gamester

A Warm Welcome Welcome, fellow gamester! This is another of my compendiums on public domain games, as well as my own games that are likely related to public domain games or game structures. The entire purpose of this document is to collect as many games that seem interesting to me and I can record in a single place. Most of these games do have optional betting or drinking rules. The exact mechanisms for betting is outside the scope of this document, but any sort of mechanism agreed upon by players may be used. [Read More]

Compleat Gamester: Basically Dice

William Moore

Posted on June 14, 2023 |

Beetle Players will be individually constructing a beetle. Number of Players The game may be played with two or more players. Set Up Something to write with and on for each player 1 six-sided die Roll the die to determine player turn order, rerolling ties. Game Play Each player takes a turn rolling the die. When they roll one of the following they draw that feature of the beetle, including the maximum: [Read More]

Compleat Gamester: Boards

William Moore

Posted on June 14, 2023 |

Böse-Sieben-Spiel Böse-Sieben-Spiel is an 18th-century German dice game that combines boards of various designs. Exactly the kind of design is up to the individual. Number of Players The game may be played with two or more players. Set Up 2 six-sided dice A bunch of tokens One board Before game play begins, the players determine turn order somehow. If the board contains a 4 spot, the players agree upon what happens. [Read More]

Compleat Gamester: Cards

William Moore

Posted on June 14, 2023 |

Le Tarot Français This is a very, very, very old trick-taking game game that was introduced into France sometime in the 16th century, most likely through Italy. The goal of the game is to have the most number of points after a series of hands. Number of Players The game may be played with 4 players (with variants for different numbers). Set Up Any French-suited tarot deck will suffice Something to keep score Assemble 4 players. [Read More]

Compleat Gamester: Games within the Tables

William Moore

Posted on June 14, 2023 |

Backgammon An early Renaissance English game. Described here are the rules as laid out by Francis Willughby. Number of Players The game is played with two players. Set Up Standard tables board 15 “men” of one color, typically black 15 “men” of another color, typically white 2 six-sided dice per player 1 cup per player Players determine who goes first using any sort of method. The “black” player places 5 men on points 6 and 13, 3 men on point 8, and 2 men on point 24. [Read More]

Compleat Gamester: Generala

William Moore

Posted on June 14, 2023 |

Generala Generala is an old Latin American dice game. It is the game that Yahtzee is based on. Number of Players The game may be played with two or more players. Set Up 5 six-sided dice Something to write with and on Players determine turn order in some fashion, preferably by rolling the dice and the turn order goes from highest to lowest or, alternatively, from lowest to highest. Game Play The acting player rolls the dice. [Read More]

Compleat Gamester: Poker Based

William Moore

Posted on June 14, 2023 |

Liar’s Dice Liar’s dice is a very old dice game dating to the Latin American Inca Empire during the 15th century and spread to Europe by way of the Spanish Conquistadors. Number of Players The game may be played with two or more players. Set Up 5 six-sided dice 1 opaque cup per player. Determine play order using whatever method works best for the players. Wild Cards Before play begins, if players want to have wild faces, all players agree on which one(s) are wild. [Read More]

Compleat Gamester: Tiles

William Moore

Posted on June 14, 2023 |

Block Dominoes The most basic game using dominoes. Number of Players The game is for 2 - 4 players. Set Up Any dominoes set will do Place all the dominoes face down and shuffle them. For 2 players, both players draw 7 dominoes from the shuffled dominoes. All other player counts, the players each draw 5 dominoes. Turn order is then determined using any sort of method desired. Game Play The first player will play a domino on the table and is called the “set”. [Read More]