games & Dice
Various games have roots in the medieval age, or even earlier, including modern favorites like chess and checkers. Other games, like King's Table and Nine-Men Morris, are rare today despite being just as much fun. Our cotton game-boards double as a carrying pouches for the pieces--the standard board comes with the rules for the games printed on the inside of the board. No more losing the instructions to the games. The new game board option is to go embroidered with separate paper directions. Now available, order Custom Game Sets.
Chess, Checkers, Backgammon, Byzantine Chess, & Nine-Men Morris |
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This medieval-styled chess set is based on Scandinavian finds of both Viking and Islamic origin. Usually carved of bone, wood, or antler, there were also ceramic examples. Our chess pieces are all individually hand-carved from the clay in the style of those ancient pieces, and come in unglazed and glazed versions. A smaller-scale stamped-piece version of chess is also available. And with any chess board, it can also be set up for checkers, and the same pieces reused on the Nine-Men Morris board on the reverse. And by popular request, here are sets containing Chess, Checkers, and Backgammon and Byzantine Chess, Checkers, and Chess crafted in a choice of the same style as the small Chess and Checkers sets, or the same as the large carved sets.
Small sets 8
¼" H x 8
¼" W, with the exception of
the small Backgammon set at 8
¼" H x 6
¾" W. Small set pieces are ½"
W, and stamped pieces 1" W.
Large sets are 11" H x 11" W, with
the exception of the large
Backgammon set at 11" H x 14
¼" W. Carved pieces are
¾" to 1 ¼" H x
¾" W.
The new small game board option is
embroidery on canvas, which is on
average ¾" larger, with separate
paper directions.
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Pronounced "nef-ah-tah-fel," meaning King's Table in old Norse, this game was extremely popular in its time--and it is easy to see why. The set consists of one king with 12 defenders against 24 attackers on an 11x11 cloth board with the rules printed on the inside, which is also a carrying pouch for the pieces. All the king must do to win is reach one of the king-squares in the corner while the attackers must capture the king by boxing him in. This game comes in 2 sizes, both with the Nine-Men Morris board on the reverse. Small sets 8 ¼" H x 8 ¼" W. Small set pieces are ½" W, and stamped pieces 1" W. Large sets are 11" H x 11" W. Carved pieces are ¾" to 1 ¼" H x ¾" W. The new small game board option is embroidery on canvas, which are on average ¾" larger, with separate paper directions.    |
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Though Go and Checkers are old games with long histories, Reversi (also known as Othello) was only invented in the 1880s and Pente (though based on Go) wasn't invented until the 1970s. A small version of Go is paired with Pente on one side, with Checkers and Reversi paired on the reverse. Sets 8 ¼" H x 8 ¼" W, and pieces are ½" W. The new game board option is embroidery on canvas, which is on average ¾" larger, with separate paper directions. |
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Another medieval game found scratched into old stone church pews, Fox & Geese bears some similarity to King's Table. this is the oldest version of the game with 13 geese versus the fox. Small sets 5 ½" H x 5 ½" W. Small set pieces are ½" W,  |
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Want a certain combination of games? Build your own selection of games below. Small sets 8 ¼" H x 8 ¼" W, with the exception of the small Backgammon set at 8 ¼" H x 6 ¾" W. Small set pieces are ½" W, and stamped pieces 1" W. Large sets are 11" H x 11" W, with the exception of the large Backgammon set at 11" H x 14 ¼" W. Carved pieces are ¾" to 1 ¼" H x ¾" W. The new small game board option is embroidery on canvas, which is on average ¾" larger, with separate paper directions. |
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Made out of whatever came to hand, most commonly the bone or horn of food animals, dice have been around for at least 5000 years. Here are our sets of 5 clay playing dice, shaped by hand, in a variety of colors. Each die approx. 3/8" across. And, as requested by many the gaming fan, we now produce multi-sided gaming dice in full sets: 1 four-sided die, 1 six-sided die, 1 eight--sided die, 2 ten-sided dice (one light and one dark), 1 twelve-sided die, and 1 twenty-sided die. the dice, with the exception of the four-sided dice, are handcrafted from molds and are quite durable. Perfect for anyone who collects dice. Each die approx. 1" across. A bit of trivia: a 2nd century AD Roman icosahedron die is in the collection of the British Museum, though the game it was used for is not known.
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History & documentation
Medieval & Renaissance Material Culture: Dice Games & Dice. A series of links to various images and other source materials regarding dice, including a museum in Sweden.
Wikipedia: History of Dice, Chess, Backgammon, King's Table, Checkers or Draughts, Fox & Geese, and
Nine-men Morris.
University of Waterloo's Elliott Avedon Museum & Archive of Games. An interesting site which has medieval images of multi-person variations of backgammon.
A Roman icosahedron die is in the collection of the British Museum, among others in the same case, though the game it was used for is not known. Also a 2nd century AD Roman icosahedron was sold through Christie's (pictured at right).
Need to know the rules for the games? Find them here.
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