Reconstruction
Referenced from:
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)
- 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)
- Modar's reconstruction of Basset -- Based on work by Brusten de Bearsul (more)
- Merels at the Museum of Games -- (more)
- Justin's description of Early French Tarot -- Largely based on Michael Dummett's The Game of Tarot (more)
- YouTube video teaching Jactus -- (more)
- Justin's reconstruction of Laugh and Lie Down -- (more)
- David Whittaker's reconstruction of Primero -- This link is via the Wayback Machine. (more)
- Modar on Tablut -- (more)
- Rhythmomachy Basics -- An introduction to the common concepts of the game (more)
- Period-style intro to Rhythmomachy -- From the Ace's Boke (more)
- Mats Winther's description -- Via the Wayback Machine. (more)
- YouTube video teaching Nine Men's Morris -- (more)
- Description at the History of Chess -- Not a terribly detailed reconstruction. (more)
- Justin's description of Bryncir -- Based on Brusten's reconstruction (more)
- Inn and Inn from the Ace's Boke -- Period-style text (more)
- Michel Wolffauer's handout on Tafl -- PDF, 2 pages (more)
- Smithsonian Learning Center on Hnefetafl -- (more)
- Gambling Games -- Baron Aurddeilen-ap-Robet provides a likely reconstruction based on other games of this period. (more)
- Description from Abstract Games -- Discussion of Alquerques and a bunch of similar games. (more)
- Bassetta, A Renaissance Italian Card Game -- (more)
- Ruben's reconstruction of Cacho -- (more)
- Michel Wolffauer on Hopscotch -- (more)
- Dagonell on Morris Games -- (more)
- Description at The History of Chess -- (more)
- Michel's reconstruction of Losing Loadum -- PDF (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)
- Backgammon Galore on Irish -- (more)
- Dagonell on Teetotums -- He reasons that the game is probably similar to Dreidels. (more)
- Modar's description -- (more)
- Dagonell on Tablero -- (more)
- Margaret's reconstruction of Piquet -- (more)
- A possible Bowling variant -- From the Virtual Museum, based on the Brueghel painting. (more)
- Alternate reconstruction of Grande Acedrex -- A very detailed reconstruction that goes back to the Alfonso MS and looks at it carefully. (more)
- Justin's preliminary reconstruction of Ruff and Honours -- (more)
- A Medieval Battle of Numbers -- An overview of Rhythmomachy by Peter Mebben, one of the more serious students of the game. (more)
- Wareham Forge on Hnefetafl -- Includes a bunch of links. (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)
- A brief description of Primero on the Landsknecht page -- (more)
- Modar's reconstruction of All Fours -- (more)
- Dagonell's description of Boules -- (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)
- Dagonell on Hopscotch -- (more)
- Michel's reconstruction of Gleek -- An in-depth PDF about Gleek (more)
- A brief description on the Landsknecht info site -- (more)
- David Parlett's reconstruction of Gleek -- (more)
- Bowls at the Virtual Museum -- Based on the Brueghel painting. (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)
- Description on Chess Variants -- (more)
- Justin's reconstruction of Gleek -- (more)
- Dagonell on Knucklebones -- Includes Gomme's description of "Fivestones". (more)
- Sten Helmfrid on Tafl Games -- Nominally focused on Hnefetafl, but really a fine, deeply detailed overview of the entire family. (more)
- Mats Winther's Board Game page -- Via the Wayback Machine. (more)
- YouTube video teaching Gluckhaus -- (more)
- Ruben's reconstruction of Pechigonga -- (more)
- Justin's reconstruction of Seven-Sided Backgammon -- One of my prouder achievements, this reconstruction has caught on pretty widely. (more)
- Tali at the Roman Board Games site -- URL via the Wayback Machine. (more)
- How to Play Whist -- Includes a number of variations from various times. (more)
- Period-style description of Irish -- From the Ace's Boke. Note that this is a modern writeup in period style! (more)
- YouTube video teaching Duodecima Scripta -- (more)
- Justin's reconstruction of Ruff and Trump -- (more)
- Description on Chess Variants -- (more)
- Dwyle Flunking at the Virtual Museum -- Based on the Brueghel painting. (more)
- Parlett on Ombre -- (more)
- Merels in the Ace's Boke -- Period-style text, but not actually period. (more)
- Period-style Elizabethan Rhythmomachy Rules -- An Ace's Boke rewrite of my reconstruction of 16th century Rhythmomachy (more)
- Description at Chess Variants -- (more)
- 16th century Rhythmomachy -- A reconstruction of the later form of the game described in Fulke. (more)
- Modar on Fox and Geese -- (more)
- Balls! -- A general page on the manufacture of game balls and some of the games played with them in period. (more)
- Irving Finkel's detailed reconstruction of the game -- A more-than-typically detailed writeup of the game, the available source material, and how to interpret it. (more)
- A description of Kaiserspiel -- A descendant of Karnoeffel, still played in the modern day (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)
- A preliminary reconstruction of Maw by Glenn Overby -- Dead page -- this pointer is to the Wayback Machine. (Please support the Wayback Machine -- it is an invaluable service to all researchers.) (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)
- Backgammon Galore on Tabula -- (more)
- The Asia Society on Sugoroku -- Brief, but useful. (more)
- Description at The History of Chess -- (more)
- YouTube video teaching Latrunculi -- (more)
- Hazard on the Landsknecht page -- (more)
- Parlett on Losing Lodam -- (more)
- Hnefatafl World Championship -- Run by the Fetlar organization, and gives a bit of info about the game itself (more)
- Description at The History of Chess -- Goes into more detail about this game than most sites. (more)
- Modar on Fierges -- (more)
- Description on Chess Variants -- (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)
- Roman Board Games -- Wally J. Kowalski's reconstructions of various pre-period games. (more)
- Parlett on Costly Colors -- Goes into some detail about what little we know about the game (more)
- Justin's reconstruction of Picket -- (more)
- Dagonell on Goose -- A concise description, plus an outline for a live-action version to play with kids. (more)
- Dagonell on Rithmomachy -- (more)
- Norse Games -- An interesting article from Ravensgard. (more)
- Gluckhaus at The Reverend's Musings -- A good quick description of the game, with a little history and illustrations of several boards. (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 Piquet -- Not actually period -- a modern writeup of the game, using Elizabethan-style English (more)
- The Viking Answer Lady on Tafl Games -- A lovely, detailed article on the Tafl family in general, outlining the major variants. (more)
- Dagonell on Gluckshaus -- (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)
- Description on Chess Variants -- (more)
- Sonja Musser Golladay's dissertation on the Alfonso MS (hardcopy) -- This link is a search into University Microfilms' dissertation service. 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)
- Dagonell on Shove Groat -- (more)
- Description from the British Chess Variants Society -- Mostly a little bit of analysis of the game. (more)
- Justin on Irish -- (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)
- Description on Chess Variants -- (more)
- An alternate version on Chess Variants -- (more)
- Backgammon Galore on Trictrac -- (more)
- Parlett on Reversis -- (more)
- Modar on Game of the Goose -- Illustrated with the Kadon Enterprises board. (more)
- Michael Wolffauer on Wari -- (more)
- Trondheim Hnefatafl Board Fragment -- Some notes about a relatively recently found board, and some thoughts about its possible implications. (more)
- Description on The History of Chess -- (more)
- Medieval European Chess at The History of Chess -- A very good, not-too-long description of core SCA-period chess. (more)
- So You Have This Chess Set -- A quick PDF introduction to several period Chess variations. (more)
- Modar on Wari -- (more)
- Shogi Rules -- A nice clear description of how to play Shogi, with lots of pictures. (more)
- Fidchell in Dreoilin's Weblog -- A discussion of the game of Fidchell, plus a lot of cultural background. (more)
- Michel Wolffauer on Chess of the Four Seasons -- A nice concise writeup on how to play. (more)
- Modar's reconstruction of 4-player Alouette -- Based on work from Brusten de Bearsul (more)
- Mats Winther's Description -- URL via the Wayback Machine. (more)
- Parlett on Penneech -- (more)
- Low Company reconstruction of Ticktack -- Reconstruction by Alessandro the Storyteller, with help from Justin du Coeur (more)
- David Levy's Trictrac Homepage -- Via the Wayback Machine. (more)
- Description at Chess Variants -- (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)
- How to Play Cribbage -- Includes several more-recent variations. (more)
- Michael Wolffauer on Trappola -- (more)
- The Game Cabinet on Senet -- Includes a couple of different reconstructions. (more)
- Michael Wolffauer on Poch -- (more)
- Abbas Agraphicus -- The Hnefatafl-focused blog of Alessandro Arzani (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)
- Justin's reconstructions of Primero -- Covering English and Italian separately. (more)
- YouTube video teaching Hnefatafl -- Slightly clumsy presentation style, but useful for folks who learn best from a live presentation. (more)
- Description on The History of Chess -- (more)
- The Loop Within Circular Three Men's Morris -- An analysis of the possible situations within this ancient Morris variant. (more)
- Michel Wolffauer's handout for his Go class -- PDF, three pages (more)
- Dagonell on Kubb -- (more)
- Dagonell's discussion of Bowling -- (more)
- Description at Chess Variants -- (more)
- Michel Wolffauer's writeup on Tarot -- PDF, adapted from Justin's version (more)
- Rithmomachia on Game Cabinet -- (more)
- Ringing the Bull at Traditional Games -- (more)
- Ruben's reconstruction of Flor -- (more)
- Sonja Musser Golladay's Dissertation on the Alfonso MS (PDF) -- A 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)
- 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)
- The Game Cabinet on Tafl Games -- An overview of the family, including some of the more distant cousins, Seega and Latrunculi. (more)
- So You Have This Backgammon Board -- A brief PDF introduction to several period Tables variations. (more)
- Tablero da Gucci at the Game Cabinet -- This sounds like a pretty authoritative description of the drinking game. (more)
- A reconstruction from the Avacal Games Guild -- (more)
- Description on Chess Variants -- (more)
- Description on The History of Chess -- (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)
- Blind Man's Buff at the Virtual Museum -- Based on the Brueghel painting. (more)
- Dagonell on Curling -- (more)
- David Parlett on Noddy -- Nicely detailed description, including some history (more)
- YouTube video teaching Three Men's Morris -- (more)
- Ruben's reconstruction of Rentoy -- (more)
- Lady Gwir ferch John on Noddy -- (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)
- Strawberry's reconstruction of Karnöffel -- A dash of history, and a couple of reconstructions. (more)
- Period-style description of Tafl -- From the Ace's Boke. This is a modern reconstruction, written in period style. (more)
- Modar's reconstruction of Tarok -- An Eastern European variant. (more)
- Mats Winther on Tablut -- Via the Wayback Machine. Includes a Zillions implementation. (more)
- Backgammon Galore on Doublets -- (more)
- Justin's reconstruction of Noddy and Early Cribbage -- (more)
- Modar's reconstruction of 2-player Alouette -- Based on work by Brusten de Bearsul (more)
- The Battle of Numbers -- An overview of Rhythmomachy, focused on the mathematical aspects, published by the American Mathematical Society. (more)
- Description on Chess Variants -- (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)
- Susan Granquist's page on Tafl -- A relatively brief description. (more)
- Dagonell on Tag Games -- (more)
- Dagonell on Hazard -- (more)
- Jeff Johnston's reconstruction of One-and-Thirty and Bone-Ane -- (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)
- Parlett on Karnoeffel -- (more)
- 1on1 Backgammon on Tabula -- (more)
- Mats Winther on Gala -- Via the Wayback Machine. (more)
- Parlett on Laugh and Lie Down -- (more)
- Eachna's Celtic Knucklebones Page -- Has some nice practical information about crafting early sorts of dice, and a concise description of the Roman dicing game Tali. (more)
- Backgammon Galore on Fayles -- (more)
- Justin on Tafl -- Largely adapted from Murray and Ragnar. (more)
- James Wickson's reconstruction of early Tarot -- (more)
- Dagonell on Quoits and Horseshoes -- (more)
- Dagonell on Gameball -- (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)
- 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)
- Justin's reconstruction of Bone-Ace -- (more)
- Mats Winther on Fox and Geese -- Notes several setup variations. (more)
- Dagonell's description -- (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)
- An in-depth paper on Metromachy -- Written in French, including a translation of the Latin primary source into French. (Sadly for us English monoglots.) (more)
- Description at Chess Variants -- Includes a dicing variant. (more)
- Modar's reconstruction of As Nas -- Based on work by Brusten de Bearsul (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)
- 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)
- Parlett on Maw -- (more)
- Laugh and Lie Down Cheat Sheet -- A one-page PDF summary, adapted by Michel from Justin's reconstruction (more)
- Dagonell on Dwyle Flonking -- (more)
- Ruben's reconstruction of Truc -- (more)
- Le Jeu de Trictrac -- A substantial page in French, focused on Trictrac. (more)
- Discussion on The History of Chess -- (more)
- Modar on Pall-Mall -- Includes a speculative reconstruction of "Ground Billiards". (more)
- How to Play Piquet -- Includes a pretty detailed description of play, as well as several more-recent 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)
- Galleron's reconstructed Pochspiel board -- Posted by Master Galleron de Cressy on DeviantArt. (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)
- Traditional Game Rules -- James Masters' site, some of which is indexed by game here. Some of this is period, but not all. (more)
- How to Play Ruff and Honours -- Described on their Whist page, as a variant. (more)
- Michel Wolffauer's reconstruction of El Mundo -- PDF, two pages (more)
- YouTube video teaching Ludus Latrunculorum -- (more)
