Adam writes…
What a find! Nosing around in the Highgate branch of Oxfam over the Christmas holidays and I picked up this…
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 traveling twist. Progress
round the board and accrue money to go on a time traveling voyage…
…learning facts about British history along the way. I like this one in particular (tee-hee)…
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 traveling 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!
In our house we have become so addicted to
our lovely, vintage, second-hand set of Saga that we have completely neglected
the brand new board game brought by Santa Claus, Scotland Yard…
… although as soon as we've opened it, I'll
report back here. (It looks pretty good, too.)
I'll also be blogging later this
year about the board game that eclipses them all, Monopoly. Last year, on the
Kensington walk, an American London Walker opened my eyes – she expressed
surprise that London had its own Monopoly board, and a blog series was born.
Stay tuned.
A
London Walk costs £10 – £8 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your
guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all
London Walks can be found at www.walks.com.