Reconstruction

Referenced from:

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

Description at Chess Variants -- Includes a Zillions implementation. (more)
Justin's description of Bryncir -- Based on Brusten's reconstruction (more)
Fidchell in Dreoilin's Weblog -- A discussion of the game of Fidchell, plus a lot of cultural background. (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)
Dagonell on Hopscotch -- (more)