MERELS

The game of Merels is known today as Nine Men's Morris. This game dates back to ancient Egypt. In the 1300s, the game was very popular in Scandinavia and Britain, and is still played today in many parts of the world.

You need:

- a game board (like the one below)

- 18 pieces or soldiers (9 one color, 9 another color)

To start:

- each player starts with nine soldiers

- take turns placing one soldier at a time on any unoccupied point on the board

To play:

- take turns moving the soldiers one at a time

- the object is to form mills (a straight row of three soldiers along a line)

- when a mill is created, you may capture one of your opponent’s soldiers

To win/lose:

- if you cannot move a soldier, you lose

- if you only have 2 soldiers left, you lose

The rules:

- you may only move one space

- you may only move along the lines

- you may move in any direction

- only 1 soldier may be on any point

- when capturing a soldier, you may not take one from a mill, unless this is your only move

- once you use a mill once, you must move a soldier out of it

- you may move a soldier back into a mill the following turn

MERELS

FOX & GEESE

Mention of this game is made of it as far back as AD 1300 in the Icelandic story, “Grettis”. Most likely it dates back to BC.

You need:

- a game board (like the one below)

- 14 pieces (13 geese – one color; 1 fox – another color)

To start:

- choose who will be the fox and who the geese

- place all of the geese at one end of the board

- place the fox anywhere on the board

To play:

- take turns moving the pieces one at a time

- the fox tries to eat the geese by jumping over it

- geese try to corner the fox so it cannot jump

To win/lose:

- if the fox cannot jump, it loses

- if there is less than 6 geese, they lose

The rules:

- pieces may only move one space at a time along a line

- a fox may kill as many geese at one time as they can, just so long as there is an open space for it to jump to

- geese cannot jump over fox, or capture the fox

FOX & GEESE

ALQUERQUE

Alquerque is believed to be of Arabic origins. It is thought to have spread to Europe when the Moors invaded Spain.

You need:

- a game board (like the one below)

- 24 pieces (12 one color, 12 another)

To start:

- each player puts all of their soldiers at one end

To play:

- capture opponent’s soldiers by jumping over them to an empty space

To win/lose

- when you cannot move a piece, you lose

- when you lose all of your pieces, you lose

- if you can fill up the back row with your soldiers, you win

The rules:

- a soldier may be moved from one point to another along a line

- soldiers may not move backwards

- you may capture as many soldiers in one move as possible, just so long as there is an empty space for you to jump to

- if you can capture a soldier, you must do so; if you do not, this is called a “huff”, and your opponent may capture that soldier

ALQUERQUE

VALHALLA

The game is a Norse version of Senet, which originated in ancient Egypt and was adopted by the Greeks and later the Romans. It most likely was imported in via ships sailing to Africa in search of goods and resources.

You need:

- a game board (like the one below)

- 10 pieces or boats (5 one color, 5 another color)

- a die

To start:

- the real rules are that you need to role a 4 or a 6 to place a boat on the board, but to speed things up, just roll the die and place your boat on the board one at a time

To play:

- role the dice to move your boats forward to Valhalla (heaven for warriors)

- exchange places with a ship by landing on them on the last space you go to

To win/lose:

- for a short game, the player with the first ship at the end of the board wins

- for a longer game, the player with all ships at the end of the board wins

The rules:

- you must move in a reverse “S” pattern around the board

- if you roll a 6, you get an extra turn

- position 15 is a safe harbour; your ship is docked and cannot be attacked

- position 25 is a rocky shoal; your ship must be returned to a harbour (15) for repair

- position 27 is a heavy storm; your ship is sunk and it must start over

- position 30 is Valhalla; your ship is provided safe passage to Valhalla

VALHALLA

21	11	1
22	12	2
23	13	3
24	14	4
25 rocky shoal	15 safe harbour	5
26	16	6
27 heavy storm	17	7
28	18	8
29	19	9
30 VALHALLA	20	10

TABLUT

Tablut is a medieval game from Scandanavia.

You need:

- a game board (like the one below)

- 25 pieces (16 attackers, one color; 9 defenders, another color)

To start:

- decide who will be the attackers, and who the defenders

- the king is placed in the center, and the remaining defenders are arranged around him in a cross

- attackers are arranged in four 'T' shapes in the middle of each of the four edges of the board

To play:

- move one piece at a time any number of squares, horizontally or vertically

- either side captures an opponent’s piece by surrounding it on 2 sides (vertical, horizontal)

To win/lose:

- attackers capture the king by surrounding it on all 4 sides (vertical, horizontal), or by surrounding it on 3 sides, with the 4^th side being the center square, or by surrounding the defenders so that they cannot move

- defenders save the king by moving him to a corner, and off the board

The rules:

- attackers move first

- there are no diagonal movements

- the center square may be used only by the king

- if a playing piece moves between two opposing pieces voluntarily, it is NOT captured

- if the move of a Defender piece (either regular playing piece or the King piece) gives the King piece a clear line of exit from the board, the Defender player must announce this

- from the board, no announcement must be made (by either side).

TABLUT

WARI

The game of Wari dates back to ancient times, and was known throughout Egypt, Africa and Asia. Most likely, it was brought back to the European area by sailors exploring that area.

You need:

- a game board (like the one below, or a 12-cup egg carton)

- 48 pieces (any color)

To start:

- place 4 pieces in each of the 12 cups, or circles

- decide who will start

- choose a side (players sit at either end, the 6 cups in front of you are yours)

To play:

- pick up all of the pieces from one cup on your side

- following a counter-clockwise direction, place one piece in the next cups until you run out of the pieces you have just picked up

- the other player then does the same

- you can capture an opponent’s cup (and collect pieces) when the last piece you put into a cup makes the total number of pieces in that cup 2 or 3

To win/lose:

- when all of the cups on your side are empty, you lose

- whoever has the most pieces wins

The rules:

- if a cup has so many pieces that a complete circle of the board is made, the cup just emptied is skipped over

- if you have captured a cup, and the next cup clockwise from the captured cup has only two or three markers in it, that cup is also captured

- if your opponent only has one cup left, you cannot capture it unless this is your only move

- you cannot leave your opponent with all empty cups if you have a move that would put some pieces in one or more of their cups.

WARI

MEDIEVAL BOARD GAMES

1. Circle the medieval games that you played

Mercels Fox and Geese Alquerque

Valhalla Tablut Wari

2. Which one did you like the best? Why?

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3. Choose two of the games that you played, and describe what this game can tell you about Medieval society, or what was important to people in this society. When thinking about your answer, consider the name of the game, how it is played, what the goal of the game is.

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