A vintage board game for history nerds? Count me in!
In the dog days between Christmas and New Year we’ve been hitting the board games hard in our house.
I found this one whilst nosing around in Oxfam a couple of years back…
Is that the most psychedelic board game you’ve ever seen? Groovy!
It’s called Saga and it dates from 1968 – hence the trippy design.
The principle is Monopoly-esque with a time travelling twist. Progress round the board and accrue money to go on a time travelling voyage…
…learning facts about British history along the way (excellent for younger kids)…
The spiral design on the board reminds me of the spinny bit on Rod Taylor’s time machine in the movie adaptation of H.G Wells‘s proto-sci-fi tale…
… a roughly contemporaneous allusion (the film was made in 1960) so no accident there I’m sure.
(London spotters: H.G Wells notes that the time travelling scientist in his tale lives in Richmond.)
In terms of game play, so far so simple. But there are penalties, too. As you spiral though history, beware of the Black Spots…
…where fines eat up your funds. Lose all your money and it’s back to the start!
I’m particularly fond of the wording in the instruction leaflet…
“And as you go you will learn without effort, all part of an exciting, stimulating, unique game.
Played on a board of breathtaking design [who’d dare argue?!] to suit the splendour of the game itself.”
Quite so!