So lately Iâve taken an interest in board games. It started a couple months back with trying to think of a good Yule gift for a friend. Heâs going to a medieval event this month, I was supposed to go with him but things came up on my end so I had to cancel. Anyway, I was thinking of something I could give him to take to the event with him, and thatâs when I discovered Hnefatafl, a viking board game, also called Tablut, and itâs Welsh counterpart, Gwyddbwyll. I put my 3D printer to work and got my woodburner and paints and threw together a travel set for my friend and started researching some more.Â
I read also about a game called Latrunculi, or Polis. Itâs a game that dates back to the Hellenic and possibly Mycenaean civilizations. The rules arenât exactly known, but there are a few reconstructions available to play around with. I made a board and designed a set of pieces.Â
Since the Greek name of the game translates to City, I made the pieces with an Athens vs Sparta motif. Iâve played a few games with the kids trying out the different versions of the rules and itâs been a lot of fun. Iâve made more game tokens themed after most of the Olympians and the cities they patronized. Kade made his own set of tokens with the Monster energy drink logo.Â
Designing the tokens in TinkerCad was so cool. A lot easier than I thought it would be at the outset. Iâve always liked playing around with GiMP though so I donât know why I thought 3D design was going to be so insurmountable.Â
Realizing how easy designing the game pieces was gave me the idea to look into Pai Sho. I know, itâs a fantasy board game rather than historical, but câmon, I love A:TLA.Â
I wasnât surprised that fans have made Pai Sho a reality, but I WAS surprised at the sheer number of rule variations in existence. I like Skud Pai Sho the best, although I also like Iroh Pai Sho as well.Â
Once I printed out a set of freeware tiles and made a playing board (leather this time) and got the hang of playing with the kids, I started designing my own set of tiles for Skud Pai Sho. I need to put some final tweaks on a couple of pieces, but Iâll have them in my Etsy store some time in February.Â
In the meantime, Iâve also started designing a completely unique set of Pai Sho tiles based on the Swamp where I live. The rules for the game are broadly similar to Skud Pai Sho, with 18 tiles all based on the plants and elements found in my own little grove. Iâll have more details about it next month and might add it to my Etsy store as well if thereâs any interest.Â
The kids and I are also working on a rules variation for Skud and Iroh Pai Sho thatâs a lot of fun. Itâs been nice to see them take interest in this project the way that they have. Iâve been letting some other projects kinda sit on the back burner for a bit but having both of the older kids involved the way they have been has been really cool. Now if I could get them to get along with each other⊠ah, one can dream.
All of this has been such a fascinating diversion from my spinning and weaving. Iâve picked up a few books about the history of board games and itâs so neat how some games with ancient roots tie into ritual and mythology. My Bardic studies have really been undertaken with a heavy interest in storytelling and mythology so seeing this tangent come around and tie into my Druidry in an unexpected way has been very exciting. Iâm anxious to see what opportunities for further study this all leads to.Â
I think that about wraps up this post, lovelies. Iâm about finished with Part 4 of the Survivorâs Guide, so that should be posting in the next week, weâll be taking all of the research from the first three parts and starting to put it into some kind of action this time, so itâs gonna start getting bumpy. Fun times ^_^