Racing Games

Image by Montreal Artist James Kerr

Article by Baron Aurddeilen-ap-Robet

Racing Games are the oldest, and most widely dispersed category of board games. The object of a Racing Game is to be the first to move all one’s pieces to the end of a track.

The Game of the Goose or Goose game is a board game where two or more players race pieces around a track by rolling dice. The aim of the game is to reach square number sixty-three before any of the other players, avoid obstacles such as the Inn, the Bridge and Death. The game’s origins are uncertain. Some connect the game with the Phaistos Disc because of its spiral shape.

The Royal Game of Goose, Late 16th Century – Courtesy of the Metroplitan Museum of Art, Pfeiffer Fund

This Game of the Goose or Goose game board shown above seems to be the oldest survival of a game first mentioned in Italy in 1480. Popular at the Medici court of Florence, it is documented in June 1597 by John Wolfe who attested that the game was played in London. It is thought to be the prototype for many of the commercial European racing board games of recent centuries. The inlay technique of the present board is associated with 16th century Gujarat in North India following a printed Italian design. Such precious objects were highly treasured in Europe. They often served as diplomatic gifts or objects of display in the Kunstkammer. On the reverse, the board is laid out for chess and a non-European form of backgammon.

For more information on the Game of Goose and how to play, use the following link.

Game of Goose Rules (link), reconstruction by Dagonell the Juggler