The Game of the Goose, board game reproduction of 1910 from 1977.

The Game of the Goose, board game reproduction of 1910 from 1977.

• Manufacturer: ZWAN Nederland B.V
• Manufacturing date: 1977

Description
"Reproduction of the original game that was first released in 1910. This reissue was released by ZWAN Nederland B.V. and dates from 1977".

Vintage Goose Board Game. Reissue of the original from 1910 that is present in the Deventer Toy Museum. Text on box and game board: "With permission of the Firma Spear and Son Nürnberg © 1977" Complete with Dutch rules.

The game board is four times bigger than the box!

Condition
This vintage | Goose Board Game is in a neat condition with normal traces of use and age-related traces of wear. One side of the board is a bit loose. Pictures are part of the description

Size

Box

• Height: 4 cm.
• Length: 40.5 cm.
• Width: 27.5 cm.

Game board unfolded

• Length: 78.5 cm.
• Width: 52.5 cm.

Ganzenbord
The Game of the Goose or Goose game is a board game where two or more players move pieces around a track by rolling a die or two dice. The aim of the game is to reach square number sixty-three before any of the other players, while avoiding obstacles such as the Inn, the Bridge and Death.

The game is thought to have originated in the 16th century, and is considered the prototype of many of the commercial European racing board games of later centuries. The game is 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 children in clothes from the period.

The game's origins are uncertain. Some connect the game with the Phaistos Disc because of its spiral shape but, as Caroline Goodfellow notes, the two games "are unlikely to have been the same". A version of the game was given as a gift by Francesco I de' Medici of Florence to King Philip II of Spain sometime between 1574 and 1587. In June 1597 John Wolfe enters the game in the Stationers' Register, as "the newe and most pleasant game of the goose".

In the 1960s, the game company CO-5 marketed a variant called Gooses Wild.

The board consists of a track with consecutively numbered spaces (usually 63), and is often arranged in a spiral with the starting point at the outside. Each player's piece is moved according to throws of one or two dice. Scattered throughout the board are a number of spaces on which a goose is depicted; landing on a goose allows the player to move again by the same distance. Additional shortcuts, such as spaces marked with a bridge, move the player to some other specified position. There are also a few penalty spaces which force the player to move backwards or lose one or more turns, the most recognizable being the one marked with a skull and symbolizing death; landing on this space results in the player being sent back to start. On Spanish boards the reverse is usually a parchís board.

Many themed versions of the game have been created, depicting topics as diverse as ice skating, Richard Nixon, and sewage pumps. These can be valued for their historical or artistic merits even by those who have no interest in the game itself, with some editions having been sold for thousands of dollars at auction or displayed in museums.

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