Reconstruction

Referenced from:

Gluckhaus at The Reverend's Musings -- A good quick description of the game, with a little history and illustrations of several boards. (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)
YouTube video teaching Jactus -- (more)
Wareham Forge on Hnefetafl -- Includes a bunch of links. (more)
Dagonell's discussion of Bowling -- (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)
Description at The History of Chess -- (more)
Hnefatafl World Championship -- Run by the Fetlar organization, and gives a bit of info about the game itself (more)
YouTube video teaching Nine Men's Morris -- (more)
Michel Wolffauer on Chess of the Four Seasons -- A nice concise writeup on how to play. (more)
Dagonell on Quoits and Horseshoes -- (more)
Dagonell on Rithmomachy -- (more)
Rules to Goose at Kadon Enterprises -- (more)
Dagonell on Curling -- (more)
Modar on Fox and Geese -- (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)
Modar on Bocce -- (more)
Dagonell on Shove Groat -- (more)
Period-style description of Irish -- From the Ace's Boke. Note that this is a modern writeup in period style! (more)
Shogi Rules -- A nice clear description of how to play Shogi, with lots of pictures. (more)
Justin's reconstruction of Bone-Ace -- (more)
YouTube video teaching Duodecima Scripta -- (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)
Gwyddbwyll reconstruction from Y Camamseriad -- A nicely detailed article on the Gwyddbwyll and Towlbrwdd, which may or may not be the same game. (more)
Ruben's reconstruction of Flor -- (more)
Period-style intro to Rhythmomachy -- From the Ace's Boke (more)
Abbas Agraphicus -- The Hnefatafl-focused blog of Alessandro Arzani (more)
Merels in the Ace's Boke -- Period-style text, but not actually period. (more)
Modar's description -- (more)
Bassetta, A Renaissance Italian Card Game -- (more)
Strawberry's reconstruction of Karnöffel -- A dash of history, and a couple of reconstructions. (more)
Justin's reconstruction of Ruff and Trump -- (more)
A possible Bowling variant -- From the Virtual Museum, based on the Brueghel painting. (more)
The Game Cabinet on Senet -- Includes a couple of different reconstructions. (more)
Description on The History of Chess -- (more)
Hazard on the Tattershall Arms page -- (more)
Laugh and Lie Down Cheat Sheet -- A one-page PDF summary, adapted by Michel from Justin's reconstruction (more)
Blind Man's Buff at the Virtual Museum -- Based on the Brueghel painting. (more)
Description on Chess Variants -- (more)
Justin's preliminary reconstruction of Ruff and Honours -- (more)
Modar's reconstruction of 4-player Alouette -- Based on work from Brusten de Bearsul (more)
Traditional Game Rules -- James Masters' site, some of which is indexed by game here. Some of this is period, but not all. (more)
Tali at the Roman Board Games site -- URL via the Wayback Machine. (more)
Mats Winther's Board Game page -- Via the Wayback Machine. (more)
Michael Wolffauer on Wari -- (more)
Justin's reconstructions of Primero -- Covering English and Italian separately. (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)
Mats Winther on Fox and Geese -- Notes several setup variations. (more)
Inn and Inn from the Ace's Boke -- Period-style text (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)
Description at 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)
Michael Wolffauer on Poch -- (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)
Modar's reconstruction of 2-player Alouette -- Based on work by Brusten de Bearsul (more)
Justin's description of Early French Tarot -- Largely based on Michael Dummett's The Game of Tarot (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)
How to Play Whist -- Includes a number of variations from various times. (more)
The Asia Society on Sugoroku -- Brief, but useful. (more)
Smithsonian Learning Center on Hnefetafl -- (more)
Rhythmomachy Basics -- An introduction to the common concepts of the game (more)
How to Play Cribbage -- Includes several more-recent variations. (more)
Roman Board Games -- Wally J. Kowalski's reconstructions of various pre-period games. (more)
Parlett on Losing Lodam -- (more)
Dwyle Flunking at the Virtual Museum -- Based on the Brueghel painting. (more)
So You Have This Chess Set -- A quick PDF introduction to several period Chess variations. (more)
Backgammon Galore on Trictrac -- (more)
A brief description on the Landsknecht page -- (more)
Dagonell on Dwyle Flonking -- (more)
Justin on Dublets -- (more)
Backgammon Galore on Irish -- (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)
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)
Description on Chess Variants -- (more)
Description on Chess Variants -- (more)
Merels at the Museum of Games -- (more)
James Wickson's reconstruction of early Tarot -- (more)
Period-style description of Tafl -- From the Ace's Boke. This is a modern reconstruction, written in period style. (more)
Modar on Fierges -- (more)
Ruben's reconstruction of Truc -- (more)
Ruben's reconstruction of Rentoy -- (more)
Modar's reconstruction of As Nas -- Based on work by Brusten de Bearsul (more)
Justin's reconstruction of Gleek -- (more)
Dagonell on Hopscotch -- (more)
Michel Wolffauer's handout for his Go class -- PDF, three pages (more)
David Levy's Trictrac Homepage -- Via the Wayback Machine. (more)
A description of Kaiserspiel -- A descendant of Karnoeffel, still played in the modern day (more)
A period-style description of Piquet -- Not actually period -- a modern writeup of the game, using Elizabethan-style English (more)
Justin's reconstruction of Picket -- (more)
Modar on Game of the Goose -- Illustrated with the Kadon Enterprises board. (more)
Rithmomachia on Game Cabinet -- (more)
Galleron's reconstructed Pochspiel board -- Posted by Master Galleron de Cressy on DeviantArt. (more)
Modar on Tablut -- (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)
Description at Chess Variants -- (more)
The Loop Within Circular Three Men's Morris -- An analysis of the possible situations within this ancient Morris variant. (more)
Modar on Pall-Mall -- Includes a speculative reconstruction of "Ground Billiards". (more)
Parlett on Maw -- (more)
Modar's reconstruction of All Fours -- (more)
David Parlett's reconstruction of Gleek -- (more)
Sten Helmfrid on Tafl Games -- Nominally focused on Hnefetafl, but really a fine, deeply detailed overview of the entire family. (more)
Dagonell on Knucklebones -- Includes Gomme's description of "Fivestones". (more)
Justin's reconstruction of Seven-Sided Backgammon -- One of my prouder achievements, this reconstruction has caught on pretty widely. (more)
Margaret's reconstruction of Piquet -- (more)
Dagonell on Teetotums -- He reasons that the game is probably similar to Dreidels. (more)
Parlett on Ombre -- (more)
Description at The History of Chess -- Goes into more detail about this game than most sites. (more)
Dagonell on Gluckshaus -- (more)
Dagonell on Hazard -- (more)
Ringing the Bull at Traditional Games -- (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)
Description from the British Chess Variants Society -- Mostly a little bit of analysis of the game. (more)
Mats Winther on Gala -- Via the Wayback Machine. (more)
A brief description of several games, at Tattershall Arms -- (more)
Modar's reconstruction of Karnoffel -- Based on work by Brusten de Bearsul (more)
Modar's reconstruction of Basset -- Based on work by Brusten de Bearsul (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)
YouTube video teaching Three Men's Morris -- (more)
Description on Chess Variants -- (more)
Description at Chess Variants -- (more)
Period-style Elizabethan Rhythmomachy Rules -- An Ace's Boke rewrite of my reconstruction of 16th century Rhythmomachy (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)
An alternate version on Chess Variants -- (more)
Wikipedia article on Shagai -- Brief descriptions of lots of games of various sorts played with Shagai. (more)
Board Game Studies -- The main journal of board games research, recently (2014) rebooted as an online journal. Currently run by Ludus, a Portugese games organization. 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)

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)
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)
Ruben's reconstruction of Pechigonga -- (more)
Modar on Wari -- (more)
Fidchell in Dreoilin's Weblog -- A discussion of the game of Fidchell, plus a lot of cultural background. (more)
Backgammon Galore on Fayles -- (more)
Modar's reconstruction of Tarok -- An Eastern European variant. (more)
Mats Winther's description -- Via the Wayback Machine. (more)
Parlett on Penneech -- (more)
Jeff Suzuki's reconstruction of Primero -- (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)
Norse Games -- An interesting article from Ravensgard. (more)
Michael Wolffauer on Trappola -- (more)
YouTube video teaching Ludus Latrunculorum -- (more)
Michel Wolffauer's writeup on Tarot -- PDF, adapted from Justin's version (more)
A reconstruction from the Avacal Games Guild -- (more)
Dagonell on Tablero -- (more)
Justin's reconstruction of Laugh and Lie Down -- (more)
Parlett on Reversis -- (more)
Dagonell on Goose -- A concise description, plus an outline for a live-action version to play with kids. (more)
Balls! -- A general page on the manufacture of game balls and some of the games played with them in period. (more)
Discussion on The History of Chess -- (more)
Parlett on Costly Colors -- Goes into some detail about what little we know about the game (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)
Lady Gwir ferch John on Noddy -- (more)
Description at Chess Variants -- (more)
YouTube video teaching Gluckhaus -- (more)
Description on Chess Variants -- (more)
Description at Chess Variants -- Includes a dicing variant. (more)
Susan Granquist's page on Tafl -- A relatively brief description. (more)
Dagonell on Tag Games -- (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)
Bowls at the Virtual Museum -- Based on the Brueghel painting. (more)
Ruben's reconstruction of Cacho -- (more)
Description on The History of Chess -- (more)
Tablero da Gucci at the Game Cabinet -- This sounds like a pretty authoritative description of the drinking game. (more)
Description on The History of Chess -- (more)
A Medieval Battle of Numbers -- An overview of Rhythmomachy by Peter Mebben, one of the more serious students of the game. (more)
How to Play Ruff and Honours -- Described on their Whist page, as a variant. (more)
16th century Rhythmomachy -- A reconstruction of the later form of the game described in Fulke. (more)
Mats Winther on Tablut -- Via the Wayback Machine. Includes a Zillions implementation. (more)
Parlett on Karnoeffel -- (more)
Description on Chess Variants -- (more)
Dagonell on Morris Games -- (more)
Gambling Games -- Baron Aurddeilen-ap-Robet provides a likely reconstruction based on other games of this period. (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)
Justin on Tafl -- Largely adapted from Murray and Ragnar. (more)
Le Jeu de Trictrac -- A substantial page in French, focused on Trictrac. (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)
A brief description of Primero on the Landsknecht page -- (more)
Hazard on the Landsknecht page -- (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)
Alternate reconstruction of Grande Acedrex -- A very detailed reconstruction that goes back to the Alfonso MS and looks at it carefully. (more)
Dagonell's description -- (more)
Justin on Irish -- (more)
Parlett on Laugh and Lie Down -- (more)
The Viking Answer Lady on Tafl Games -- A lovely, detailed article on the Tafl family in general, outlining the major variants. (more)
Low Company reconstruction of Ticktack -- Reconstruction by Alessandro the Storyteller, with help from Justin du Coeur (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)
The Reasoned Dictionary of Trictrac -- 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)
Description on Chess Variants -- (more)
1on1 Backgammon on Tabula -- (more)
Michel Wolffauer's reconstruction of El Mundo -- PDF, two pages (more)
Michel Wolffauer's handout on Tafl -- PDF, 2 pages (more)
Description at Chess Variants -- Includes a Zillions implementation. (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)
David Parlett on Noddy -- Nicely detailed description, including some history (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)
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)
YouTube video teaching Hnefatafl -- Slightly clumsy presentation style, but useful for folks who learn best from a live presentation. (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)
A brief description on the Landsknecht info site -- (more)
Backgammon Galore on Doublets -- (more)
Medieval European Chess at The History of Chess -- A very good, not-too-long description of core SCA-period chess. (more)
Justin's description of Bryncir -- Based on Brusten's reconstruction (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)
Description at the History of Chess -- Not a terribly detailed reconstruction. (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)
Mats Winther's Description -- URL via the Wayback Machine. (more)
David Whittaker's reconstruction of Primero -- This link is via the Wayback Machine. (more)
How to Play Piquet -- Includes a pretty detailed description of play, as well as several more-recent variations. (more)
Michel's reconstruction of Losing Loadum -- PDF (more)
Jeff Johnston's reconstruction of One-and-Thirty and Bone-Ane -- (more)
Michel Wolffauer on Hopscotch -- (more)
So You Have This Backgammon Board -- A brief PDF introduction to several period Tables variations. (more)
Dagonell's description of Boules -- (more)
YouTube video teaching Latrunculi -- (more)
Trondheim Hnefatafl Board Fragment -- Some notes about a relatively recently found board, and some thoughts about its possible implications. (more)
Justin's reconstruction of Noddy and Early Cribbage -- (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)
Dagonell on Kubb -- (more)
Description at The History of Chess -- (more)
The Game Cabinet on Tafl Games -- An overview of the family, including some of the more distant cousins, Seega and Latrunculi. (more)
Description from Abstract Games -- Discussion of Alquerques and a bunch of similar games. (more)
Michel's reconstruction of Gleek -- An in-depth PDF about Gleek (more)
Dagonell on Gameball -- (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)
Backgammon Galore on Tabula -- (more)