cross at my achilles
but there’s little point in that
so turn attention
to needlepoint
the project I had planned
to stitch one day
when I walk the camino Frances
(given that the game is based on that route)
so I’ll stitch it this year
and one day
as-yet-unborn grandkids will be able
to play the game to remember {grandma/granny/nana/nanny}
as she walks all the other routes
It’s actually quite an interesting game, and pretty old; the earliest recorded mention of the game was in a book of sermons by the Dominican friar Gabriele da Barletta published in 1480! A version of the game was given as a gift by Grand Duke Francesco I de Medici of Tuscany to King Philip II of Spain sometime between 1574 and 1587 – even that was a Very Long Time Ago. Since then, it has been in production and has even been called the first modern board game. Originally it was a gambling game, but by the 19th century it was being marketed as a children’s game sans the gambling and associated drinking.
There’s a plaza in Logrono with a giant board painted onto the cobblestones…I’ll go and find it when I’m passing through.
For future reference:
Game of the Goose Rules
Game of the Goose Rules
Equipment
The game is played on a spiral shaped board consisting of 63 spaces. There are four differently coloured pieces – often in the shape of a goose and two six-sided dice.
Preparation and Objective
Pieces are placed on the starting space at the outside of the spiral. Highest roll of the dice starts.
The Game of Goose is a simple race game – first person to reach space 63 wins.
Play
Players take turns to roll the dice and moved their piece forward by the sum of the two dice.
- If your first throw is six and three, move to space 26.
- If your first throw is five and four, move to space 53.
- If a piece lands on an enemy piece, the enemy piece is returned to the space that the piece started from in that turn (i.e. the two pieces swap places).
- If a piece lands on a space with a picture of a goose, it moves forward by same amount again. If this causes the piece to land on another goose, it moves forward again in the same way.
The following spaces are called Hazard spaces and are usually illustrated to match their name. If a piece lands on the space indicated, that piece must follow the stated rule.
- 6 – The Bridge – Go to space 12
- 19- The Hotel – Stay for (miss) one turn
- 31- The Well – Wait until someone comes to pull you out – they then take your place
- 42- The Maze -Go back to space 39 (or space 30 in most French games)
- 52- The Prison -Wait until someone comes to release you – they then take your place
- 58- Death -Return your piece to the beginning – start the game again
Winning the Game
To win the game, a piece must land exactly on space 63.
If a player throws too many, the piece counts the extra points backwards from the winning space. If you then land on a goose space, you must continue moving backwards by the amount of your throw until you land on a space with no goose space. If you land on the Death space, you must start again.
solowalk 2024 