Reconstruction

Referenced from:

16th century Rhythmomachy -- A reconstruction of the later form of the game described in Fulke. (more)
A brief description of Gluckshaus on the Landsknecht page -- (more)
A brief description of Primero on the Landsknecht page -- (more)
A brief description of several games, at Tattershall Arms -- (more)
A brief description of the Landsknecht game -- (more)
A description of Kaiserspiel -- A descendant of Karnoeffel, still played in the modern day (more)
A Medieval Battle of Numbers -- An overview of Rhythmomachy by Peter Mebben, one of the more serious students of the game. (more)
A news article about reconstructing Kottabos -- Talks a little about the reconstruction process, and has a video of people playing at the game. (more)
A period-style description of Gleek -- Justin's writeup of Gleek from the Ace's Boke. This is a modern reconstruction, written in Elizabethan style. (more)
A period-style description of Piquet -- Not actually period -- a modern writeup of the game, using Elizabethan-style English (more)
A period-style description of Tarot -- Not a primary source; this is a modern reconstruction written in Elizabethan-style language, from the Ace's Boke. (more)
A possible Bowling variant -- From the Virtual Museum, based on the Brueghel painting. (more)
A preliminary reconstruction of Maw by Glenn Overby -- This pointer is to the Wayback Machine. (Please support the Wayback Machine -- it is an invaluable service to all researchers.) (more)
A reconstruction of Beast, or Le Beste by Symon of Barnesdale -- Note that La Bete and Le Beste seem to be two different games. (more)
A reconstruction of La Beaste from the Avacal Games Guild -- (more)
A reconstruction of La Bete by the Low Company -- At this point, I regard this reconstruction as seriously questionable; I'll put together a more plausible one when I have time. (more)
Abbas Agraphicus -- The Hnefatafl-focused blog of Alessandro Arzani (more)
Alternate reconstruction of Grande Acedrex -- A very detailed reconstruction that goes back to the Alfonso MS and looks at it carefully. (more)
An alternate Shatranj Kamil version on Chess Variants -- (more)
Anton de Stoc's reconstruction of Trump -- This is a transcription of a brief fragment of a language text, and a reconstruction of Trump based on it. (more)
Backgammon Galore on Doublets -- (more)
Backgammon Galore on Fayles -- (more)
Backgammon Galore on Irish -- (more)
Backgammon Galore on Tabula -- (more)
Backgammon Galore on Trictrac -- (more)
Bassetta, A Renaissance Italian Card Game -- (more)
Blind Man's Buff at the Virtual Museum -- Based on the Brueghel painting. (more)
Board Game Studies -- This is a yearly academic journal of board games. Issues are freely available from 2016. Not exclusively historical or SCA-period, but has enough relevant material to be worth keeping an eye on.The predecessor paper journal ran for half a dozen issues over a number of years, but isn't easy to get a hold of. (more)
Bowls at the Virtual Museum -- Based on the Brueghel painting. (more)
Byzantine Chess - Description on Chess Variants -- (more)
Cats at Cards -- A site focused on teaching the rules for a wide variety of card games. Mostly post-period, but includes good descriptions of several period games. (more)
Citadel Chess - Description at The History of Chess -- (more)
Count and Capture Games at the Museum of Games -- This page has a good overview of the family; at the bottom are links to boards and rules from many different countries. (more)
Courier Chess Description at The History of Chess -- (more)
Dagonell on Curling -- Brief description on the origin of curling (more)
Dagonell on Dwyle Flonking -- Brief description of a tavern game (more)
Dagonell on Football -- (more)
Dagonell on Gluckshaus -- (more)
Dagonell on Goose -- A concise description, plus an outline for a live-action version to play with kids. (more)
Dagonell on Hazard & Craps -- (more)
Dagonell on Hopscotch -- (more)
Dagonell on Knucklebones -- Includes Gomme's description of "Fivestones". Images are broken. (more)
Dagonell on Kubb -- Potentially a game that Vikings played. Similar to bowling, but with sticks. (more)
Dagonell on Morris Games -- Information on the board games (more)
Dagonell on Quoits and Horseshoes -- (more)
Dagonell on Rithmomachy -- (more)
Dagonell on Shove Groat -- (more)
Dagonell on Tablero de Jesus -- Proven to be a game from the 1970s. (more)
Dagonell on Tag Games -- Different types of games of tag. (more)
Dagonell on Teetotums -- He reasons that the game is probably similar to Dreidels. (more)
Dagonell's description of Boules -- Information on Boules and Bocce (more)
Dagonell's description on Alquerques -- (more)
Dagonell's discussion of Bowling -- (more)
Damian Walker's Hnefetafl Site -- A large and deep site on All Things Hnefetafl, and really, on the Tafl family in general. Especially strong sections on Archaeological Finds, Literary Sources, and stuff like that. (more)
David Levy's Trictrac Homepage -- Via the Wayback Machine. (more)
David Parlett on Noddy -- Nicely detailed description, including some history (more)
David Parlett's reconstruction of Gleek -- (more)
David Whittaker's reconstruction of Primero -- This link is via the Wayback Machine. (more)
Description at Chess Variants -- (more)
Description at Chess Variants -- (more)
Description at Chess Variants -- Includes a Zillions implementation. (more)
Description at Chess Variants -- (more)
Description at Chess Variants -- Includes a dicing variant. (more)
Description at the History of Chess -- Not a terribly detailed reconstruction. (more)
Description at The History of Chess -- In English with transcription in Old Spanish (more)
Description from Abstract Games -- Discussion of Alquerques and a bunch of similar games. (more)
Description from the British Chess Variants Society -- Mostly a little bit of analysis of the game. (more)
Description of Tamerlane Chess at The History of Chess site -- Goes into more detail about this game than most sites. (more)
Description on Chess Variants -- (more)
Description on Chess Variants -- (more)
Description on Chess Variants -- (more)
Description on Chess Variants -- (more)
Description on Chess Variants -- (more)
Description on Chess Variants -- (more)
Description on The History of Chess -- (more)
Description on The History of Chess -- (more)
Description on The History of Chess -- (more)
Discussion at The History of Chess -- By far the most detailed discussion of this game that I know of. Mainly focuses on debunking the myths about the antiquity of this variant, arguing strongly that, while it is SCA-period, it isn't as ancient as folks usually claim. (more)
Discussion on The History of Chess -- (more)
Dwyle Flunking at the Virtual Museum -- Brief article based on the Brueghel painting. (more)
Edward of Effingham on Sugoroku -- A page on Effingham's Online Japanese Miscellary, which goes into all sorts of topics about SCA-period Japan. (more)
Fidchell in Dreoilin's Weblog -- A discussion of the game of Fidchell, plus a lot of cultural background. (more)
Full Tamerlane Chess at The History of Chess -- Yet a further variant of Tamerlane's, with even more pieces. This is the most brain-breakingly baroque version of Chess I have yet encountered. One of these days, I may try making a set, just to try this mess out. (more)
Galleron's reconstructed Pochspiel board -- Posted by Master Galleron de Cressy on DeviantArt. (more)
Gambling Games -- Baron Aurddeilen-ap-Robet provides a likely reconstruction based on other games of this period. (more)
Game Cabinet on Tablero -- Apparently Tablero da Gucci has leaked out into the public as "Toblaro", purportedly from Scotland. The folk process in action... (more)
Gluckhaus at The Reverend's Musings -- A good quick description of the game, with a little history and illustrations of several boards. (more)
Gwyddbwyll reconstruction from Y Camamseriad -- A nicely detailed article on the Gwyddbwyll and Towlbrwdd, which may or may not be the same game. (more)
Hazard on the Landsknecht page (Site is gone) -- (more)
Hazard on the Tattershall Arms page -- (more)
Hnefatafl World Championship -- Run by the Fetlar organization, and gives a bit of info about the game itself (more)
How to Play Cribbage left off here -- Includes several more-recent variations. (more)
How to Play Piquet -- Includes a pretty detailed description of play, as well as several more-recent variations. (more)
How to Play Ruff and Honours -- Described on their Whist page, as a variant. (more)
How to Play Whist -- Includes a number of variations from various times. (more)
Inn and Inn from the Ace's Boke -- Period-style text (more)
Irving Finkel's detailed reconstruction of the game of Ur (pdf) -- A more-than-typically detailed writeup of the game, the available source material, and how to interpret it. (more)
James Wickson's reconstruction of early Tarot -- (more)
Jean-Louis Cazaux' History of Chess -- An excellent in-depth site, giving lots of information on the topic. Discusses the history, the archaeology, lots of papers about chess, many variations (including a lot of Eastern variants), etc. (more)
Jean-Louis Cazaux' speculations about Ashtapada -- This page has an in-depth discussion about why the author disagrees with HJR Murray's reconstruction, and provides his own best guess about how the game way played. (more)
Jeff Johnston's reconstruction of One-and-Thirty and Bone-Ane -- (more)
Jeff Suzuki's reconstruction of Primero -- (more)
Justin on Dublets -- (more)
Justin on Irish -- (more)
Justin on Tafl -- Largely adapted from Murray and Ragnar. (more)
Justin's description of Bryncir -- Based on Brusten's reconstruction (more)
Justin's description of Early French Tarot -- Largely based on Michael Dummett's The Game of Tarot (more)
Justin's preliminary reconstruction of Ruff and Honours -- (more)
Justin's reconstruction of Bone-Ace -- (more)
Justin's reconstruction of Gleek -- (more)
Justin's reconstruction of Laugh and Lie Down -- (more)
Justin's reconstruction of Noddy and Early Cribbage -- (more)
Justin's reconstruction of Picket -- (more)
Justin's reconstruction of Ruff and Trump -- (more)
Justin's reconstruction of Seven-Sided Backgammon -- One of my prouder achievements, this reconstruction has caught on pretty widely. (more)
Justin's reconstructions of Primero -- Covering English and Italian separately. (more)
Lady Gwir ferch John on Noddy -- (more)
Laugh and Lie Down Cheat Sheet -- A one-page PDF summary, adapted by Michel from Justin's reconstruction (more)
Le Jeu de Trictrac -- A substantial page in French, focused on Trictrac. (more)
Low Company reconstruction of Ticktack -- Reconstruction by Alessandro the Storyteller, with help from Justin du Coeur (more)
Magnus' reconstruction and implementation of Metromachy -- Pulling together Justin's transcription and Steffan's translation, Magnus tied it all together, reconstructed the rules, and built an online implementation. (more)
Margaret's reconstruction of Piquet -- (more)
Mats Winther on Fox and Geese -- Notes several setup variations. (more)
Mats Winther on Halatafl -- As usual, he states his case strongly and includes a software implementation. Not clear to me whether he's correct, but he does include a previous reconstruction as well. (more)
Mats Winther's Description -- URL via the Wayback Machine. (more)
Mats Winther's reconstruction -- Specifically discusses the dicing variant. As is Mats' usual interest, spends some time discussing the possibility of using the game for divination. URL via the Wayback Machine (more)
Medieval European Chess at The History of Chess -- A very good, not-too-long description of core SCA-period chess. (more)
Merels at the Museum of Games -- (more)
Merels in the Ace's Boke -- Period-style text, but not actually period. (more)
Michael Wolffauer on Poch -- (more)
Michael Wolffauer on Trappola -- (more)
Michael Wolffauer on Wari -- (more)
Michel Wolffauer on Chess of the Four Seasons -- A nice concise writeup on how to play. (more)
Michel Wolffauer on Hopscotch -- (more)
Michel Wolffauer's handout for his Go class -- PDF, three pages (more)
Michel Wolffauer's handout on Tafl -- PDF, 2 pages (more)
Michel Wolffauer's reconstruction of El Mundo -- PDF, two pages (more)
Michel Wolffauer's writeup on Tarot -- PDF, adapted from Justin's version (more)
Michel's reconstruction of Gleek -- An in-depth PDF about Gleek (more)
Michel's reconstruction of Losing Loadum (pdf) -- PDF (more)
Modar on Bocce -- (more)
Modar on Fierges -- (more)
Modar on Fox and Geese -- (more)
Modar on Game of the Goose -- Illustrated with the Kadon Enterprises board. (more)
Modar on Pall-Mall -- Includes a speculative reconstruction of "Ground Billiards". (more)
Modar on Tablut -- (more)
Modar on Wari -- (more)
Modar's description of Alquerques -- (more)
Modar's reconstruction of 2-player Alouette -- Based on work by Brusten de Bearsul (more)
Modar's reconstruction of 4-player Alouette -- Based on work from Brusten de Bearsul (more)
Modar's reconstruction of All Fours -- (more)
Modar's reconstruction of As Nas -- Based on work by Brusten de Bearsul (more)
Modar's reconstruction of Basset -- Based on work by Brusten de Bearsul (more)
Modar's reconstruction of Karnoffel -- Based on work by Brusten de Bearsul (more)
Modar's reconstruction of Tarok -- An Eastern European variant. (more)
Norse Games -- An interesting article from Ravensgard. (more)
Parlett on Costly Colors -- Goes into some detail about what little we know about the game (more)
Parlett on Karnoeffel -- (more)
Parlett on Laugh and Lie Down -- (more)
Parlett on Loo -- He has several reconstructions, and is looking at a broader sweep of history; I haven't yet checked his writeup against Cotton specifically yet. (more)
Parlett on Losing Lodam -- (more)
Parlett on Maw -- (more)
Parlett on Ombre -- (more)
Parlett on Penneech -- (more)
Parlett on Reversis -- (more)
Period-style description of Irish -- From the Ace's Boke. Note that this is a modern writeup in period style! (more)
Period-style description of Tafl -- From the Ace's Boke. This is a modern reconstruction, written in period style. (more)
Period-style Elizabethan Rhythmomachy Rules -- An Ace's Boke rewrite of my reconstruction of 16th century Rhythmomachy (more)
Period-style intro to Rhythmomachy -- From the Ace's Boke (more)
Ragnar Thorbergsson's Analysis of Tafl -- One of the more important articles on the subject, this doesn't just use the sources, it also does some analysis of the playability of different reconstructions, in order to find the most plausible reconstruction. (more)
Rhythmomachy Basics -- An introduction to the common concepts of the game (more)
Ringing the Bull at Traditional Games -- Legend says it came back with the Crusaders. (more)
Rithmomachia on Game Cabinet -- (more)
Roman Board Games -- Wally J. Kowalski's reconstructions of various pre-period games. (more)
Ruben's reconstruction of Cacho -- (more)
Ruben's reconstruction of Flor -- (more)
Ruben's reconstruction of Pechigonga -- (more)
Ruben's reconstruction of Rentoy -- (more)
Ruben's reconstruction of Truc -- (more)
Ruffe and Trump -- A concise summary of the rules of the game. Seems reasonably accurate, aside from referring to the game as "medieval". (more)
Rules to Goose at Kadon Enterprises -- (more)
Shatranj Kamil Description on Chess Variants -- (more)
Shogi Rules -- A nice clear description of how to play Shogi, with lots of pictures. (more)
Smithsonian Learning Center on Hnefetafl -- (more)
So You Have This Backgammon Board -- A brief PDF introduction to several period Tables variations. (more)
So You Have This Chess Set -- A quick PDF introduction to several period Chess variations. (more)
Sonja Musser Golladay's dissertation on the Alfonso MS -- This link is hosted by Scribd. Golladay's dissertation is the masterwork on the Alfonso MS, including a full translation, copious notes and reconstruction details, and all sorts of information about the art and culture surrounding the book. It is a must-have for anyone researching this text. (more)
Sonja Musser Golladay's Dissertation on the Alfonso MS (PDF) -- A giant PDF copy of the full, 1400-page tome about the Alfonso. This is the single most important source when working on this MS, including a full translation, lots of notes and reconstruction details, information about the culture and context, and so on. (more)
Sten Helmfrid on Tafl Games -- Nominally focused on Hnefetafl, but really a fine, deeply detailed overview of the entire family. (more)
Still More Fifteenth and Sixteenth Century Card Games -- Part of a series by Earl Dafydd ap Gwystl, this includes reconstructions of several games. (more)
Strawberry's reconstruction of Karnöffel -- A dash of history, and a couple of reconstructions. (more)
Strawberry's reconstruction of Thirty-One -- Reconstruction of Thirty-One, with sources pushing the game all the way back into the 15th century. (more)
Susan Granquist's page on Tafl -- A relatively brief description. (more)
Tablero da Gucci at the Game Cabinet -- This sounds like a pretty authoritative description of the drinking game. (more)
Tali at the Roman Board Games site -- URL via the Wayback Machine. (more)
The Asia Society on Sugoroku -- Brief, but useful. (more)
The Battle of Numbers -- An overview of Rhythmomachy, focused on the mathematical aspects, published by the American Mathematical Society. (more)
The Chess Variant Pages -- The most important site on the subject, covering an enormous spectrum of chess variations, both period and modern. Note particularly the Historic Chess Variants page, which collects all historical versions. Many of the Variant links go into there. (more)
The Game Cabinet on Senet -- Includes a couple of different reconstructions. (more)
The Game Cabinet on Tafl Games -- An overview of the family, including some of the more distant cousins, Seega and Latrunculi. (more)
The Loop Within Circular Three Men's Morris -- An analysis of the possible situations within this ancient Morris variant. (more)
The Reasoned Dictionary of Trictrac (game) -- A big site, mostly arranged as an enormous dictionary of terms and concepts of Trictrac. Theoretically in both English and French, but in practice the English support is quite weak. Includes an Initiatory Course in Trictrac. (more)
The Viking Answer Lady on Tafl Games -- A lovely, detailed article on the Tafl family in general, outlining the major variants. (more)
Traditional Game Rules -- James Masters' site, some of which is indexed by game here. Some of this is period, but not all. (more)
Trondheim Hnefatafl Board Fragment -- Some notes about a relatively recently found board, and some thoughts about its possible implications. (more)
Trump, transcribed by Antron de Stoc -- A section from Bellot's Familiar Dialogues (1586). Includes a quick reconstruction, as well as a Lochac variant. (more)
Wareham Forge on Hnefetafl -- Includes a bunch of links. (more)
Wikipedia article on Shagai -- Brief descriptions of lots of games of various sorts played with Shagai. (more)
YouTube video teaching Duodecim Scripta -- (more)
YouTube video teaching Gluckhaus -- (more)
YouTube video teaching Hnefatafl -- Slightly clumsy presentation style, but useful for folks who learn best from a live presentation. (more)
YouTube video teaching Jactus -- (more)
YouTube video teaching Latrunculi -- (more)
YouTube video teaching Ludus Latrunculorum -- (more)
YouTube video teaching Nine Men's Morris -- (more)
YouTube video teaching Three Men's Morris -- (more)