Here is a rather clever version of noughts and crosses that uses battleships, mines and submarines. A strangely simple but compelling game. A real game of skill.

To use the board

You can print out this game on card or print it on paper and then glue it to a piece of card or board. If you want to save it from wear, your can protect it with a light coat of acrylic varnish.

Cutting out the Pieces

Please take care cutting out the pieces. For safety sake, children should only be allowed to do this under adult supervision.

The Rules

This is a game for two players, and the pieces are divided up so that each has 2 Battleship, 2 Submarines & 2 Mines. The players take it in turn to lay down one-piece at a time on any of the unoccupied squares on the hoard, and the winner is the player who can put down one of his pieces so as to complete a row of three pieces in a line consisting of a Battleship in between a Submarine and a Mine— as he succeeds in doing so he exclaims, "You're Sunk!" The row may be made either across, up and down or diagonally and it does not matter which of the players put down the other two pieces in the row. If it is your turn to play it is quite in order to prevent your opponent from completing a row on his next move by blocking an opening with one of your pieces even though it does not complete a winning row. The pieces may not be moved once they have been placed on the board.

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Steeplechase is based on a form of Horse Racing that derived its name from the Church Steeple at the centre of the cross country course. When the race was formalised to a track meeting, they included the fences and ditches from these country races. The most famous of these is now the Grand National run annually at Liverpool since 1837.

To use the board

You can print out this game on card or print it on paper and then glue it to a piece of card or board. If you want to save it from wear, your can protect it with a light coat of acrylic varnish. If you would like to give the board an appearance of age, you can paint it with a light wash of cold tea or coffee, to stain it before you varnish. Another method is to add a small amount of the acrylic colour “raw sienna” to the varnish itself.

Cutting out the Pieces

Please take care cutting out the pieces. For safety sake, children should only be allowed to do this under adult supervision.

The Rules

Each player spins the wheel in turn and a six must turn up before starting. Afterwards the player travels as many spaces as the wheel/dice shows. The first to reach “Finish” is the winner.

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Speedway is based on the thrilling sport of Motorcycle Racing and is an updated version of the old race game. Here the mechanised transport has superseded the horse. All board games are a fascinating record of social history as well as been entertaining.

To use the board

You can print out this game on card or print it on paper and then glue it to a piece of card or board. If you want to save it from wear, your can protect it with a light coat of acrylic varnish. If you would like to give the board an appearance of age, you can paint it with a light wash of cold tea or coffee, to stain it before you varnish. Another method is to add a small amount of the acrylic colour “raw sienna” to the varnish itself.

Cutting out the Pieces

Please take care cutting out the pieces. For safety sake, children should only be allowed to do this under adult supervision.

The Rules

Each player spins the wheel in turn and a six must turn up before starting. Afterwards the player travels as many spaces as the wheel/dice shows. The first to reach 100 is the winner.

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The renown London games maker and publisher,John Jaques introduced the game of Snap in 1866. Snap cards are arranged in groups, like Happy Families, but each card in a group bears the same picture.

To use the Game

Print out four of each of the two sheets.
You can print out this game on card or print it on paper and then glue it to a piece of card or board. If you want to save it from wear, you can protect it with a light coat of acrylic varnish. If you would like to give the board an appearance of age, you can paint it with a light wash of cold tea or coffee, to stain it before you varnish. Another method is to add a small amount of the acrylic colour “raw sienna” to the varnish itself.

Cutting out the Pieces

Please take care cutting out the pieces. For safety sake, children should only be allowed to do this under adult supervision.

The Rules

The dealer, deals out all the cards. Each player places their cards, face down, in a pile in front of them. The dealer then turns over the top card of his pile, the next player does the same and so on until the cards on the top of any two face-up piles are the same. The first player to shout 'snap' collects both piles and adds them face down to the bottom of his pile.
Should two people be judged to shout 'Snap' at the same time, the matching two cards are put face up in a pool in the centre of the game.

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The most popular version of this vintage board game owes its existence to Jaques of London, who produced this game based on an old Indian (India) game called "Dasapada" which utilized the 10 x 10 square gaming board that was used for a variant of chess.

To use the board

You can print out this game on card or print it on paper and then glue it to a piece of card or board. If you want to save it from wear, your can protect it with a light coat of acrylic varnish. If you would like to give the board an appearance of age, you can paint it with a light wash of cold tea or coffee, to stain it before you varnish. Another method is to add a small amount of the acrylic colour “raw sienna” to the varnish itself.

Cutting out the Pieces

Please take care cutting out the pieces. For safety sake, children should only be allowed to do this under adult supervision.

The Rules

Each player spins the wheel in turn, and the first one to get a six starts the game. Afterwards, the player travels as many spaces as the wheel shows. The first player to get to 100 is the winner. If your spin lands you on the head of a snake you must follow it down to the tail and continue from there next turn. If you are lucky enough to land on the base of a ladder you can go to the top!

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This wonderful little card game featuring the characters of pantomime comes from austere times and was printed in black and white.

To use the Game

Print out two of each sheets
You can print out this game on card or print it on paper and then glue it to a piece of card or board. If you want to save it from wear, your can protect it with a light coat of acrylic varnish. If you would like to give the board an appearance of age, you can paint it with a light wash of cold tea or coffee, to stain it before you varnish. Another method is to add a small amount of the acrylic colour “raw sienna” to the varnish itself.

Cutting out the Pieces

Please take care cutting out the pieces. For safety sake, children should only be allowed to do this under adult supervision.

The Rules

(For 2-4 people) Each person is dealt 8 cards. They then take turns in picking a card from the pack until one player can score at least 15 points. Three cards from one pantomime scores 5 points. 4 heroes or heroine cards (marked H) scores 10 points, as does a combination of 4 villians (marked V). As soon as a player attains 15 points he lays the hand down face up. Then a new hand is played. The winner is the one who attains an overall score of 100 or more.

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The Game of Old Maid

The Game of Old maid became popular in the Victorian era when special cards were produced. Before this, the game had also gone by the name of “Queen of Spades” and was played with an ordinary pack of playing cards. So, it made its transition from a game often played in Public Houses, with a round of drinks as the stake to a popular children game in the Nursery. In Germany it is known as “Black Peter” and in France as “Old Boy”.
An Old Maid is a traditional Eniglish term for a spinster or unmarried elderly woman.

To use the Game

You can print out this game on card or print it on paper and then glue it to a piece of card or board. If you want to save it from wear, your can protect it with a light coat of acrylic varnish. If you would like to give the board an appearance of age, you can paint it with a light wash of cold tea or coffee, to stain it before you varnish. Another method is to add a small amount of the acrylic colour “raw sienna” to the varnish itself.

Cutting out the Pieces

Please take care cutting out the pieces. For safety sake, children should only be allowed to do this under adult supervision.

The Rules

The cards are dealt out among the players who sort their cards and discard any pairs. (If a player has three of a kind, he discards two of the cards and keeps the third). The dealer then offers the cards, face down,
to the player on his left. That player randomly takes one card from those offered. If the card matches one the player already has, the newly formed pair is put down. If not, the player adds it to his hand. Play proceeds clockwise, so the player to the left of the dealer then offers his hand, face down, to the player on his left. This cycle repeats until there are no more pairs and the only remaining card is the Old Maid. The game ends when the Old Maid is the only card in play. The person holding the Old Maid loses.

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This game from the collection, is probably a part set of a “Favour”, that was given a way as a gift with a comic around the turn of the 20th Century, judging by the Victorian style clothes. These were not made to last and it is quite remarkable that it has survived over 100 years.

To use the Game
You can print out this game on card or print it on paper and then glue it to a piece of card or board. If you want to save it from wear, your can protect it with a light coat of acrylic varnish. If you would like to give the board an appearance of age, you can paint it with a light wash of cold tea or coffee, to stain it before you varnish. Another method is to add a small amount of the acrylic colour “raw sienna” to the varnish itself.
Cutting out the Pieces
Please take care cutting out the pieces. For safety sake, children should only be allowed to do this under adult supervision.

The Rules
Having mounted the figures on cardboard, then cut through the dotted lines. Shuffle and deal out the pieces, after which each player should lay a piece in turn. Thus, if one person lays legs, the next must add a body, and the next a head. He who has to play the donkey's head pays the usual forfeit.

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Here is the Game of Ludo, a FREE traditional game for you and your family to download and play this Christmas.

This game appeared in England in 1896 and was a simplified version of the traditional Indian game of Pachisi. Each player spins the wheel in turn, and the first to get six starts. Afterwards the player travels as many spaces as the wheel shows. If you land on the same square as another player, that player has to return their counter back to their base. The player who gets all four of their counters home first, wins.

This game was to become one of the most popular "race" games appearing in many "Christmas Compendiums", boxed collections of games that were bought for the family to play during the holiday season.

You can download a free version below, but these are large files so please be patient.

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Hats Off  was originally billed at the time of its release as “The New Card Game Brimful of Merriment”. Cheaply printed in black and white in a small size this game proved to be very popular.

Two to five players can enjoy this screamingly funny game.The cards are shuffled and placed on the table face downwards. Players take a turn in removing a card from the pack and placing it down in a pile. When a card without a hat appears on the pile, players try to be first in recognizing this. They must shout "HATS OFF I" and also touch lightly the crown of their head. The first player to do both things takes the pile. When there remain no more cards in the pack to pick up, players continue to go with  cards from their pile of winnings, if any. Winnings must be placed face downwards. The player who has cards left when all other players have no more cards to go with is the winner.

You can download this wonderful game free below. Be patient the zipped PDF might take a few minutes to download.

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