, Gamer Stereotypes: The Psychopath, South Atlantic Skirmish (complete solo wargame), Miniatures, 6 AD&D Worlds, 14 mini reviews.

Genius Attack. Published by Invicta. Box. Good. £3.50

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

Players manoeuver dice pieces around a 9x9 grid. The dice can either 'tumble' from one side to another, thus changing the number they then show, or move the number of spaces they show. Each player also has a King piece which moves as a chess king. The objective is to either eliminate your opponent's king or to capture their home base.

German Toys 1924 / 1926. Published by Hobby House Press Inc.. 1985. Book. Excellent. £6

Author: Mannfred Bachmann, Charles Dukes. Country: American, Desc. by Andy.

Hardback, 32x24cm, 403 pages. Very substantial book which has pictures (some colour, most black & white) of German toys available in the period 1924-26. Each item has a title in English, German and Spanish. There are thousands of items shown. There are some board games as well as dolls, train sets, musical instruments, woodworking sets, and just about anything else you can think of shown here.

Glass Chess Set. Published by Unknown. Box. Good. £3

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

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

Herzlos. Published by Winning Moves. 2003. Box. In shrink. £4.50

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

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

Hi-De-Hi. Published by Waddingtons. 1984. Box. 1 Box corner split. £1

Designer: Jimmy Perry & David Croft. No. players: 2-4. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

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

Hols Der Geier. Published by Ravensburger. 1988. Box. Good. £8

Designer: Alex Randolph. No. players: 3-5. Country: German, Duration: 15 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Card game. Elegantly simple mechanics. Each player has the same set of 15 cards with which to ‘bid’ for other cards on offer to all players. Everyone plays a card simultaneously and when they are revealed, the highest card played wins the prize card, which is worth from -5 to +10 points. If two cards of the same value are played, they cancel each other out, leaving a lower card to win. For negative prizes the lowest played card gets the 'prize'. Each card can only be used once. There are 15 ‘auctions’, so careful planning is required, together with a steely nerve and good bluffing.

Hotel. Published by Milton Bradley. 1986. Box. Good. £8

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

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

How To Go Collecting Model Soldiers. Published by Patrick Stephens Ltd. 1971. Book.

Good, but dustcover shows some wear. £4. Author: Henry Harris. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Hardback with dustcover, 22x14cm, 200 pages. The main focus of this book is on collecting model soldiers, but there is also a chapter on Wargames, including a simple set of rules for miniatures wargaming. The book has plenty of black and white pictures and covers: Planning a Model Army, The Sinews of Model War, Headquarters Staffs, Cavalry, Infantry, Artillery, Supporting Arms & Services, 'With Drums Beating', 'And Colours Flying', Transport, Armoured Fighting Vehicles, Sea Air & Civilians, Displays & Exhibitions, Wargames, Hints & Tips For Making Up Models.

How To Play Calypso. Published by Hodder & Stoughton. 1954. Book. Excellent. £1.50

Author: Kenneth Konstam. No. players: 3-4. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Softback, 18x12cm, 71 pages. A detailed description of the card game Calypso along with tactical options and expert advice. Calypso is a cross between Canasta and Bridge, being played in tricks, generally as a four player partnership game, but can also be played as a non partnership game and with just three players. It is played with 4 regular decks of cards and one game lasts about 20 mins. One neat idea in the game is that each player has their own personal trump suit.

How To Play The Middle Game In Chess. Published by Collins. 1974. Book. Excellent. £4

Author: John E. Littlewood. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Hardback with dustcover, 23x15cm, 191 pages. This book covers chess skills which start when known opening moves run out and before endgame techniques take over. The book is divided as follows: Intro, The Pieces, The Pawns, The King, Tactical Ideas, Combinations, Elements of Strategy, Planning. There are a selection of problems posed throughout the book, with solutions given at the end.

Hunting Party. Published by Seaborn Games. 2005. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Excellent. £20 2) Good. £18

Designer: Ben Christenson, Patrick Christenson. No. players: 2-5. Country: American, Duration: 90 mins, Desc. by Andy.

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

IAGO. Published by Spear's Games. 1984. Box. Good. £4

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

Intense word game for two players with time pressure a major factor. The board is a neat design which makes it especially easy to remove tiles from it. The letter tiles are double sided, and one player plays words blue side up and the other plays red side up. The objective is to try to keep more letters of your colour on the board than your opponent, but tiles can be stolen and reused and thus flipped over. Once you have more tiles than your opponent on the board then flip the sand timer and relax for a moment! Another display shows how many more times you can let the sand run out than your opponent. If this reaches the end of the scale you lose.

Improving Your Chess. Published by EP Publishing. 1980. Book. Good. £1.50

Author: Peter Griffiths. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Special notes: Ex library copy. In plastic cover. Spine colour faded.

Softback, 21x15cm, 104 pages. This book is intended for the chess player who knows how to play but who hasn't played in a club, or if they have is amongst the weaker players, and would like to improve. The chapters cover: Basics, Attacking the Castled King, Attacking Other Targets, White Opening, Black Openings, Endgame.

Incarceration. Published by Risk Takers Ltd. 2001. Box. Good. £6

Designer: Unknown. No. players: 2-6. Country: British, Duration: 90 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Game about going to prison! The board shows a prison divided into spaces and players progress around the prison wings, with the objective of being the first to be discharged. The game makes use of several different types of cards as well as actions on spaces.

Inspector Higgins. Published by Ravensburger. 1988. Box. Good. £9

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

One player takes the role of Inspector Higgins and attempts to catch the thief who carries the treasure and ideally as many other thieves as possible. The other players take turns moving the various thief figures looking in the various houses for the treasure, and once found it has to be transported back to their lair. Movement is by dice roll, but the type of dice to roll depends on the number of players. Fun light game.

Invers. Published by Peri Spiele. 1991. Box. Good. £6

Designer: Kris Burm. No. players: 2. Country: Austrian, Desc. by Andy.

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

ITC. Published by Fanfor Verlag. ca.1996. Box. Good. £15

Designer: Valentin Herman. No. players: 3-5. Country: German, Desc. by Andy.

Business game in which players make a profit by transporting goods to market in six continents, and also by selling the goods once they reach said continents. It is also possible to sell on a black market. As with other games from Fanfor dice are rolled and the actions which can be performed are many, but limited by what the dice will allow. The objective is to be the first to accumulate a monetary target.

Karibik. Published by Winning Moves. 2004. Box. Excellent. £9

Designer: Michail Antonow, Jens Peter Schliemann. No. players: 2-4.

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

Pirate themed board game which uses 3D cardboard ships (rather nicely made) to move around the board and collect pirate treasures and take them to each player's home base. There are 6 ships, but they are not owned, instead players secretly choose how to distribute their bid cards amongst the ships each round and the player who played the highest for each ship gets to move it. The bidding cards also include a -1 which will never win, but reduces the amount of movement the winner for that ship can use. Some money is earned by collecting treasures, but rather more is gained by getting a treasure safely to one of your pirate hideouts. Very attractive game.

Know The Game: Contract Bridge. Published by Educational Productions. ca.1964. Book. Good. £0.50

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

Softback, 13x20cm, 36 pages. A concise introductory book to Contract Bridge which teaches the rules and gives bidding and playing advice which will get a beginner going and able to play well enough 'in modest company'.

Krone & Schwert. Published by Queen Games. 2002. Box. Excellent - unpunched. £18

Designer: Klaus Jurgen Wrede. No. players: 2-5. Country: German, Duration: 1 hr, Desc. by Andy.

Board game based on the theme of a medieval struggle for power by the designer of Carcassonne. The board is made up differently each time using geomorphic tiles. The land once made up is then fought over by the players who build towns and cities and then cathedrals and castles. One player is the King and may levy taxes, but the other players may start a revolt, and being on the winning side of a revolt will earn victory points. The game is driven by an action point and card system. Victory points are earned for towns, cities, cathedrals and castles as well as being King at the end of the game, along with VPs gained through taxes collected while King.

Kupferkessel Co.. Published by Gold Sieber. 2001. Box. Excellent. £15

Designer: Gunter Burkhardt. No. players: 2. Country: German, Duration: 20 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Players each have a large wooden witch playing piece which moves around the outside of a 6x6 grid of square cards. The cards are wonderfully illustrated with magic spell components: toadstools, pots of frog juice, pumpkins, magic eggs etc. Each card has a number 1-4 which is both its potential value and also the amount you will move on your next turn if you take it. Each turn you move and then take a card in the row or column you end on. Thus there is little luck and scope for planning. There are also cards which give you an extra move and some which hinder your opponent. The game plays very nicely with 3 players too (just grab a gray playing piece from somewhere). Highly recommended and now quite hard to find.

Let's Go To The Races. Published by Parker. 1987. Box. Good. £4

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

Horse racing game. Players buy horses and bet on them in a variety of races. The game is driven by a video (it is a US game, but the video plays just fine in my UK VCR). The horses have different odds for each race and there are special forms which allow the game to continue to be played once you have played through the races on the tape. The video shows real horse racing. The rulebook includes ideas on planning a race-night, with recipes and even a racehorse owner's manual.

Little Wars. Published by Da Capo. 1977. Book. Excellent. £10

Author: H.G. Wells. Country: American, Desc. by Andy.

Softback, 23x15cm, 111 pages. Unabridged republication of the original published in 1913. This contains the rules to H.G. Wells famous miniatures rules, one of the earliest wargames. As well as the core rules themselves the book also has an example scenario, optional rules and a section on how these rules were developed.

Mandala. Published by Future Games. 1982. Box. Good. £6

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

Special notes: Corners and base taped discreetly, some wear on rotating plastic rings, but entirely playable.

Beautifully made abstract race game that makes use of 5 special dice, but always with plenty of choice. The board is made of plastic, with 10 rings that rotate around the centre. The idea is to rotate the rings so that a path towards the centre is created. Design Centre Award winner.

Mark. Published by Franjos. 1997. Box. New. £13

Designer: Ronald Corn. No. players: 2-4. Country: German, Duration: 1 hr, Desc. by Andy.

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

Masquerade. Published by Cheatwell. ca.1995. Box. Good. £7

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

Special notes: This edition is in a regular rectangular box (not a triangular one).

Deluxe party game of mime and charades, but with the twist that you are miming situations rather than book titles or whatever. So you tackle subjects like "A cannibal inviting his friends round to dinner", or "A squirrel hiding his nuts", or "Talk a lemming out of suicide". The game comes in a large triangular box and has sturdy card dispensers and a good chunky sand timer.

Medieval Merchant. Published by Rio Grande. 1998. Box. Good. £15

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

Players build trade routes across medieval Germany trying to build the most powerful trade network. The cities have spaces into which the players can place markers, with points being awarded for control. However, dominance in the cities will often need to be sacrificed in order to improve your network further to reap greater profits. Rumour has it that it was originally a train game. Plenty to think about with opportunities for clever play.

Microdot. Published by Parker. ca.1970. Box. Good, but 1 box corner split. £3.75

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

Espionage game in which the players try to steal the diplomatic bag of any one opponent and return it to their own headquarters to win. The outer board is used to gather pieces of equipment needed for the mission. These pieces of equipment (ladder, revolver, dagger, earphones, passport, wire-cutters) all have nicely made plastic pieces. The mission takes place on the inner board. Here the collected equipment is moved around to get past obstacles and also eliminate other people's 'lesser' items of equipment. Sometimes chance cards are drawn and these have the word Microdot written on them, and a tiny number or letter which decodes to give instructions on a chart.

Military Modelling: The Art Of The Model Soldier. Published by Argus Books. 1988. Book. Excellent. £5

Author: Graham Dixey. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Softback, 21x15cm, 191 pages. Military Modelling magazine sponsored guide to preparing and painting model soldiers. There are many illustrations throughout. The book covers tools and equipment you will want to have to make a professional job of: painting your figures, preparing and assembling men and horses, various painting techniques, uniforms and equipment, painting horses, painting 'flat' figures, converting & scratchbuilding, displaying figures & vignettes, dioramas, and photographing the model soldier.

Moves No. 104. Published by Decision Games. 2001. Magazine. Good. £0.50

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

American magazine which focussed on European style board games. This issue covers: Cosmic Encounter inc. strategy tips article, Galaxy The Dark Ages, The Great Brain Robbery, Tally Ho!, Elfenland, Hare & Tortoise, Thieves of Bagdad,

Tales of Ulysse, Button Men: Fantasy.

Munchhausen. Published by Abacus. 1996. Box. Good. £4

Designer: Thomas Schneider Armann. No. players: 3-8. Country: German, Duration: 30 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Card game, 64 colourful cards, drawing their inspiration from the stories told by (and about) Baron Munchhausen. The game is a bluffing game in which players offer cards to each other, according to various rules but do so face down, and it is possible to cheat. The objective is to get rid of your less good cards while not being caught, and to be the first to get rid of all your cards.

Napoleon. Published by Avalon Hill. 1977. Box. Good but 1 box corner split. £9

Designer: T Dalgliesh, L Gutteridge & R Gibson. No. players: 2-3. Country: American, Duration: 2 hrs, Desc. by Eamon.

Game that uses the classic 'wooden block' system. This is highly recommended if you have never seen the system. Each player has a number of wooden blocks as playing pieces. The blocks have 'strength' levels on all four sides and the side 'on top' at any one time is the current strength of that unit. This information is secret, i.e., the blocks only face the player who controls them. When a fight ensues, players reveal their strengths, and any hits lowering strength mean that the block is rotated to a lower level (or eliminated if no lower level is possible). The battle sets Napoleon against the British and Prussian armies as Napoleon tries to invade Belgium in 1815.

Nautilus. Published by Kosmos. 2002. Box. Good. £17

Designer: Brigitte & Wolfgang Ditt. No. players: 2-4. Country: German, Duration: 1 hr 45 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Big box Kosmos game, with a big board and loads of chunky underwater research station tiles and plastic figures. Players spend money to build parts of a sea-floor research station and bring in their researchers. These researchers then improve various technologies for game advantages and victory points and can also man submarines which explore the sea floor looking for treasures and signs of the lost city of Atlantis. At the end of the game your score is your research points times your discovery points so you have to maintain a balance.

O' Kudos. Published by R&D Games. 2005. Sheet of card. New. £2

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

Promotional game which was available at Spiel 2005. The board shows a completed sudoku puzzle, with each player being assigned one or more colours which cover the board. Players place counters on the board with the objective of covering their opponents' squares and not their own. Definitely not simply a parallel sudoku puzzle game.

Olympics. Published by Capri. 1976. Box. Good, but 1 corner taped and + a taped up rip on the lid. . £1.50

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

Each player represents a nation in pursuit of gold medals. Nine Olympic events are covered in this family game. Includes an attractive scoreboard where the medal positions are displayed with little medals to insert, and plastic moulded athlete figures. An outer track is used to control the order in which events takes place, and athletes can be injured and recover - injured athletes not being able to take part in their event should it be held before they recover. Also energy cards can be obtained to give an advantage in the other events. The 9 events are split into running, jumping and throwing, and each has its own set of rules.

Oraklos. Published by Splotter. 2002. Box. 2 copies available:

1) In shrink. £4.50 2) Excellent. £4

Designer: Tamara Jannink, Joris Wiersinga. No. players: 2-5. Country: Dutch, Duration: 20 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Pattern recognition game in which a large number of coloured cubes (with holes in two sides) are thrown onto the table, and cards are turned over to indicate what must be spotted. The patterns are of the form of four cubes forming a rectangle and being of the right combination of colours, none with holes upwards and the rectangle must include no other cubes. Players each have their own target patterns, and get to choose some of the cubes which will be used that round, hopefully making their pattern more likely to occur and those of their opponents less likely.

Orient Express. Published by Jumbo. 1986. Box. Good, mostly unpunched. £9

Designer: R Wayne Schmittberger. No. players: 2-6. Country: Dutch, Duration: 1 hr, Desc. by Andy.

Detective game that not only looks great, but has very good rules and plays well. Players must interview up to 30 characters in each crime, but it is a race against time to unmask the murderer before the train reaches Istanbul. If you like crime solving games then this is highly recommended, as the cases are clever and require thought, making this one of the best of the genre. 10 different crimes included.

Oswald Jacoby's Complete Canasta. Published by Windmill Press. 1950. Book. Good but dustcover shows wear. £6

Author: Oswald Jacoby. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Hardback with dustcover, 20x14cm, 160 pages. A thorough look at the game of Canasta which covers: Review of Canasta for Beginners, New Strategy for Average Players, Fine Points for Experts, Two Player Canasta Strategies, Three Player Canasta Strategies, Six Player Canasta Strategies, Three Deck Canasta Strategies, Parties & Tournaments, Q & A, Laws of Canasta.

Pinhigh. Published by Canmos. ca.1990. Box. Excellent. £4

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

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

Pitagoras. Published by EG Spiele. 1996. Box. Good. £5

Designer: Nicolaas Neuwahl. No. players: 2-5. Country: Italian, Desc. by Andy.

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

Pitwits. Published by Gibsons Games. 1990. Box. Excellent. £6

Designer: Unknown. No. players: 3-6. Country: British, Duration: 45 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Party game. Each turn one player reads out a series of clues to the other players. The clues get easier as they go on. You shout the answer as soon as you have got it, and if correct all the other players move one space down the track. Anyone who falls off the end of the track is out. Last player still in wins. The quicker someone gets the answer right the more spaces the other players have to move.

Polyhedron Magazine. Published by Wizards Of The Coast. 2001.

Author: RPGA. Country: American, Desc. by Andy.

Official magazine of the RPGA Network. This magazine covers issues relevant to members of the worldwide RPGA Network as well as having many articles of general interest to role players - especially AD&D players. Produced in full colour. Main articles listed by issue.

Issue 147. Excellent. £0.60. Pillars of Ravens Bluff (important characters in the RPGA's campaign city), Dark Druidism (new AD&D character class and associated creatures), The Druidic Language of Ogham, Elminster's Everwinking Eye (A tour of the border kingdom of Owlhold), Monkeymen (a new race).

Issue 148. Excellent. £0.60. Pillars of Ravens Bluff (important characters in the RPGA's campaign city), Terrors of Gothic Earth ( A selection of monsters from folklore to add some horror to your campaign), Nocturno Muerte (adventure for All Flesh Must Be Eaten), Elminster's Everwinking Eye (a tour of the borderdown of Owlhold's less salubrious locales).

Push. Published by Spears. 1975. Box. 1 box corner taped. £2.50

Designer: Gilbert Obermair. No. players: 1-2. Country: British, Duration: 15 mins, Desc. by Andy.

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

Quasimodo. Published by Burnett Distribution Ltd. 1995. Box. Good. £1

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

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

Rally Round. Published by Saracad Marketing Ltd. 1986. Box. Good. £15

Designer: Unknown. No. players: 1-6. Country: British, Duration: 90 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Car rally game in which players select the characteristics of their cars at the start of the game and then take part in a timed rally. For those unfamiliar with rallying, each section of the route has a target time, and the objective is to get as close to that time as possible - not more or less! Routes and movement need to be chosen carefully, and players can accelerate, decelerate or leave their speed unchanged each turn, so it requires skill rather than luck.

Ratrace. Published by Waddingtons. 1973. Box. Good. £6

Designer: Unknown. No. players: 2-6. Country: British, Duration: 90 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Fun, family game about gaining status. It is a 'round-the-board' game, but has nice elements and works rather well. For instance you can marry into money and advance quicker than you would normally, but can you pay the new bills you will now face, and should you land on a divorce space things get nasty. Similarly you can choose to take lots of credit, but should the loan be called in at the wrong moment things get worse. Players advance from working class to middle class and finally high society, needing a selection of status symbols of the right type at each stage to advance.

Raub Ritter. Published by Queen Games. 2006. Box. Good. £8.50

Designer: Rudiger Dorn. No. players: 2-4. Country: German, Duration: 30 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Aka Robber Knights. Tile laying game in which the players represent bands of ruthless knights who intend to take control of valuable villages and towns, and will exploit any weak points left by other warlords. Each turn you play 1-3 tiles, and when playing a castle tile you also get to add knights and then move them into orthogonally adjacent spaces, potentially taking control of some tiles from other players.

Razzia. Published by Ravensburger. 1992. Box. Good. £6

Designer: Steffan Dorra. No. players: 3-8. Country: German, Duration: 30 mins, Desc. by Andy.

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

Restaurant. Published by Flying Turtle. 1987. Box. Good. £5

Designer: Roland Siegers. No. players: 3-6. Country: Belgian, Duration: 1 hr, Desc. by Andy.

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

Rigatoni Intriganti. Published by Glucksritter Spiele. 1997. Box. Excellent. £9.50

Designer: Oli Igelhaut. No. players: 3-4. Country: German, Duration: 1 hr, Desc. by Andy.

Special notes: The cards have had English pasteups stuck on them for ease of play.

This is a combination of a business game and a negotiation game. The players run pasta factories and try to produce and then sell pasta for a profit. However, each player secretly chooses from a selection of victory conditions at the start so people don't know who is really trying to do what. There are lots of opportunities to be nasty to other people as well as negotiate your way into or out of trouble! The bits are unusual - a very nice wooden box containing 3 colours of real pasta as playing pieces as well as the more usual wooden dobbers etc.

Rubik's Magic Strategy Game. Published by Matchbox. 1987. Box. Good. £1

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

Strategy game with 16 attractive, double-sided playing pieces that fit into squares on a plastic board. The pieces are tiles and before a tile is added to the board, another tile in play already must be flipped over into an adjacent square. Each tile has either a diamond or circle on each side (each player uses one shape), but there is a different background colour on the two sides. The objective is to get three of your pieces in a row with the same background colour, and so that your opponent cannot split it up in their next turn (ie. there is no legal flip a tile play which breaks the line).

Rubik's Zigzaw Puzzle. Published by Ideal. 1982. Box. Good, but box shows some wear. £3

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

A jigsaw puzzle with a difference. The correctly completed jigsaw is a mosaic of correctly completed rubiks cubes. There are 131 pieces, most of which are frog shaped, and fit together in an interlocking pattern whether or not the picture is then correct. There are also edge pieces which form the frame around the edge to make the whole a neat rectangle. An unusal jigsaw and the back of the box also presents some additional puzzles you may wish to attempt with the set.

Saving Lost Positions. Published by B.T.Batsford. 1987. Book. Excellent. £5

Author: Leonid Shamkovich, Eric Schiller. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Softback, 21x14cm, 101 pages. Chess book dedicated to anyone who has ever thrown away a winning position! The book is intended for experienced chess players and is a collection of games with discussions in which from a weak position the underdog has managed to fight back with resourceful play to achieve a draw or even a win. Chapters cover: Ordeal In The Opening, Swimming In Dangerous Waters, Its A Blunderful Life, A Sudden Change of Scenery, Seesaw, Heroic Defence, Endgame Escapes.

Schatztaucher. Published by Salagames. 1992. Box. Good. £6

Designer: Nik Sewell. No. players: 3-6. Country: German, Duration: 45 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Deep sea diving themed card game with a board onto which cards are played. Each player takes it in turn to go on dives, in the hope of finding gold coins while avoiding sharks, in order to buy harpoons. When a player has enough harpoons then a dive to the ocean floor can be attempted in order to retrieve a lost treasure chest and win the game. The harpoons are needed to fend off giant squid and sharks. Game play is unusual - the cards show what depth they refer to (1-8) on the front and back, so everyone can see what depth cards you have, but only you know whether they are treasure, fishes or sharks. During a dive the diving player asks each player in turn for a card of either the next level down or up as they wish.

Scramble. Published by Chad Valley. ca.1950. Box and Board. Good. £13

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

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

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

Scroll. Published by Kamkodi Ltd. 1987. Box. Good. £7

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

Abstract game played on a square gridded board in which there is a special 3x3 central area. Players start with 9 counters each and they can be moved 1 or 4 spaces at a time without jumping other pieces. Opposing pieces can be captured by surrounding them between two of your own pieces. There are also three levels of victory - the central zone needing to be fully captured for the more major victories.

See You Later. Published by FX Schmidt. 1994. Box. Good. £7

Designer: Heinz Meister. No. players: 2-6. Country: German, Duration: 20 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Risk taking game in which players have to decide how far to push their luck. A circular track has 5 wooden alligator pieces on it, and on their turn a player draws a card and moves the indicated alligator that many spaces clockwise. If it lands on an empty space the turn may be banked or continued, with each card played counting for another point. However all points gained this turn are lost if landing on a space with another alligator, in which case the next player can potentially score for the unbanked cards too. Extra rules add action cards which give additional bonuses and penalties.

Seenot Im Rettungsboot. Published by Walter Müller. 2006. Box. In shrink. £23

Designer: Ronald Wettering. No. players: 3-6. Country: German, Duration: 90 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Reprint of Rette Sich Wer Kann - also known as The Lifeboat Game. Players attempt to get their sailors back to land safely, and must continually vote for different options - which boat will move, which boat will spring a leak, who will be chucked overboard, who will change ships etc. The game requires lots of negotiation and making deals, with plenty of scope for reneging! Nice wooden playing pieces.

Shut The Box. Published by Nostalgic Toys. Box. Good. £3

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

Nicely made wooden version of the dice game Shut The Box. The game is solid wood with a green baize dice rolling compartment. Players use their dice rolls to shut close the various compartments, with the objective being to have as few open numbers left when you roll a number which cannot be used. If you wish I can also supply details of my own (more skill) variant to Shut The Box (please ask for it when ordering).

Shut The Box - Travel Edition. Published by Milton Bradley. ca.1990. Box. Good. £1

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

Notes: The original cardboard packet and rules are missing. The plastic box itself is fine, and I can supply a set of rules.

Small travel edition of Shut The Box. The game comes in a plastic closable case, ideal for holidays or the car. The game involves throwing two dice and using the numbers to close numbered compartments, with some choice as for example, a 6+3=9 could be used to shut the 9, the 8+1 or 7+2 etc. If al compartments are closed the game is won, otherwise penalty points are received for compartments which could not be closed. I can also supply details of my own (more skill) variant to Shut The Box (please ask for it when ordering).

Casablanca. Published by Invicta. ca.1980. Box. Good. £3.50

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

Dice game which is very similar to Shut The Box, and indeed the components are the same as for that game (except there are 3 more dice). The main component is a walled dice rolling area with the numbers 1-9 shown, but with slideable covers so that the numbers can be hidden individually. The game itself involves rolling two dice and splitting the total rolled amongst the numbers not yet covered with the objective being to try to cover all the numbers. Unlike Shut The Box when only a few numbers are visible just one dice is rolled. This set also has rules to several other staple dice games: Craps, Hi-Dice, Sam and Yacht.

Siege. Published by Standard Games. 1983. Box. Box shows wear. £7

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

Special notes: The box is quite large and not very sturdy and so shows some damage due to stacking

Wargame in the Cry Havoc series. This is, however, a standalone game as well as being playable with Cry Havoc. Siege is a man to man small scale combat game set in medieval times. It has 5 scenarios and 2 maps (one a castle and the other a fortified encampment). Rules cover all sorts of siege engines and tactics. Attractive counters with individual pictures and combat stats.

Signs Up. Published by Parker Bros. 1981. Box. Good but box a bit grubby. £2

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

Children's game - 6-10 year olds suggested. 7 shop signs have got muddled up and the players try to correct this by moving around the board to the shops, collecting part of the sign which is wrong and taking it to the correct shop where a reward is received and a new sign-part collected. Movement is by card play, and the cards have an incomplete rhyme / a sum which indicates the number of spaces to move. Player with most money when all the signs have been corrected wins.

Silverton. Published by Two Wolf. 1991. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Excellent. £14 2) Good. £12

Designer: Phillip John Smith. No. players: 1-6. Country: American, Duration: 2-4 hrs, Desc. by Andy.

Very nice train game, with a number of original ideas. Set in the gold rush days of Colorado in the 1880's. Players must build rail networks to connect to mines, and get the ore to the markets. Includes solitaire scenarios and lots of variants and optional rules. Players can decide how long a game they want by deciding how many turns to play for at the start of the game. I can supply my house rules and the setups and optional rules I prefer to play with.

Sixteen Gambling Games In Twenty Minutes. Published by Eyre & Spottiswoode. ca.1910. Book. Good. £8.50

Author: Double You. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

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

Small Soldiers Karate Fighters. Published by Kenner. 1998. Box. Box good, contents unused. £5

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

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

Smuggle. Published by Milton Bradley. 1981. Box. Good. £7.50

Designer: Unknown. No. players: 3-6. Country: British, Duration: 20 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Card game in which players try to get their luxuries through Customs. Formerly made by Pepys as Contraband, and based on the playing card game Cheat. Colourful cards and play-money included. One player acts as the Customs Officer and can challenge other players who state what they have in the cards. If allowed through they pay whatever duty the declared items incur. If challenged falsely they are paid compensation, but if challenged correctly they must pay the full duty, with more serious fines in some cases.

Space: 1999. Published by Omnia. 1974. Box. 1 box corner taped. £6.50

Designer: R.C.P. Guignard. No. players: 3-5. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

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

Spiel Taschenbuch. Published by Friedhelm Merz Verlag. Book. 2 editions available.

1) Spiel 1995 edition. 782 pages. Good. £1.50

2) Spiel 1996 edition. 812 pages. Good. £1.50

Author: Rosemarie Geu. Country: German, Desc. by Andy.

Softback, 15x11cm. Pocket guide book to the Spiel fair in Essen, with lots of useful information to collectors such as: Company addresses for all the exhibitors, PBM magazine addresses, German games awards lists, Journalists' and magazines contact details, Lists of the games being shown at all the stands that year, Lists of games authors with their ludographies, Games index, Games groups and so on. It is all in German of course.

Star Trek The Undiscovered Country. Published by King International. 1993. Box. Excellent. £3

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

1000 Piece Jigsaw puzzle showing the Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country film poster. This is a limited edition poster (10000 were produced). When complete the puzzle measures 67cm x 48.5cm.

Star Wars: Corellian Smuggler. Published by Shadis. 1996. Ziplock. Good. £5

Designer: John Zinser. No. players: 1. Country: American, Desc. by Andy.

Special notes: The board and various charts have been mounted on stiff card.

Published in Shadis magazine issue 27. This is a solitaire Star Wars based board game in which you take the role of a smuggler in a Corellian ship, rather like Han Solo and the Millenium Falcon. The game includes 6 scenarios for you to try out.

Stimmvieh. Published by Meyer. 1998. Box. Good. £4.50

Designer: Andrea Meyer. No. players: 3-5. Country: German, Duration: 30 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Special notes: Signed by Andrea Meyer. No. 164/200.

Card game, printed in a limited edition of 200. Political election themed game. Players use influence cards to obtain votes and donations. The players who get the most votes get to double the value of their donations, and whoever has the most donations after such doubling wins.

Stop Thief!. Published by Spears. 1985. Box. Good. £4

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

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

Strategic Solitaire. Published by McFarland. 1987. Book. Excellent. £3

Author: David Berveiler. Country: American, Desc. by Andy.

Hardback, 22x14cm, 142 pages. Reprint of a book originally published in 1947. The author is a self-admitted solitaire (patience) addict, who in this book goes into depth about the choices you get in the most common games, and offers some variations to make it easier or harder to win, as well as explaining how to improve your chances of winning.

Symbioz. Published by Unicorn. 1995. Box. Good. £15

Designer: Francois Bachelart & Christophe Pinard. No. players: 2-4. Country: French, Desc. by Andy.

Various alien lifeforms struggle for dominance on a distant planet. The carnivourous Kroguls, the herbivorous Grabits and the Zherbes, a prolific intelligent plant. The players try to expand their own populations of each of these, while ensuring that their rivals' populations are kept in check. The objective is to achieve a population of only plants in three of 24 areas.

Tacara. Published by Eggert Spiele. 2000. Box. In shrink. £9

Designer: Peter Eggert. No. players: 3-10. Country: German, Duration: 1 hr, Desc. by Andy.

Motor racing game which uses a vector movement system. Each player can change their car's vector of movement a limited amount each turn, and then moves their car according to their modified vector. Hopefully this will keep them on course around the track, out of the way of other cars and fast enough to be competitive. A few times during the game a token can be handed in to modify the vector for this turn only in order to help get around tight corners or avoid crashing. Clever system.

Tactical Chess Exchanges. Published by B.T. Batsford. 1991. Book. Excellent. £4

Author: Gennady Nesis. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Softback, 21x14cm, 121 pages. The author demonstrates how to use pawn and piece exchange to your advantage in many ways. This is done by examining various games in which grandmasters have demonstrated the power of the tactical exchange.

Tahuantinsuyu. Published by Hangman Games. 2004. Box. Excellent. £17

Designer: Alan D. Ernstein. No. players: 3-4. Country: American, Duration: 3 hrs, Desc. by Andy.

Special notes: Limited edition: No. 875

Empire building game set in the Incan Empire. Players take the role of one of the king's chiefs and must use the labour force granted them to expand and improve the empire, and the player who does this most effectively will win. Play is on a laminated board and crayons are used to mark in roads built in each player's network. As well as building roads players can also construct cities, temples, garrisons, and terraces as well as conquering neutral regions. Each of these options gives a different tradeoff in terms of victory points and additional labour for future turns. The game also uses an unusual card mechanism in which cards played all affect two adjacent players, whether helpful or harmful.

Tension. Published by Peter Pan. 1971. Box. Box shows wear, 1 corner taped up. £3

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

The centrepiece of the game is a large round plastic board with holes for pieces of various colours, but one less hole than the number of players. The 'spin-o-matic' colour indicator is spun, and when it stops players race to get a piece of the indicated colour into a slot of that colour. The slowest has to take all the other players' pieces for that round. The objective is to be the first to get rid of all your pieces.

The Complete Book Of Patience. Published by Faber & Faber. 1950. Book. Good. £2

Author: Albert Morehead, Geoffrey Mott-Smith. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Hardback with dustcover, 21x14cm, 192 pages. Around 200 different games of patience described with diagrams. The book divides them into 1 pack, 2 pack, 4 pack and Stripped pack games, and also has a section giving advise on which games to choose for different moods.

The Diamond System. Published by Littlebury & Co.. 1948. Book. Good. £7

Author: Edgar Lynch. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Hardback with dustcover, 22x14cm, 57 pages. Bridge book which describes the author's Diamond system of bidding. The book covers all you would expect of a bidding system: opening bids, responder's bids, abnormal deals, bidding when opposition have opened, slam bidding. The book also has a section on the play of cards with plenty of information of use even if you aren't going to try the Diamond system.

The Game Of Draughts: Kelso. Published by Phillips & Co. 1905. Booklet. Good. £3.50

Author: H. Jacob, J. H. Strudwick. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Booklet, 18x12cm, 32 pages. The full title is: The Game of Draughts: An Analysis of the Kelso. The booklet examines lots of different games which have involved the Kelso Exchange. Clearly the content is only of interest to serious Draughts players.

The Game Of Geog. Published by Unknown. Map Board + Box. Board back discoloured. £1

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

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

The Game Of Nations. Published by Waddingtons. 1972. Box. Box base indented due to stacking. £2.50

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

A political game in which players' countries fight and manoeuver diplomatically for control over an oil rich continent. Some countries have sea ports, others have to rely on pipelines through neighbouring countries or a vital canal. Players control leaders and oil tankers as well as a secret agent. Players can choose to trigger event cards which are both good and bad. Different types of leader have different strengths. It is continually necessary to take risks attempting to depose the leader of opponents' countries while also trying to maximise your own oil revenue.

The Gunpowder Treason Game. Published by Aztral Games. 1986. Packet. Good, but box insert discoloured. £13

Designer: Unknown. No. players: 2-4. Country: British, Duration: 40 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Promotional game, made for Astra Fireworks. Mixture of plastic and wooden pieces. Very bright, attractive board and 64 cards. Players move across a gridded board first collecting gunpowder and then moving it into place close to Parliament before trying to blow the Houses to pieces. However, each player is trying to do this quicker than anyone else, and in order to speed you up there are tunnels and listening posts which speed up movement substantially, but with some risk of being discovered by the authorities - judging when and how much risk to take is what the game is about.

The Honeymooners Game. Published by TSR. 1986. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Good. £0.75 2) Mint. £1.50

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

TV related. Box lavishly illustrated with pictures of Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden, the star of the show. Over 100 cards supplied. Players move their pieces around the board with the objective of collecting special cards from each of the corners. Then players return to Ralph's apartment and attempt to obtain other cards. Play is by playing cards and when moving onto a space a matching card can be played to move again.

The Key To The Kingdom. Published by Waddingtons. 1990. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Good. £1.50. Box slightly indented due to stacking, but contents unused. 2) Good. £2.50

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

Fantasy game with a board that changes shape (there are 6 different boards that change as the game progresses), plastic miniatures as playing pieces and one of the few mainstream games to use 8-sided dice. Players must enter the Kingdom and discover the Key, hidden in one of the special locations, each of which involves a mini-adventure to get to it (such as the whirlpool, the stepping stones, or the sleeping giant). Food and equipment is needed to survive. Failed adventurers end up in the dungeon. Ultimately the other adventurers could prove just as troublesome as the perils of the Kingdom itself.

The Mag With No Name Issue 17. Published by Ian Willey. ca.1996. Magazine. Good. £0.20

Author: Edited by Ian Willey. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

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

The Name Of The Game. Published by Beechams. ca.1980. Box. 1 Box corner split. £2

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

Promotional game, made by a company that supplies soft drinks to cash and carry stores. Each player must manage a range of outlets, buying and selling stock in order to become the wealthiest owner. Includes 4 promotional posters, board in 4 sections, 4 large 3D cardboard buildings, cards of various types, play money, car pieces and a die. Game play involves rolling the die and moving around a track on the board and having to buy stock (at retail price) from a shop landed on (paid to the shop's owner). New stock can be bought at the start of a player's turn. Unusual item.

The Official Master Mind Handbook. Published by New English Library. 1976. Book. Good. £1.75

Author: Leslie H. Ault. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

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

The Quizmaster. Published by Spear's Games. 1983. Box. Good but some surface scratches on lid. £1.50

Designer: BBC Enterprises Ltd / Seven Towns. No. players: 2+. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Quite clearly this is a card game version of Mastermind, the British TV quiz (not the logical deduction game), as the box shows the famous black chair and pictures Magnus Magnusson. Inside there are 10 types of questions in different categories and three different difficulties as well, worth 2, 4 and 7 points respectively. There are 1000 cards, so in all 10000 questions - that should keep you occupied for a while!

The Week-end Problems Book. Published by Cambridge University Press. 1932. Book. Good. £8.50

Author: Hubert Phillips. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Special notes: Many crosswords completed in pencil (they can be erased), but a previous owner has neatly written in many additional puzzles in the blank end pages.

Hardback, 19x12cm, 334 pages. An excellent collection of puzzles and conundrums of all sorts. They fall into the following categories: Mathematical / Logical, Crosswords (American style), Word Puzzles, Bridge Problems, Chess Problems.

Thunderbirds International Rescue Game. Published by Peter Pan. 1992. Box. Good. £6

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

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

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

Tit-Bits Teaser No.2. Published by George Newnes. ca.1930. Box. Good. £2.50

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

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

Tom Jolly's Cave Troll. Published by Fantasy Flight Games. 2002. Box. In shrink. £11.50

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

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

Tony & Tino. Published by Descartes Editeur. 2002. Box. Excellent. £5

Designer: Bruno Cathala. No. players: 2. Country: German, Duration: 30 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Card playing and tile laying game in which the players take the roles of gang leaders in 1930's Chicago, and vie for supremacy on the streets. The board shows a 6x6 grid of spaces and money is put at the end of each row and column. Players play their tiles and cards with the objective of having superior forces on each row or column when it is filled in order to claim the money there. Some of the tiles purely give influence, while others show a character with special rules.

Top Secret. Published by Blatz. 1996. Box. Good. £3.50

Designer: Tom Schoeps. No. players: 2-6. Country: German, Duration: 20 mins, Desc. by Andy.

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

Toscana. Published by Piatnik. 2001. Box. In shrink. £9

Designer: Niek Neuwahl. No. players: 2. Country: Austrian, Duration: 25 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Rather nice tile laying game in which the players alternate playing a tile onto the board. The tiles show the view of a Tuscan village from above, with the deep red roofs and gray of the ground. Each tile has a mixture of roofs and ground on a 4x2 grid, and the objective is for one player to make as large a connected area as possible of roofs while the other player tries to make a large connected ground area. Each player can also veto his opponent's play once in the game, forcing a different tile to be played at a crucial moment.

Toy Story. Published by Schmidt International. ca.1995. Box. Good. £3

Designer: Tom Espen. No. players: 2-4. Country: German, Desc. by Andy.

Childrens game (ages 4-12) based on the very popular film Toy Story. Game play involves moving your playing pieces along a track according to a dice roll, but with some choices, and the possibility of challenging other players along the way. These challenges are done using chunky cards showing Woody, Bo Peep and Buzz, and resolution uses a scissors-paper-rock mechanism. The objective is to be the first to arrive at the removal van, which is also moved along as the game goes on.

Trotters Trading Game. Published by Toy Brokers Ltd. 1990. Box. Good. £0.75

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

TV related - based on Only Fools And Horses. Players try to accumulate £1 million in order to win. This is done by moving around the board and actioning spaces and drawing cards. Essentially players buy and sell dodgy goods and hope to make some money, and when £500 is accumulated it can be taken to the casino and the wheel of fortune spun (spinner provided) and hopefully the £1 million jackpot won.

Tutankhamen's Revenge. Published by Jumbo. 1992. Box. Excellent. £10

Designer: Stefanie Rohner and Christian Wolf. No. players: 2-4. Country: Dutch, Duration: 30 mins, Desc. by Andy.

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

Vampire: The Masqerade: Players Guide To The Sabbat. Published by White Wolf. 1992. Book. 2 copies available:

1) Good. £4 2) Good, but cover shows a little wear. £3.50

Author: Steve C. Brown. No. players: 3+. Country: American, Desc. by Andy.

Softback, 28x22cm, 156 pages. Sourcebook for Vampire: The Masqerade dark role playing game. The Sabbat is a secret political and militaristic society of vampires. This book covers: Inside the Sabbat, Running with the Sabbat, Character Creation, Paths of Enlightenment, Sabbat Traits, Sabbat Templates, Unusual Weapons for Vampires, Sabbat Relics and Magical Devices.

Vampire: The Masqerade: Storytellers Guide To The Sabbat. Published by White Wolf. 1993. Book. Good. £4

Author: Steve C. Brown. No. players: 3+. Country: American, Desc. by Andy.

Softback, 28x22cm, 133 pages. Sourcebook for Vampire: The Masqerade dark role playing game. The Sabbat is a secret political and militaristic society of vampires. The book includes 5 stories involving Sabbat characters. The chapters are: Sabbat Chronicles, Politics Of The Sabbat, Forces Of Darkness, Storytellers Aids, Quick Start Materials, The Stories.

Vampire: The Masqerade: The Storytellers Handbook. Published by White Wolf. 1993. Book. Good but corners show a little wear. £4.50

Author: Steve C. Brown. No. players: 3+. Country: American, Desc. by Andy.

Softback, 28x22cm, 152 pages. Sourcebook for Vampire: The Masqerade dark role playing game. This book introduces the style of roleplaying and the setting as well as and the game mechanics. The chapters cover: The Story, The Chronicle, The Setting, The Motive, The Enemy, The Ways, Enchanted Items, Useful Lists.

Victorian Board Games. Published by St Martin's Press. 1996. Book. In shrink. £13

Author: Olivia Bristol. Country: American, Desc. by Andy.

Hardback, 31x32cm, 12 pages. Very nicely produced book of Victorian games, that includes copies of the original boards and pieces (in a resealable container). The six games included are The Prince's Quest, A Day At The Zoo With Daddy, Cycling, The Wonders Of The Deep, A Trip To Mars, and The Tailless Donkey. The boards are mounted on thick card rather than just paper copies, and the book folds flat so the games can be played. The author is a Christie's auction house expert.

War Of The Ring. Published by Fantasy Flight. 2004. Box. In shrink. £30

Designer: R. Di Meglio, M. Maggi, F.Nepitello. No. players: 2-4. Country: American, Duration: 3hrs, Desc. by Andy.

An epic game based on Tolkien's Lord of The Rings. Amazingly, this game really does do the book justice. The game says it is for 2-4 players, but it is really only for 2, with less than ideal options for splitting the forces with 3/4 players. The game covers the progression of the fellowship towards Mount Doom in a clever semi-hidden manner, as well as including the mustering of armies all around Middle Earth, with the players deciding where battles will take place. The bits are wonderful: with over 200 miniatures and over 100 cards. An essential item for Tolkien fans, and if the subject matter appeals highly recommended.

Watch It!. Published by Milton Bradley. 1978. Box. Good. £1.50

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

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

Weak Two Bids. Published by Probray Press Ltd. 1991. Book. Good. £3

Author: Brian Senior. Country: British, Desc. by Andy.

Softback, 20x14cm, 30 pages. Book on Bridge conventions, and how a weak two bid can be useful. The contents cover: Weak Two Bids in each seat, Responding to the Weak Two Bid, Bidding Over Intervention, Handling Strong Two Openings, Defending against Weak Two Bids.

White Wolf Magazine No. 23. Published by White Wolf Publishing. 1990. Magazine. Excellent. £0.30

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

Roleplaying magazine mainly aimed at the darker side of roleplaying. Articles include: Ars Magica Evil Creatures, Shadowrun Archetypes, The Key and the Gate (CoC adventure), Drought At Dirty Ernies (Age of Ruin adventure), Miniatures, PBM, Reign Storm (Fantasy encounter), Computers as helpers; Reviews of: Forgotten Realms Adventures, Chill, AD&D Complete ... Handbooks, Cyberrogues, The Grimoire, GURPS Cyberpunk, The Nile Empire Sourcebook, Ravenloft Realm of Terror, Sprawlgangs & Megacorps, Witches.

Who's In The Igloo?. Published by Artstraws Ltd. ca.1983. Box. Good. £5

Designer: Virginia Charves. No. players: 2-5. Country: British, Duration: 10 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Children's game (ages 5-10). The board shows a grid of 14 x 14 squares each showing either a polar bear or an eskimo (mostly eskimos), and 5 are coloured. A large igloo tile covers a 5x5 area of the board except for one central space. A card is drawn indicating the current coloured target space and players take it in turn to move the igloo tile one space at a time towards this target. They can keep moving it until they reach the target or the hole reveals a polar bear, in which case the next player continues. Reaching a target wins that card. A harder variant gives each player a different target card.

Win At Hearts. Published by Dover Publications. 1983. Book. Good. £10

Author: Joseph D. Andrews. Country: American, Desc. by Andy.

Softback, 21x14cm, 102 pages. A relatively uncommon book which explains the ever popular game of Hearts and gives lots of ideas on how you can improve your play. The book covers: a History of the Game, overview of the game, the Pass and other Basics, Spade Suit Management, Planning your Play, Defensive Play, Psychology in Hearts, Variations, The Grand Squash.

Winning Monopoly. Published by Harper & Row. 1987. Book. Good. £4.50

Author: Kaz Darzinskis. Country: American, Desc. by Andy.

Softback, 20x13cm, 226 pages. Subtitled: A complete guide to property, accumulation, cash-flow strategy, and negotiating techniques when playing the best-selling board game. The book is divided into five main sections: Set Up The Game To Set Up Opponents, Below The Surface Of Monopoly, Dogs Into Diamonds Or How To Trade Your Opponents Into Oblivion, Optional Techniques For World-Class Players.

Wizard's Quest. Published by Avalon Hill. 1979. Box. Several copies available:

1) Good. £6. Edge of the lid and one side show damage where tape was removed

2) Good. £6.50 3) Box shows wear. £4

Designer: Garrett J Donner. No. players: 2-6. Country: American, Duration: 2 hrs, Desc. by Eamon.

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

World Of Darkness: The Chaos Factor. Published by White Wolf. 1993. Book. Good. £3.50

Author: James A. Moore. No. players: 3+. Country: American, Desc. by Andy.

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

Wreckage. Published by Fantasy Flight. 2003. Box. In shrink. £9

Designer: Darrell Hardy, Barry Stockinger. No. players: 2-4. Country: American, Duration: 45 mins, Desc. by Andy.

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

X From Outer Space. Published by Discovery Toys. 1985. Box. Good. £4.50

Designer: Gayle Feyrer & Richard Anderson. No. players: 2-4. Country: American, Duration: 30 mins, Desc. by Eamon.

Roll-and-move children's game with a twist: you roll one white and two red dice and move your ship using the value of the white die. If you land on a space with a number, then multiply the large blue number on the space by the sum of your red dice. If the result is equal to the little red number in the space, you move forward 5 spaces. If greater than the red number, you move forward 1 and if less you move back 1. Planet Zoomer and Black Hole cards are drawn at different places on the board and move the player's pawn forward or backward along the track. The first person to reach the sun wins.

X.Net. Published by Fanfor. ca.2001. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Good. £4 2) Good but lid slightly indented. £2.50

Designer: Valentin Herman. No. players: 3-6. Country: German, Duration: 90 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Card game, in which players act as Internet entrepreneurs, supplying different needs to their customers. You must keep your servers and network connections up to date and provide the content currently most in demand. As the game goes on the current demand for different content types will change and so you will need to alter what you provide to keep up.

You Be The Judge. Published by Spear's Games. 1993. Box. 2 copies available:

1) Good but mark where label was removed. £2. Photocopied rules, original dice replaced.

2) Good. £5

Designer: David Mair. No. players: 2 teams. Country: British, Duration: 30 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Party game for two teams of players. One team reads out a summary of a real court case from around the world and the other team has to decide whether the judge was For or Against the prosecution. A correct answer gains a variable number of points for that team, and the first team to score 16 points wins the game.

Your America. Published by Cadaco. 1970. Box. Good. £4

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

Special notes: The box base is slightly indented and the corners have been taped.

Trivia game in which players move around the board answering questions about the USA. The categories are: People, Places & Things; Presidents of the USA; States of the Union; Inventors & Authors; Government; The U.S. at War; Famous Americans. Each player is given a U.S. flag board with numbered holes along the stripes and each time a question is answered the marker is advanced along the flag according to the difficulty of the question. A booklet lists 48 questions in each category.

Yucata. Published by Hans Im Gluck. 1996. Box. Excellent. £8

Designer: Stefan Dorra. No. players: 2-4. Country: German, Duration: 20 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Intriguing race game, with players using cards to advance their token around the Mayan Temple. As the amulets progress, players pick up stones that line the path, and it is these stones that decide the winner, rather than being the fastest necessarily. The clever thing is that most of the stones are mildly good to pick up but there are also a few bad stones, and getting these gets scarily worse the more you get, so deciding how to time your big moves and the 'special' cards is critical.

Zig Zag. Published by Milton Bradley. 1977. Box. Good. £3.50

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

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

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

scoring areas. Surprisingly interesting little game with chunky plastic pieces and robust board.

Zillionaire. Published by Milton Bradley. 1987. Box. Excellent. £5

Designer: Unknown. No. players: 3-6. Country: American, Duration: 45 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Card game, part of the Big Deal Series. Very closely related to Karriere Poker and WotC's The Great Dalmuti. This is one of the better versions with players earning points each round and having to sit in a new order of play depending on the status they have earned. Wild cards add an interesting element. This family of games are 'climbing' games - sort of related to trick taking games, but cards are played in combinations as well as just singly, and the 'trick' can go around the

table more than once.

Zooloretto. Published by Abacus Spiele. 2007. Box. In shrink. £18

Designer: Michael Schacht. No. players: 2-5. Country: American, Duration: 45 mins, Desc. by Andy.

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.

Zum Kuckuck!. Published by F X Schmid. 1997. Box. Good. £8

Designer: Stefan Dorra. No. players: 3-5. Country: German, Duration: 45 mins, Desc. by Andy.

Card game, with 108 cards depicting comic birds, mainly cockatoos and cuckoos. Every round each player chooses a number card to play, and the highest two get nest cards. At the end of the round having the highest valued nest is a bad

thing as they attract cuckoos - however a new nest replaces an old one, so 'winning' a high value nest at the start of a hand isn't necessarily very bad. After a hand is played out the initial hands are reformed and passed to the left for replay!

Whoever does best after everyone has played each hand is the winner.

And now for some books:

Book Title	Publisher	Author	Year	Type	Size (cm)	Pages	Condition	Price
How-Do-You-Do Party Games	Nelson	Audrey Fawley	1970	Hard	24x17	29	Good, but spine taped in 1 place	£2
Floor Games (1^st edition)	Neil & Co.	H.G.Wells	1911	Hard	22z17	71	Good for age. Slight stains on cover, some speckling on flyleaf, otherwise clean with just a very little light speckling on a few pages.	£60
Scarne's New Complete Guide To Gambling	Constable	John Scarne	1975	Hard	24x16	871	Good	£12
The Losing Trick Count	Methuen & Co. Ltd	F. D. Courtenay, Col.G.G.J. Walshe	1937	Hard	19x12	176	Covers very discoloured, but inside is fine	£6
The Complete Book Of Card Games	H.F.& G. Witherby Ltd	Hubert Phillips, B.C. Westall	1939	Hard	22x15	258	Good	£10
N.F.W.I. Games	N.F.W.I.	Unknown	1928	Soft	22x14	12	Booklet. Good, but edges a little worn	£3
100 Other Games To Play On A Chessboard	Peter Owen	Stephen Addison	1983	Soft	23x15	96	Excellent	£10
Card Games Around The World	Dover	Sid Sackson	1994	Soft	21x14	146	Excellent	£10
An Introduction To The Endgame At Chess	Chatto & Windus	Philip W. Sergeant	1939	Hard	19x13	219	Good	£6
Giant Book Of Games	Arco	Frankel & Masters	1958	Hard	20x13	~630	Good	£10
The Study Of Games	John Wiley & Sons	E.M. Avedon, B. Sutton-Smith	1971	Hard	23x16	530	Good - Ex Library	£7.50
Practise Your Crowhurst 2 Clubs	Bridge Plus	Eric Crowhurst	1997	Soft	21x15	16	Excellent	£2.50
Chess Masterpieces	Daily News Ltd	W.H. Watts	1924	Soft	21x14	58	Good, but spine has been taped	£6
Book Of Puzzles	Saxon & Co.	The Sphinx	~1895	Soft	21x14	122	Good	£10
Single Card Strategies For Magic: The Gathering	Wordware Publishing	Jess Franzmann, Philip Kramer, Beth Moursund	1996	Soft	23x15	192	Excellent	£5
Learn Magic Cards	Wordware Publishing	Larry W. Smith	1996	Soft	23x15	141	Excellent	£2.50
The Tables Of Magic	Wordware Publishing	George H.Baxter	1996	Soft	23x15	184	Excellent	£2
Dominating Dominia	Wordware Publishing	George H.Baxter	1996	Soft	23x15	211	Excellent	£2
The Pocket Book Of Board Games	Kestrel	John Astrop	1980	Hard	20x12	27	Good	£1
The Money Game	Unwin Brothers	Norman Angell	1931	Hard inc. Box	22x14	176	Good, but first few pages and page edges show speckling. Game is complete.	£35
Sports And Games	John G. Eccles	Brian Jewell	1977	Hard	25x19	148	Excellent	£5
Kate Greenaway's Book Of Games	St Martins Press Inc	Kate Greenaway	1987	Hard	23x16	64	Excellent	£3
Fantasy Wargaming	Patrick Stephens	Martin Hackett	1990	Hard	24x16	232	Excellent	£4
The Official Rummikub Book	Sterling Publishing Co.	Ephraim Hertzano	1978	Soft	18x18	72	Good, but some marks on front cover	£10

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