Game of the Goose

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The Game of the Goose (Das Gänsespiel (german), Gioco dell'oca (italian), Jeu de l'oie (french), Juego de la Oca (spanish), Ganzenbord (dutch), Gaspelet (swedish)) is thought to be the prototype for many of the commercial European racing board games of recent centuries. The game is therefore mostly played in Europe and seen as family entertainment. Commercial versions of the game appeared in the 1880s and 1890s, and feature typical old European characteristics such as an old well and kids in clothes from the period. It is claimed that the game was originally a gift from Francesco I de' Medici of Florence to King Philip II of Spain sometime between 1574 and 1587. In June 1597 John Wolfe had attested that the game existed in London.

In his 1899 novel Le Testament d’un excentrique, Jules Verne uses the United States of America as a giant real-life Game of the Goose board, on which seven players race each other in pursuit of a $60,000,000 inheritance.

The game was the basis for a game/stunt show in Spain, El gran juego de la oca (The Big Goose Game). It ran from 1993 to 1995, and again in 1998 as El nuevo juego de la oca (The New Goose Game). A version of this show was also produced in Italy.

[edit] Description

The board has spaces numbered 1 to 50, say, and often arranged in a spiral with the starting point at the outside. Each player's piece is moved according to throws of one die, but many of the spaces have a picture (often involving a goose) and an associated text, such as: "The goose meets a friend and they continue together. Throw again." or "The goose is eaten by the fox. Start over from square 1."