Early Modern Board Games: The Royal Game of Goose [2016]

Early Modern Board Games The Royal Game of Goose Image: R.H. Laurie, Laurie’s New and Entertaining Game of the Golden Goose, London, 1831. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London imdcgd112 introduction to critical games studies Eddie Duggan [email protected] A Late th C16 Board Game … ? • Modern race games are derived from The Royal Game of Goose, also known as the Game of the Goose. • The game originated in Florence as Gioco Dell’Oca in the late sixteenth century. • A copy of the game was given as a gift to King Philip II of Spain by Francesco de Medici, sometime between 1574 – 1587. Image: Printed game board. Naples. 1588. British Museum 1869,0410.2463.+ This particular board would have accompanied the book Filosofía Cortesana by Alonso de Barros, describing the game and how to play it. This second edition of the Spanish language booklet and board were produced in Naples for the Spanish market. Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, London. … or even older? • Adrian Seville notes the earliest known reference to the Game of the Goose is in “an obscure book of sermons” dated to 1480. • The author, Gabriele of Barletta, is a Dominican priest who is critical of playing cards and tables. (Seville no date, online) Image: Barletti, G. Sermons. 1577 edition. Available via archive.org https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_k_8NMz40P-oC Follow that goose … • David Parlett notes the Game of the Goose ‘spread with remarkable rapidity’ in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, citing the following examples: – [1574 – 1587: Francesco de Medici, the grand duke of Tuscany, gives a Goose game to Philip II of Spain (Parlett 1999, p. 95)] – 1589: German Goose Game engraved on stone (Graz museum). – 1597: John Wolfe (who had trained as a printer in Florence) registers “The newe and most pleasant Game of the Goose” at Stationer’s Hall, London. – 1601: The oldest known French version was printed at Lyon. Left: Francesco de Medici (1541 – 1587). This portrait, attributed to Bronzino, was painted ca. 1567, and is now in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence. Right: Philip II of Spain (1527 – 1598). The portrait of Philip in armour, by Titian, was painted in 1550-1551. It is now in the Prado, Madrid. (Parlett 1999, p. 98) London’s Lost Goose • No known copies exist of the game registered by John Wolfe in 1597, but it would not have been too dissimilar from this … • The Royall & Most Pleasant Game of Y Goose (1690) – Invented at the Consistory in Rome and are printed and sold by John Overton over against St Sepulchre’s Church: in London. Start here… • David Parlett suggests The Game of the Goose “usher[s] in [the] modern period of board gaming characterized by the introduction of illustrative and thematic elements” (Parlett 1999, p. 95). Image: The oldest example of The Game of the Goose in the V&A collection consists of a hand-drawn game board pasted to a wooden board. It was produced about 1800. This particular board has 61 squares rather than the usual 63. V&A MISC.292-1981 Image © Victoria and Albert Museum, London. When is a goose not a goose? • When is a Game of the Goose not a Game of the Goose? • When it has been re-skinned as something else! • Let’s review some non-Goose versions of the game… Un nouveau jeu de l’oie (A New Game of the Goose) Marie Claire, France, 1940s. giochidellaoca.it catalogue no. 2191 Wartime theme Jagd auf Kohlenklau (Hunt the coal thief) Germany, 1943 – 45. British Museum 2004,1231.15 Wartime theme Il Giuco del Giro D’Italia (Game of the Tour of Italy) La Gazetta dello Sport. Italy, 1950. Cycling boardgames Cycle race theme Pepsi & Mirinda “Olympic Game”. Australia, 1964. National Museum of Australia. Ebay Olympics theme (Spiral starts in the centre and ends at the top) But the geese haven’t entirely disappeared: Jeu de l’Oie (Game of the Goose) Schmidt, 2016. Available via amazon.fr Goose theme https://www.amazon.fr/Schmidt-88112-Plateau-Classic-Line/dp/B000SOEQMG A Certain Consistency • The Game of the Goose remains remarkably consistent in terms of game board layout and iconographic elements over time. • Adrian Seville refers to a “classic” goose game as “having a 63-space spiral, the same hazards on corresponding spaces, geese in the same two interleaved series spaced by 9, and rules as stated in the centre” (Seville 2016, p. 112 n. 8) Image: Il nuovo et piacevole gioco dell ocha. Printed game board. Lucchino Gargano, Italy (1598). British Museum: 1869,0410.2465.+ • The following slides will review some of the constant design elements … Spiral Track • The board on the left, showing Jack Sheppard and Jonathan Wild (1750) has a 63-square track. • The board on the right, (1808) themed with the Mother Goose pantomime (starring the popular clown, Grimaldi, who is shown in square 21) has a track of 33 squares. Left: The Royal and Most pleasant Game of the Goose (1750) [V&A MISC.296-1991] Right: The New & Favourite Game of Mother Goose & the Golden Egg (1808) [V&A E.1764-1954] • The spiral track is still evident in R. H. Laurie’s 1831 design (left). • It is more obvious in Spears’s 1910 edition (right). [The red line is not part of the game board but is added here to indicate the spiral track] Left: Laurie’s New and Entertaining Game of the Golden Goose (1831) [V&A CIRC.230-1964] Right: The Game of the Goose, John Spears & Son (ca. 1910) [V&A MISC.164&:1-1986] The Bridge • The Bridge is usually on Square 6, but is sometimes found on Square 5. • A player landing on the bridge pays to cross the bridge by putting a token in the pool and then moves to Square 12. The Bridge Left: Robert Sayer, London (1725-1750) [giochidelloca.it 926] Centre: Lumsden & Son, Glasgow (1825) [giochidellcoa.it 1222] Right: Unknown, Italy [Milan?] (1920-30) [giochidelloca.it 357] The Dice Squares • Square 26 and Square 53 are marked with two dice: – Square 26 with 6 & 3; – Square 53 with 5 & 4. • If a player throws 6 & 3 or 5 & 4 on his first throw, he moves directly to square 26 or to square 53. – If this particular mechanic were not implemented,* a player throwing a 9 on his first throw would win the game by advancing on every goose square to 63! * cf Elias et al on problems in evolved games. The Dice Squares Left: Robert Sayer, London (1725-1750) [giochidelloca.it 926] Centre: Lumsden & Son, Glasgow (1825) [giochidellcoa.it 1222] Right: Unknown, Italy [Milan?] (1920-30) [giochidelloca.it 357] Square 6: The Bridge; Square 9: Pair of Dice (usually a goose in a “classic” goose game) The Inn or The Tavern • The Inn or The Tavern is usually on Square 19. • Pay for your drink by adding a token to the pool and miss two turns (sometimes three). The Inn or The Tavern Left: Robert Sayer, London (1725-1750) [giochidelloca.it 926] Centre: Lumsden & Son, Glasgow (1825) [giochidellcoa.it 1222] Right: Unknown, Italy [Milan?] (1920-30) [giochidelloca.it 357] The Well or The Spring • Usually on Square 31. • Pay to use the well by adding a token to the pool and miss two turns while bathing. • If another player lands on the well before the first player has moved, the first player no longer has to miss turns. The Well or The Spring Left: Robert Sayer, London (1725-1750) [giochidelloca.it 926] Centre: Lumsden & Son, Glasgow (1825) [giochidellcoa.it 1222] Right: Unknown, Italy [Milan?] (1920-30) [giochidelloca.it 357] The Labyrinth or The Maze • Square 42 is usually The Labyrinth or The Maze • If you land on this space, you will get lost and will be redirected to 30 or 39. The Labyrinth or The Maze Left: Robert Sayer, London (1725-1750) [giochidelloca.it 926] Centre: Lumsden & Son, Glasgow (1825) [giochidellcoa.it 1222] Right: Unknown, Italy [Milan?] (1920-30) [giochidelloca.it 357] The Prison • Usually square 52 • It is sometimes shown as a ship (e.g. imprisoned as a galley slave) • Miss three turns; or stay in Prison until someone else lands there to take your place! The Prison • Various unidentified designs for The Prison taken from the Prison Page of giochidelloca.it Death • Square 58 • Pay a stake into the pot and start again from the beginning! Death Left: Robert Sayer, London (1725-1750) [giochidelloca.it 926] Centre: Lumsden & Son, Glasgow (1825) [giochidellcoa.it 1222] Right: Unknown, Italy [Milan?] (1920-30) [giochidelloca.it 357] Numerology and Symbolism • Seville on numerology: – The significance of the number sixty three as representing the “Grand Climacteric" of human life is an ancient belief, traceable to early Greek philosophers. – Significance of 9: 3 X 3 (the Trinity of Trinities) (Seville 2016, p. 102) The Grand Climacteric Sir Thomas Browne summarises it thus: • The numbers 7 and 9 which multiplyed into themselves doe make up 63 commonly esteemed the great Climactericall of our lives; for the dayes of men are usually cast up by septenaries, and every seventh yeare conceived to carry some altering character with it, either in the temper of body, minde, or both. [...] The year of sixty three is conceived to carry with it the most considerable fatality. (Seville 2016, p. 102) Numerology and Symbolism • Seville on symbolism: – If the geese represent spiritual advancement, it becomes easy to see that the hazard spaces represent obstacles to that advancement. There is no contemporary interpretation giving more detail but in general terms it is clear that the bridge is a rite of passage, perhaps marking adulthood, the inn represents earthly distractions, the well and the prison mean that help of another is needed, and the labyrinth symbolises error; death is not physical death but death of the soul, requiring a fresh start. (Seville 2016, pp. 102 – 103) 5 + 8 = Death • The death space is 58 • Is it coincidence, or a matter of numerological significance (related to the Christian Cabala) that 58 could also be seen as 5 + 8? (5 + 8 = 13) • 13 is, in Seville’s words, “the ‘fatal’ number” – However, this leaves any numerological symbolism for the other hazard squares still to be determined … (See Seville 2016 p. 103) Commencing countdown, engines on… • The other hazards are placed as follows: bridge on space six; inn on space nineteen; well on space thirty one; labyrinth on space forty two; and prison on space fifty two. The numerical distances between these are successively 13, 12, 11 and 10 an arrangement that is unlikely to be a matter of chance, though the progression is broken by the death space at fifty eight. (Seville 2016, p. 103) The reverse-overthrow rule and the death space • Another approach to the numerology of the death space is to note that the reverse-overthrow rule means that if a throw of nine were made from space fifty eight, then the backward count beyond sixty three would arrive at space fifty nine, which is a goose space: the throw-doubling rule would then take the player back successively to spaces fifty, forty one, thirty two, twenty three, fourteen and five at which point a failure would occur since a continuation to minus four is not possible. continues … And rebirth … • Apparently, the inventor of the game has cleverly removed this “bug" by making fifty-eight a hazard space on which a player cannot stop but must return to the start. But a more fundamental insight is obtained by suggesting that the second series of geese are in fact placed explicitly to symbolise this “death of the soul" by providing a path for the return to the start. (Seville 2016, p. 103) nonagonic • A goose appears on the following squares: 5, 9, 14, 18, 23, 27, 32, 36, 41, 45, 50, 54, 59 • The significance of 9 should be apparent: there are, in fact, two sequences in multiples of nine: 5, 14, 23, 32, 41, 50, 59 9, 18, 27, 36, 45, 54 Sauce for the goose • A player landing on a goose square moves his piece forward by the same amount as the throw that caused him to land on the goose. • If moving forward causes the player to land on another goose, he can continue his forward movement. Throw and move • The Game of the Goose requires no skill: it is a simple dice-driven race game. • The aim of the game is to be the first to reach the home square. Why Geese? • The goose is a symbol of good luck in Italy where the Game of the Goose originated. • It could also be the goose simply represents a feast. • The goose is on the 9th square (in a series of 9) and 9 is numerologically significant (Trinity of Trinities etc) • Or it could be, as Seville suggests, that the bird is a pelican (significant in Christian iconography), seen in medieval iconography without the distinctive bill, and subsequently mistaken for a different bird – the goose. • In this mid- C18th French Goose game, the bird on the final square resembles “the Pelican in her Piety”, a symbol in Christian iconography. See Seville 2016, pp. 104 – 105. A problematic game • Seville identifies a number of problems posed by the Game of the Goose: • Difficult to identify precursors to the late C16th game – There is no evidence of a link between the Game of Goose and Mehen, the ancient egyptian spiral game. • It could be a simple drinking/gambling game, or it could have spiritual significance, or both! • Numerology may be Cabalistic After the break … • • • • • Get into groups of 4 Get a board Get some dice Get some pieces … And play The Game of the Goose … Rules • See Bell (1979) p. 141 – A copy of the rules as transcribed by Bell is available in the VLE (log-in required): https://learn.ucs.ac.uk/bbcswebdav/pid-587647dt-content-rid-1697234_1/courses/IMDCGD11216YRD/gooseRules_bell1979_p141.pdf Interesting Links • Lucarelli, F. (2012) socks-studio.com. Blog post. August 26. http://socks-studio.com/2012/08/26/a-collection-of-italianboard-games-mostly-19th-to-20th-century/ Bibliography Bell, R. C. (1979) Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations. Vol. 1. pp. 14 – 16. Bell, R. C. (1979) The Boardgame Book pp. 140 – 141. Crist, W., Dunn-Vaturi A-E, & de Voogt, A. (2016) Ancient Egyptians at Play pp. 15 – 29. Duggan, E. and Gill, D. W. J., eds (2016) From Cardboard to Keyboard: Proceedings of the XVII Annual Colloquium of the International Board Game Studies Association. UCS Ipswich 21-24 May 2014. Associação Ludus. Lisbon. [In Press] Goodfellow, C. (1997) A Collector’s Guide to Games and Puzzles pp. 14 – 19. Goodfellow, C. (1998) ‘The Development of the English Board game, 1770 – 1850’. Board Game Studies Journal 1. online <http://ex.ludicum.org/publicacoes/bgsj/1>. . continues … / Goodfellow, C. (2008) How We Played: Games from Childhood Past. pp. 43 – 48. Parlett, D. (1999) The Oxford History of Board Games. pp. 88 – 102 Seville, A. (no date) ‘Chronology’ [1480]. Online. <http://www.giochidelloca.it/cronologia.php>. Seville, A. (2005)‘Tradition and Variation in The Game of Goose’. Online. <http://www.giochidelloca.it/dettaglio_storia.php?id=35>. Seville, A. (2016) “The Medieval Game of the Goose: Philosophy, Numerology and Symbolism” in Duggan & Gill eds pp. 96 – 114. Strutt, J. [1801] (1969) Sports and Pastimes of the People of England. pp. 265 – 266.